PC for gaming, looking to upgrade, just not sure what

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swoup

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
5
0
10,510
Hello.
I purchased this PC to use for gaming without knowing too much about PCs, but it was a cheap computer and has been working fine for me so far, but it's hasn't been too great for gaming.
My specs are below.
Processor: AMD A6-3650 APU
8GB of RAM
HDD: 1TB
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6530D Graphics

If you need more information, let me know how I can find that info and I'll gladly post it.

I'm using it to game right now and it's decent, but not as good as I was hoping for. I ran Mafia 2 benchmarks, testing High, Medium, and Low settings getting an average of 15 for high and medium, with 30fps for low settings. I get similar FPS on GTA IV, FC3 ect. I don't know too much about this stuff, and I'm not sure what exactly I should be upgrading to get better FPS on games.

If you have any idea on what would be best for me to upgrade, and if you have an idea on what I should upgrade to, that would be great. Like I said, if you need any more information let me know.
Thanks.
 
Solution
I
Your budget is fine:
Go with this as a power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104054

and this as a graphics card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131477

and remember to fill out for your mail-in rebate. Bam. $150 and you're set for 1080p in most solutions, and now your case has a cool glowing X on the front.

By the way, those 5.25" bays last forever; I've had one since 2008, and it powered a folding@home dual GTX 260 rig 24/7 for months. No sweat.
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cars12345

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Sep 5, 2013
363
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10,960
Assuming that you want to keep your current motherboard and just upgrade, not start from scratch.

CPU: You could possibly upgrade to a 3.0 GHz AMD A6-3870K for slightly better performance. Possibly overclock if needed.

GPU: I would for sure get a discrete graphics card. If you provide me with a budget, I can find a good card for that price.


Also, what motherboard do you have?
What resolution will you be gaming at?
 
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S

swoup

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
5
0
10,510

I'll look into that, thanks.


I don't really have a budget at this point, just thinking for the future when I have some extra money to spend on this. I'd say around $100, preferably less than $200.
I will be gaming at 1920x1080.
This is the motherboard I have: AAHD2-HY (Holly2)
 
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cars12345

Honorable
Sep 5, 2013
363
0
10,960
Your motherboard has one 2.0 PCI Express x16 slot, allowing a graphics card to be added.
At 1080p, that is a tough budget for a graphics card.

Here is what I could find for around 100:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r77901gd5oc
This is probably the best card to get to not get so much of a bottleneck.

Something for more money, with possible bottleneck:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100356ocl

Even more money, but you can re-use this card if you plan on re-building your system:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp43653kr
 
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swoup

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
5
0
10,510

Thank you very much, I'll look into getting that second graphics card.
It's cheaper to get the second one now (first one just went up in price on newegg), but after a google search it seems that bottleneck thing is bad (please correct me if I read wrong) but I'll still look into getting that one. Would I need an additional power source or whatever for that one? Didn't see anything about it on the site you linked, but then again I don't know what to look for.
 
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S

swoup

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
5
0
10,510


The model number for my PC is: HP Pavilion p6-2143w
I'm unable to check what my current PSU is right now, but I'll try to find it and let you know.
 
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Ilander

Distinguished
Jul 22, 2007
173
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18,710
Your budget is fine:
Go with this as a power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104054

and this as a graphics card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131477

and remember to fill out for your mail-in rebate. Bam. $150 and you're set for 1080p in most solutions, and now your case has a cool glowing X on the front.

By the way, those 5.25" bays last forever; I've had one since 2008, and it powered a folding@home dual GTX 260 rig 24/7 for months. No sweat.
 
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Solution
S

swoup

Honorable
Sep 11, 2013
5
0
10,510


I'll probably go with this then, thank you all with your help.
 
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Ilander

Distinguished
Jul 22, 2007
173
0
18,710
Just as one additional aside: There is a Visiontek drive-bay PSU as well, which is cheaper, but it has been reviewed as HORRIBLY loud by hardocp , and has a bad reputation on the THG forums. The FSP one, though, I'll vouch for. Do understand that it adds another failure-point to your system, but given the cost I don't think it's too bad, especially for just adding things to a system for a relatively low price, and enabling future upgrades.

You could additionally swap the old PSU for something like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171083

My recommendation was on solely adding things, rather than replacing the PSU, to make the install a little easier.
 
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