- Dec 23, 2013
- 11
- 0
- 10,510
So here's the deal.
I have about 300 euro (£212, $331) to spend on an upgrade(s) for my pc. I don't often have such money to spend. Initially I was going to buy track IR 5 as I am interested in flight sims and it is very useful in games like Arma. It's something I've wanted for a while now. I've tried the alternatives but they just aren't quite good enough.
However, Track IR 5 seems to be very expensive at the moment (July 2015). According to camelcamelcamel.com the price of it is increasing and many places that normally stock it are out. I would still like to get it if anyone knows somewhere in UK or Europe to get it for a fair price.
Then I thought about getting a new monitor as my current one is only 1440x900 and I would prefer at least 1920x1080. I would really like 2560x1600 monitor (useful for seeing fine detail in games like Arma 3) but I realised my performance may drop as I am unsure if my graphics card could handle it. I imagine my fps would drop due to increased resolution. While my system runs the games I play adequately, It does sometimes struggle in heavily modded, multiplayer Arma 3 gameplay.
So then I thought about getting a new graphics card. I'm sure I could get a much better graphics card for 300 euro and it would make a big impact on my gaming I think.
However my motherboard is also a weak point. I'm unsure if my motherboard is compatible with newer graphics cards and I know for a fact that my motherboard doesn't allow for overclocking. The problem is if I upgrade my motherboard I would probably also need to upgrade my CPU to the next generation (Haswell).
I could also get an SSD as I am starting to run short on space and I imagine an SSD would make a big impact on my machine.
Another point to consider is my current mouse and keyboard. They're both standard and just about do the job. I don't even have a mouse pad at the moment but there's not much excuse for that
I've also read that it is better to save up money until I can buy all the parts I need for a better pc, rather then upgrading one part at a time and having some significant bottleneck somewhere. However this isn't really an option for me. I'm in college and don't (and won't) have much disposable income.
With 300 euro I can afford to upgrade one of these things and I don't know which. I'm looking for the best option to upgrade my overall gaming experience rather than just, necessarily my pc specs.
So I'm stuck. Where do I go from here?
Guide me Oh wise Tom!
Edit: After posting this I saw countless links to other "what should I upgrade next?" posts so sorry if this boring but I guess everyone's system is different and everyone is in a different situation.
Current Specs:
CPU: i5 3570k (stock cooler)
Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2gb
Motherboard: MSI H61m-P31(G3)
Ram: 2x4GB Corsair value select 1333Mhz
OS: Windows 7 OEM 64-bit
Power Supply: Corsair builder series 500W Bronze certified
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 (120mm intake fan 90mm outtake)
HDD: Seagate something something 500gb
Peripherals:
Monitor: Acer 1440x900 something (vga only)
Mouse: crappy hp mouse
Keyboard: crappy Dell keyboard
Good speakers, Good microphone
Games I play:
Arma 3
Arma 2
Dayz Standalone
These are the most demanding games.
Games I might want to play in the future:
GTA 5
Ark: Survival Evolved (cpu intensive I've heard)
I have about 300 euro (£212, $331) to spend on an upgrade(s) for my pc. I don't often have such money to spend. Initially I was going to buy track IR 5 as I am interested in flight sims and it is very useful in games like Arma. It's something I've wanted for a while now. I've tried the alternatives but they just aren't quite good enough.
However, Track IR 5 seems to be very expensive at the moment (July 2015). According to camelcamelcamel.com the price of it is increasing and many places that normally stock it are out. I would still like to get it if anyone knows somewhere in UK or Europe to get it for a fair price.
Then I thought about getting a new monitor as my current one is only 1440x900 and I would prefer at least 1920x1080. I would really like 2560x1600 monitor (useful for seeing fine detail in games like Arma 3) but I realised my performance may drop as I am unsure if my graphics card could handle it. I imagine my fps would drop due to increased resolution. While my system runs the games I play adequately, It does sometimes struggle in heavily modded, multiplayer Arma 3 gameplay.
So then I thought about getting a new graphics card. I'm sure I could get a much better graphics card for 300 euro and it would make a big impact on my gaming I think.
However my motherboard is also a weak point. I'm unsure if my motherboard is compatible with newer graphics cards and I know for a fact that my motherboard doesn't allow for overclocking. The problem is if I upgrade my motherboard I would probably also need to upgrade my CPU to the next generation (Haswell).
I could also get an SSD as I am starting to run short on space and I imagine an SSD would make a big impact on my machine.
Another point to consider is my current mouse and keyboard. They're both standard and just about do the job. I don't even have a mouse pad at the moment but there's not much excuse for that
I've also read that it is better to save up money until I can buy all the parts I need for a better pc, rather then upgrading one part at a time and having some significant bottleneck somewhere. However this isn't really an option for me. I'm in college and don't (and won't) have much disposable income.
With 300 euro I can afford to upgrade one of these things and I don't know which. I'm looking for the best option to upgrade my overall gaming experience rather than just, necessarily my pc specs.
So I'm stuck. Where do I go from here?
Guide me Oh wise Tom!
Edit: After posting this I saw countless links to other "what should I upgrade next?" posts so sorry if this boring but I guess everyone's system is different and everyone is in a different situation.
Current Specs:
CPU: i5 3570k (stock cooler)
Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2gb
Motherboard: MSI H61m-P31(G3)
Ram: 2x4GB Corsair value select 1333Mhz
OS: Windows 7 OEM 64-bit
Power Supply: Corsair builder series 500W Bronze certified
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 (120mm intake fan 90mm outtake)
HDD: Seagate something something 500gb
Peripherals:
Monitor: Acer 1440x900 something (vga only)
Mouse: crappy hp mouse
Keyboard: crappy Dell keyboard
Good speakers, Good microphone
Games I play:
Arma 3
Arma 2
Dayz Standalone
These are the most demanding games.
Games I might want to play in the future:
GTA 5
Ark: Survival Evolved (cpu intensive I've heard)
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