[SOLVED] Upgrading Graphics card & hard drive $500 (at Dell)

[Athaya]

Looking for a new graphics card and SSD... combined I'm looking to spend approximately $500. My brother built my computer... 10 years ago I think. Since then I've changed out the mother board (maybe the CPU I don't remember) and the power supply. But it's time to change the graphics card and storage (my husband got an SSD and I'm very jealous of how much faster his computer runs). I know, I'm looking to buy through Dell, but I have a $485 gift card for there that’s been sitting around for 3 years. I was going to get a new Alienware computer but can’t afford a new rig (and haven't been able to for several years) so I’m just going to upgrade my existing computer using those funds. I probably can go over the gift card by $50 or so but that's including tax.. Thank you in advance for any help =)

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: soon although no big hurry

BUDGET RANGE: $500 total

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: The only game I play really is Lord of the Rings Online. My kids occasionally will play Minecraft (mostly they do that on the xbox though). If Chronicles of Elyria ever comes out we will probably play that. Otherwise my genealogy work doesn’t take up a lot of graphics lol. A long time ago (like 10 years lol) I used to raid in Everquest regularly but then I had kids....

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
GPU- EVGA GEForce 460 (dual – SLI connection)
Power Supply- EVGA 750 G2

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
MOBO- M5A97T EVO
RAM – 1333 MHZ 4GB DDR 3 (x2)
CPU – AMD FX 4100 Quadcore 3.66GHz
Storage – 750GB & 80GB hard drives (normal – combined usage currently at 535GB)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: DELL ( Yes I know it’s probably more expensive there )


PARTS PREFERENCES: For the Graphics card I prefer GEFORCE.. no good reason, I’ve just always had them

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe ( I don’t really know how to overclock things) SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe (Have an SLI connector but don’t think two cards is really in my budget anyways)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x 1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: would like a computer that runs faster and an upgrade to the graphics card for future games. I had trouble with overheating in the past but I was also down two case fans which I just replaced, so hopefully that won't be an issue going forward.

REMEMBER: The more information we have about your system, your budget, and what you're using the card for, the better the advice we can give you - providing it up front gets you your answers and puts a card in your hands that much faster!

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SSD

Samsung Solid State Drive 860 EVO 2.5" SATA III 1TB - MZ-76E1T0B/AM ($140)
http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/AA059981

Samsung Solid State Drive 860 EVO 2.5" SATA III 500GB - MZ-76E500B/AM ($80)
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa089528


Graphics cards - I was looking at the 1660’s but they have several different kinds and I can’t figure out what the difference between them is. I see that they have the Gaming X, the Ventus and the Armor

MSI GTX 1660 GAMING X 6G - Graphics card - GF GTX 1660 - 6 GB GDDR5 - PCIe 3.0 x16 - HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort ($284)
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa714440


MSI GTX 1660 GAMING X 6G - Graphics card - GF GTX 1660 - 6 GB GDDR5 - PCIe 3.0 x16 - HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort ($300)
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa715060

MSI RTX 2060 VENTUS 6G OC - Graphics card - GF RTX 2060 - 6 GB GDDR6 - PCIe 3.0 x16 - HDMI, 3 x DisplayPort ($397)
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa525904

MSI RX 580 ARMOR 8G OC Graphics Card 8 GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 DVI, 2 x HDMI, 2 x DisplayPort
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/aa362058

 

[scallumal]

You have come to the right place you can get an ssd but you wont beable to upgrade to a modern graphics card because there will be little to no point for that processor its an old phenom quad core and even the the 8 core phenoms were absolutely horrible so buying a new graphics card is going to be a waste i would upgrade the motherboard cpu and ram rather because tge gains you will get will he very little because of a bottleneck (one part not keeping up with another)

 

[vMax]

Even though your CPU is fairly old a new GPU will still make a huge difference over your current dual 460's. The RTX 2060 would provide for a good upgrade and will be even better when you eventually upgrade your CPU, RAM and motherboard to a new system in the future.

As to the SSD, this will also make an immediate impact that you will feel in a far more responsive PC and the Samsung EVO's are very good. 500 or 1TB up to you on what you are willing to spend.

It would be good to know the exact model of the Dell PC you have to make sure it can even take a RTX with regards to the Power Supply...

 

[Athaya]

I don't have a Dell PC, it was a home built system. But the gift certificate I have is for Dell which is why I'm looking to buy from them. I have a 750W power supply though so I'm pretty sure power won't be a problem (it was probably the thing I last upgraded because my power supply died).

I can't really get a new motherboard or cpu from Dell (and I don't think I want to get memory from them either). Ugh.. the whole point of the gift certificate was to buy a prebuilt so I didn't have to futz with it. For some reason installing cards and drives seems less complicated then having to deal with a new motherboard and cpu. So it's not going to damage the GPU by running it on a crappy CPU, it just won't use it to it's fullest extent, right? Then I could buy the ssd and graphics card now and then work on saving up for a new MB, CPU and memory... Time to start selling old MTG cards again..

 

[vMax]

I don't have a Dell PC, it was a home built system. But the gift certificate I have is for Dell which is why I'm looking to buy from them. I have a 750W power supply though so I'm pretty sure power won't be a problem (it was probably the thing I last upgraded because my power supply died).

I can't really get a new motherboard or cpu from Dell (and I don't think I want to get memory from them either). Ugh.. the whole point of the gift certificate was to buy a prebuilt so I didn't have to futz with it. For some reason installing cards and drives seems less complicated then having to deal with a new motherboard and cpu. So it's not going to damage the GPU by running it on a crappy CPU, it just won't use it to it's fullest extent, right? Then I could buy the ssd and graphics card now and then work on saving up for a new MB, CPU and memory... Time to start selling old MTG cards again..

Thanks for the clarity. And yes to both points...The GPU will work fine though be a little bottlenecked but will still be a big difference from what you have now and the SSD is just a no brainer. SSD's are fantastic and a must!

Finally you are right in that the new GPU and the SSD will get transferred to a new system whenever you are ready and the GPU will only perform even better then!