What Upgrades Do I Need For Current Gaming? (Fallout 4, Need For Speed, etc.)

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cusconillow

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Sep 19, 2011
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Hello everyone! I've built a system (my first) and gradually upgraded it over time to run newer games and I've realized I need to do that now for the next wave of games.

I currently play GTA V and The Witcher 3 on a triple-monitor 1080p eyefinity setup.
Both of the games' requirments can be found here and here.

I want to play Fallout 4 (Requirements), Need For Speed, The Division (Rumored Requirements), and Rainbow Six Siege (Requirements), and maybe a little bit of the 9000 new Assassin's Creed games.
I'm mostly going to be playing Fallout 4 (Like probably almost exclusively) and when the modding community gets active on it, I'm sure I'll probably use the quality mods like improved textures and optimization mods and such. There will likely be a lot of scripts involved in the Fallout 4 mods when they come out - which I'm assuming will really put a stress on the CPU and RAM but I'm not positive as to what parts processes scripts.

Here are my current specs:
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC MATE Z87 1150 RT
Processor: Intel i5 4690
Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB 1600
Power Supply: Old Thermaltake 600W made before the efficiency ratings (Needs to be upgraded)
Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Dual X 3GB
Hard Drive: Don't have the model with me at the moment but it is a hard disk, not an SSD. Do I really need an SSD?

I do not overclock anything, mostly because I don't know enough about it, and I'm not sure that I want to.

I need to know which parts need to be upgraded most (I'm thinking the GPU, RAM, and Power Supply) and suggestions for what parts I should use to replace them.

Finally, one thing I'm worried about is that everyone says nVidia/Intel-based GPUs are better all-in-all that Radeons but Radeon cards seem to have better stats and they tend to be cheaper.

Thank you everyone!!
 
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I wouldn't upgrade anything until I seen how the system runs those games you mention the radeon 7950 is still a good card a little older but its actually the same card that the r 280 is they just took the 7950 and rebranded it to a r 280.. Now it wouldn't hurt to upgrade to a better PSU AND MAYBE 8 gigs of ram but I WOULD SEE HOW THE GAME RUNS FIRST The i5 you have is a very good cpu to begin with.
 
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Your CPU is still pretty solid.

Yes, you should upgrade the RAM to at least 8gb of whatever the highest clock rate the motherboard will support, Corsair, G.Skill, Crucial, etc.

The PSU upgrade would be an excellent idea, you can find a quality listing here-
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

And the video card, well that depends almost entirely on your budget for the part. I've owned several AMD and Nvidia cards over the years so I like either, at different price points. In fact i just upgraded from the same card you have now (which was rebranded and is now the R9 280, so still a decent lower mid-range card). As a general rule of thumb, AMD is the best price/performance cards at 400 and lower (always exceptions of course) and Nvidia rules most of the points above that. Also, Nvidia's driver support currently blows AMD off the map, as AMD's market share has fallen, so has their support (again, my last 3 cards were all AMD, so I'm not just a hater).
 
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Get 8GB of RAM. At this point in gaming, that should be the sweet spot as any more is unlikely to be necessary right now.
For the GPU, I'd suggest an R9-390, which should give you solid fps on Fallout 4, and with 8GB of VRAM, should be able to handle your triple monitor setup.
For the PSU, if you're getting the 390, get at least 750W or a good 600W unit. Personally, I'd get the 620W Seasonic S12II for that
 
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I don't really have a set budget because I'm looking to scrounge up as much money together as I can and do these upgrades monthly. I'm expecting somewhere close to $500 before I'm done. That's just what I kind of anticipated.

@Grimwinder & johnnyb105
RAM is something I know next to nothing about. I just can't wrap my mind around all the moving parts of them. When it comes to gaming, especially heavily modded and scripted games, what is important in RAM?

Also, with a $350ish budget, what would be a good GPU to upgrade to? I frequent eBay, Craigslist and Subreddits that have cheap computer part deals so the budget is pretty flexible.


Added Note: I'll likely want to play all of these games on my 1080p eyefinity setup. I'm sure that'll have some kind of impact on the suggestions for the GPU.
 
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Try www.newegg.com for parts there are tons of info out there on the web to change ram / memory sticks really is a 2 min task to do ... As far as Amd and Nvidia It seems and yes I own both that every 3rd or 4 bootup on 2 of my machines with a Nvidia cards driver has crashed I don't really get that with the Radeon drivers Like I do with Nvidia so either there drivers are not what they used to be or hardware... I own ATI CARDS all the way back to the all in wonder agp slots And Nvidia cards all the way back to the old tnt version but my 660gtx and 970 seem to have there days when the drivers crash on them note installed in different machines Hope this helps.
 
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What is important in RAM is what the board will use, RAM and motherboards can be the most finicky parts to match in a PC. Go to the manufacturer's web page for your board and look at what your board will support. Wildcard's part list looks good, again, just make sure your board will take the RAM. As I said, below 400.00 AMD is *generally* the way to go for a GPU when looking at price/performance ratios.
 
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I actually just found a GTX 970 for the exact same price.
There's also an ASUS R9 390 STRIX on craigslist near me for $270.
What would be best out of those three cards?




My board can take up to 32GB of memory at up to 3000 (MHz?) speed-wise.
What I'm worried about in RAM is not so much what my board will be compatible with but what is important in RAM for gaming. I know there's the amount of memory, the speed of it, the latency, and all kinds of other specifications for RAM. I'm just not sure which takes priority over which.
 
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Glad you brought up the memory, I did check the MSI site for support and though that exact memory isn't listed im sure its still compatible through a BIOS update or if the OP doesn't want to chance it the Gskill Ripjaw series will work.

http://us.msi.com/support/mb/Z87-G41-PC-Mate.html#support-ocmem
 
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Okay so according to the MSI website, my motherboard won't take any memory above 1600 unless it's overclocked. But I know nothing about overclocking and I'd really like to get some RAM from this list. And nothing from this list seems to be compatible with my mobo.
That TridentX series RAM Grimwinder suggested doesn't seem to be compatible according to the list either.

What do I do?
 
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I'm looking at Corsair Vengeance memory because it's pretty and a bit cheaper than the G.Skill memory. However, I can't find my motherboard on Corsair's compatibility checker. However, according to PCPartPicker (My current List) it is compatible. At least if you overclock it like WildCard said or if you just run it at 1.5V instead of 1.65V.

Is this a good choice or should I choose different memory/motherboard?
 
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