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Looking for some advice on upgrading my Graphics card or maybe whole system.

Tags:
  • GPUs
  • PC gaming
  • CPUs
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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January 21, 2014 8:15:01 AM

I last built my gaming rig back in the summer of 2008. On PC I play Diablo III, SC2 and want to play Rome Total War 2 (hence the need for an upgrade).

SC2 crashes all the time now since I added the Zerg Expansion. I've updated my drivers, patched the game but it crashes all the time. Diablo III does not have any issues nor does SC2 pre expansion. My research seems to suggest that it is an Nvidia issue so I am open to going to an AMD/ATI system. I'm not sure if I should just upgrade one of the components or everything. I want to keep the budget to $500 USD or lower if possible. I play the occasional FPS on PC but most of my FPS gaming is done on 360 or psIII.

My system specs are as follows.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Quad Core Processor LGA775 2.66GHZ Yorkfield 1333FSB 12MB

GPU: EVGA Nvidia GTX 260 896 MBs ram

RAM: G.SKILL F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK PC2-8500 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit

MOBO: EVGA Nforce 750I SLI Ftw LGA775 ATX DDR2 2PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit


Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks,

Fanthor



More about : advice upgrading graphics card system

a b à CPUs
January 21, 2014 9:07:14 AM

My recommendation would be to upgrade processor and motherboard.

my personal suggestion would be to get the i5-3570k and a $100 ish compatible motherboard that has the types of outputs you want (this upgrade will total roughly $330).
this leaves you 170 for a gpu upgrade. from here you could possible find a gtx 660 or 7850 which is also a huge upgrade over your system

later upgrades can be done like RAM (get at least 8gb of ddr3)

the performance increase from this roughly $500 upgrade will be quite substantial for you and will perform better than your consoles
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a b à CPUs
January 21, 2014 9:09:20 AM

basically my top recommendation is the cpu and motherboard (combo deals can be found online)
and actually i'd probably go with an 8gb kit of ddr3 ram and maybe a better psu (you didnt list your current one)
then just save up for a little while so you can either get a gtx 760 or amd 270x (roughly $250 gpu range)
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Best solution

a b à CPUs
February 9, 2014 4:37:15 AM

Here's a very cheap and good upgrade.

I'm supposing your case can hold ATX PSUs and Micro ATX motherboards.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.23 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $347.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-09 07:35 EST-0500)
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