What should I upgrade on my pc?

[matses666]

Hey, I recently noticed that my computer isn‘t keeping up with the games that well so I would lile to upgrade it but I don’t know which part I should replace(Or should I build a new one)
I hope that you could give me some advice:


The components:

Mainboard: Asus H81M-Plus
GPU: MSI GTX 970
RAM: 8GB DDR 3
CPU: i7-4790 3.6 GHz
PSU: 600W
3 Fans
1 Cooler

 

[smorizio]

if you have a good branded 600w power supply with your i7 cpu the only part i upgrade on the old system is the gpu. at some point you should start saving up to go with a newer amd or intel cpu rig. your cpu is getting old.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the EXACT model number and brand of your power supply?

16GB of memory is almost a prerequisite these days, so that's probably the next thing you want to look at upgrading after you determine whether or not the power supply is worth keeping, IF you have no plans to simply upgrade the entire platform.

The least expensive option would be to simply overclock your CPU to get some extra muscle out of it but it doesn't seem like that is something you are probably inclined to do or you'd have already done it so upgrading the whole platform, CPU, motherboard AND memory would be the only option if you want something more powerful.

Upgrading the memory to 16GB will only be helpful if you are currently running OUT of memory due to the demands of the game titles you are playing or if you are pretty fairly multitasking with a lot of things going on at the same time.

If you have a good power supply, upgrading your graphics card BEFORE the rest of the platform might make more sense, as that can always be carried along to any new platform or machine you might purchase in the future as well.

 

[mgallo848]

Please be a little more specific.

1: What games are you having problems with?
2: What resolution do you play your games at?
3: Is you 8 gb of memory only 1 stick or 2?

 

[matses666]

Thanks for all your efforts!

By the way Im using a bequiet system power b9 and Im using 2x4GB
Im getting low FPS on GTA V on high settings aswell as drops in a minecraft modpack from 100 to 20 FPS

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd make sure that modpack didn't come with a few little "surprises" in the form of some malicious mal or adware.

 

[Chupacabra69]

The cheapest and easiest upgrades for a system these days are upgrade the amount of RAM, and upgrade to a SSD. I didn't see you mention you had one, but a game that takes 2 min to load a screen on a spinner would take 10 seconds on an SSD. 8GB RAM is very low for a system these days. And if your system is very old, it may be difficult to find ram, but it's worth the search. Go to your mainboard manufacturer's site and look up your model. There should be a 'compatible RAM' section and you can look at 16gb or 32gb sets of memory. If it costs a boatload you might have to skip that.. but you can still install an SSD.

If you want to stick with your existing system and make it last a while longer you can also turn down your game resolution and turn off special effects like shadows etc.

I have an older mobo and cpu setup myself that I am trying to make last another year or two. The new PCIExpress slots are coming out - 4.0 and 5.0. It would be awful to buy a PCIE 3.0 compliant mobo now and then I can't get performance from new 4.0 or 5.0 cards coming out.. so I am gonna make it last. ;D

 

[Darkbreeze]

An SSD is always a good idea, for a number of reasons. I have yet to see it have any effect on gaming performance other than loading times though.