What needs upgrading in my PC?

[AlpeyMLG]

Hello,

I'm wondering what is the next upgrade I should do for my PC, because something is wrong.

My PC :

GTX 970 Asus Strix OC'd edition
X4 760K OC'd 4.2GHz
DDR3 1600Mhz 6GB (1x4GB 1x2GB)
MSI 2AE0
EVGA 500W

My problem, It seems as if I have VSync on, on every single game (I don't). It just seems to run at a similar FPS and I'm not sure why.

I've tried three different GPU's and had the same (ish) fps no matter what the setting, for instance H1Z1 on Ultra runs at 70fps ish, and on low it runs at 70fps ish

The MSI 2AE0 motherboard is from a prebuilt HP system I had. Is it possible that the motherboard isn't 'setup' as such for a different CPU?

Drivers are all up to date.

Temps :

CPU 50C maximum under load.
GTX970 63C maximum under load.

So what's wrong? Do I need to upgrade my RAM, CPU? Is my PSU not giving it enough power? I don't know.

Help

 

[ECKBECK]

i think your ram needs to be upgraded 6gb isn't always enough , it really depends on the game

 

[RedJaron]

Your RAM is out of balance. Mismatched module sizes don't lend themselves to the best performance. I'd look to replace the 2GB stick with one that matches your 4GB stick ( not only in size, but in speed and latency as well ). But that's the least of your problems.

You've got very low-end CPU paired with a high-end GPU. You're probably at the limit of what the 760K can do. It's not a bad little chip, but it was never intended for high-end gaming. If you're dead-set on faster framerates, you'll have to upgrade your CPU, which in this case most likely means a new mboard as well. If you want to experiment, you can try upgrading to an Athlon 860K, but I'm not sure how much good that will do you. And if that's an OEM board, then it's not going to let you overclock your CPU. Generally I don't bother OCing the CPU for games, but when you've got such a big gap between the CPU and GPU like you do, it can make a difference.

However, if you're ok with what you have, there's no reason to change anything other than the RAM.

 

[AlpeyMLG]

Your RAM is out of balance. Mismatched module sizes don't lend themselves to the best performance. I'd look to replace the 2GB stick with one that matches your 4GB stick ( not only in size, but in speed and latency as well ). But that's the least of your problems.

You've got very low-end CPU paired with a high-end GPU. You're probably at the limit of what the 760K can do. It's not a bad little chip, but it was never intended for high-end gaming. If you're dead-set on faster framerates, you'll have to upgrade your CPU, which in this case most likely means a new mboard as well. If you want to experiment, you can try upgrading to an Athlon 860K, but I'm not sure how much good that will do you. And if that's an OEM board, then it's not going to let you overclock your CPU. Generally I don't bother OCing the CPU for games, but when you've got such a big gap between the CPU and GPU like you do, it can make a difference.

However, if you're ok with what you have, there's no reason to change anything other than the RAM.

Thanks for the reply.

I know my cpu isn't the best, but she tries

I think I'll go with the RAM options first, alot cheaper So, if I buy a 4GB stick of Corsair Vengeance ram and use my other 4GB stick I'll be golden? And just leave the 2 out? Is it worth buying 1 or 2 sticks of 4GB....

What would be a good cpu upgrade? FX8350?

 

[RedJaron]

When you use RAM, everything gets clocked to the slowest module you have. So it doesn't do any good to get a premium stick of RAM and pair with something low-end. To get the best performance, match the speed ( in your case DDR3-1600 ) and latency timings ( often called CAS, though strictly CAS only applies to one of a whole set of timings ). Matching the speed is easy, matching the timings might be tricky. If you can't match them exactly, you can overclock them to match if your motherboard supports it. If you're looking for brand recommendations, I like G Skill, Corsair, Crucial, Patriot, and Team. However, RAM alone isn't going to do much, either.

On the CPU, no, you can't directly upgrade to the FX line since that's an AM3 socket. The 760K is an FM2 socket CPU. If you want an FX you'll have to replace the motherboard. But I need to amend my statement on the 860K. That's an FM2+ chip and they won't work on FM2 boards, though it works fine the other way around. What's your mboard model?

 

[AlpeyMLG]

When you use RAM, everything gets clocked to the slowest module you have. So it doesn't do any good to get a premium stick of RAM and pair with something low-end. To get the best performance, match the speed ( in your case DDR3-1600 ) and latency timings ( often called CAS, though strictly CAS only applies to one of a whole set of timings ). Matching the speed is easy, matching the timings might be tricky. If you can't match them exactly, you can overclock them to match if your motherboard supports it. If you're looking for brand recommendations, I like G Skill, Corsair, Crucial, Patriot, and Team. However, RAM alone isn't going to do much, either.

On the CPU, no, you can't directly upgrade to the FX line since that's an AM3 socket. The 760K is an FM2 socket CPU. If you want an FX you'll have to replace the motherboard. But I need to amend my statement on the 860K. That's an FM2+ chip and they won't work on FM2 boards, though it works fine the other way around. What's your mboard model?

My motherboard is an MSI 2AE0, It came with a prebuilt HP system I had a while back.

I guess it's just some games that don't run well, as I just played an hour or so of Metro 2033 on the Very High preset at 100fps+.

 

[RedJaron]

I'm sorry, you listed the model before. Looking at specs, it says that's an FM2 board, meaning you've already maxed it out. If you want a beefier CPU, you'll need a platform upgrade.

And yes, some games will run better or worse on the CPU. AMD isn't as efficient as Intel, but this CPU has four cores. Some games, notably Skyrim, don't like AMD's architecture. Some games use more CPU cores, so they run fine even if each core isn't the most efficient.