Help me upgrading my pc. Which parts should I change?

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A7mmud

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Hello gamers,
I plan to upgrade my 5-year-old pc. My budget is 500 $ I plan to upgrade the GPU and RAM, what is the best GPU for my budget?
DO I need to to change RAM or support them with a stick?

Finally, Is my CPU enough or it will bottleneck?


Here is my hardware


• Gigabyte X58 LGA1366 MAX-16GB DDR3 Atx 3PCIE16 2PCIE 2PCI 8RAID Gbe 12USB
• Corsair TR3X6G1333C9 XMS3 6 GB 3 x 2 GB PC3-10666 1333MHz 240-Pin DDR3 Core i7 Memory Kit
• Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor
• EVGA 512-P3-1150-TR GTS 250 512 MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
• 850 watt power suplly
• Windows 8.1 64 bit


Thank you for reading my post, I am looking forward to your reply.

 
Solution
coozie7
Those old i7s can still kick some decent gaming butt but their fairly low clockspeed does limit their abilities, popping a cheap CPU cooler into the system and a little overclocking can yield a surprising improvement in overall performance, particularly in games like StarCraft, WoW and Skyrim, all of which need fast CPUs.
The ever popular Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo is a decent cooler, but if you plan on pushing for a high overclock I'll suggest you look at something stronger from Phanteks or Noctua.
I'd leave the RAM alone, 6Gb is enough for gaming and switching to faster memory will give a tiny boost in performance, not really worth the expense.
Assuming a single 1080 display and decent quality PSU either the R9 270X/GTX760 would be...
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The Letter Mu

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At that speed, yes your CPU will bottleneck a bit. I would overclock it, as I think the X58 chipset will support it. What PSU exactly is that? If your budget is that high, it may be as simple as get a good aftermarket CPU cooler, an up-to-date PSU (unless yours proves to be good enough for a GPU upgrade) and the GPU. 6GB RAM is just a little bit less than what you'd need, so an additional 2GB at cost of running in Single Channel won't hurt.

Remember, that i7 isn't too old just yet. OC it and focus on your GPU.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Those old i7s can still kick some decent gaming butt but their fairly low clockspeed does limit their abilities, popping a cheap CPU cooler into the system and a little overclocking can yield a surprising improvement in overall performance, particularly in games like StarCraft, WoW and Skyrim, all of which need fast CPUs.
The ever popular Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo is a decent cooler, but if you plan on pushing for a high overclock I'll suggest you look at something stronger from Phanteks or Noctua.
I'd leave the RAM alone, 6Gb is enough for gaming and switching to faster memory will give a tiny boost in performance, not really worth the expense.
Assuming a single 1080 display and decent quality PSU either the R9 270X/GTX760 would be a nice upgrade, if you want to push the eye candy and budget a little further, either the R9 280X or GTX770 would be better.

EDIT: I'm not sure how the X58 mobo will respond to adding a single 2Gb module, check the manual and see it this type of configuration is supported.
 
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A7mmud

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here is my power supply details

Coolmax RM-850B Power Supply 24-Pin / PCI-E Cords 120mm Cooling Fan
500

is it enough? what GPU do you recommend ?
 
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The Letter Mu

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PSU should be good, haven't heard much about CoolMax. But if you're going to be overclocking, the EVO 212 cooler should run about $40, and then you've got $460 to spend on a GPU. You've got a few options from the R9 280X to a GTX 770. Those are around $300-$400 each so you could either go with one of those. I'm not so sure about the i7 keeping up with an R9 290 or a GTX 780, though. I'll let others give their input, but for almost any game a GTX 770 and an OC'd i7 920 will do very well for some time.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Please deselect the solution so others can continue to reply, mate, right now the thread is 'solved' so nobody else will contribute.
If you're going to delve into the darkside of overclocking ;) I'd go for either the GTX770 or R9 280X, they'll partner an overclocked CPU very nicely and play pretty well everything out there at maximum, or near maximum, eye candy smoothly.
Bear in mind, some cards can be long, check the one you want will fit your system case!
With both available for about the same amount I'd go for one of the EVGA SC GTX770 cards-cool, quiet and with the best warranty/backup in the business.
If you want to go AMD, one of the Sapphire DualX cards seems good, fairly cool and quiet, not too big.
Coolmax don't make the best PSUs around and if it's as old as the rest of the system I'd consider swapping it for a better quality 650-700 Watt unit from a top tier make like: Antec, Corsair (not the 'CX' series), Seasonic or Silverstone (not the Strider Essentials, though).
 
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A7mmud

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Nice saying. Thanks

Do you think buying R9 290 will be enough with my current hardware after installing mantle?

I have read about it so I think It will help to give the power to my cpu even without overclocking
 
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A7mmud

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The best solution was chosen accidently. I couldnt deselect it :( thanks for the notifying me :)

I may go with AMD cards if mantle matters
 
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The Letter Mu

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The R9 290 will perform great, but again that i7 would need to be overclocked. I helped someone upgrade their PC which had a 5770 and an i5 750, which is almost the same as your 920. Even a midrange card (at that time) was held back by the low clock speed. He had a non-retail MSI board, and after swapping out for a P55 and OC'ing to 3.2 he was more than happy that he got a major increase in performance by spending less than $100.

But on the subject of an R9 290 with your i7, that'd make for a bottleneck due to the i7 at 2.67GHz. You can get that EVO 212 for $40, overclock to at least 3.4GHz (which is still a safe OC), and enjoy either one: the R9 280X or the R9 290. One's $100 than the other. Your call on that part :D
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Odd you couldn't deselect it, I've taken the liberty of doing so, if you want to reselect The Letter Mu as best reply, please do so.
I'd still opt for the R9 280X, if you choose to go with AMD, it's cheaper than the R9 290 and is a better match to your system.
Mantle seems to offer the best boost for low end CPUs, something you don't really have ;) , besides, it'll work with the R9 280 so you'll get the best of both worlds: The Mantle boost and some extra change out of your budget.
I've got my i5 750 at 3.4GHz on a Hyper 212 Plus, I could push for more but I like a quiet system and at that speed the little 212 is starting to get noticeable, not noisy as such but noticeable.
 
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