What should I upgrade first

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Sales1ma

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Aug 10, 2016
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I built my first pc almost two years ago and it works very good. I usually only play wow and some text based sports simulator games on there. I was hoping to upgrade my computer so it plays wow more "crisper", if you will, and because I just want a better system because this is more of a hobby when I have extra money. I will average about 50 fps, which is great! But when I go into more populated zones or heavy activity it drops to maybe 33 ish. I don't like this drop. So I am hoping to get some insight on what I should upgrade first given my current system.

Intel Core i3-4160 Haswell Dual-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1150
AMD Radeon R9 200 series 2gb (I don't know which 200 exactly)
8 gbs RAM
A 500W power supply (forgot the name). An old used one I had for years. Seems to be working ok.

I don't know what other specs to put on here. Any help would be appreciated.

FYI: I don't have the money to just buy everything I need at once. But I can buy parts one at a time. So what are the most crucial parts I need to upgrade on my system?

 
Solution
Barty1884
Which SuperNOVA? There are different quality within that brand name.

G2, P2, T2, GS, GQ, PS are all top of the line.
B2 is good
NEX-Gold are 'ok'
NEX-Bronze are the worst of the line.

With a new motherboard, it MAY boot right up, it may not. I'd always recommend a clean install.

Which OS are you running? Anything less than Windows 10 and you'll likely need a new license to go with a new motherboard. Windows 10 seems to have changed some of that, and you should be able to reactivate.
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arges86

arges86

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Finding out which Graphics card would be your first step. The 200 series ranged from the R9 270X (which got decent frame rates in WOW https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_270X/23.html) to the R9 295X2...

Your gaming is probably limited by your CPU. I would try to find a fastest LGA 1150 chip you can afford
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007671%20600436886&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=30

BTW,
An old no-name power supply is a great way to kill your computer...
Just take a loot through some of the power supply forum threads to find out why:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/74/power-supplies.html
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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WoW needs a strong single-core performance, and can utilize numerous cores (last I heard anyway), but heavily using cores 1&2, and doesn't take advantage of hyper-threading (from what I can see). That's likely to be limiting you somewhat. http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/18706412722?page=1 - as far as WoW is concerned, you have a strict dual-core CPU.

An i5 Haswell would likely be a pretty useful upgrade to you.

If you have the latest drivers installed, AMD's control panel (or similarly named utility, I don't remember) will display the accurate model GPU you have in the 200 series - which would be useful to know.

I don't believe WoW is as CPU intense as it once was, and can leverage a stronger GPU to drive improved performance.
GTX 1060 or RX480 are great 'bang for buck' cards that would boost your performance, but stock & availability is severely limited.

Since your 'R9 200 series' card is 2GB, I believe that's limited to an R9 270X. Still viable, but an upgrade would see some pretty significant gains.

8GB RAM is still fine.

Your PSU, without knowing the model specifically, is tough to evaluate. PSUs degrade as they age (how drastic, depends on the quality of it to begin with) and vary in quality in general. Can you confirm your PSU make/model?

On the face of it, either a CPU or GPU upgrade should give you significant improvements - but i'd aim to upgrade both in the near future. I'd also give serious consideration to the PSU too - even if good quality new, it sounds like it's getting older. Nothing worst than maxing your budget on upgrades, only for the PSU to not be able to power them...and no money left to replace the PSU.
 
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Sales1ma

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Aug 10, 2016
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Okay thank you guys for your answers.

What do you mean by a "strict dual-core CPU''?

What I got out of that is that my video card is fine for now, but I am limited by my CPU and power supply? If that is the case then what wattage should I get? 600W? My current power supply is from a pre built computer from Dell. It was a family computer. My family doesn't use the computer anymore, so I just took it out and used it. I don't know the exact model of it.
 
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Sales1ma

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Okay I got ya. Also, to save money I see that AMD processors are cheaper than i5. The faster ones are cheaper than the i5 fast processors. Is it work it to switch out the motherboard all together and get a new processor and MOBO?
 
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arges86

arges86

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It'll prob. be more expensive to replace the motherboard and cpu on an AMD system then just the CPU for an Intel.
Besides,
Generally, the Intel CPUs (at most price points) have better performance per dollar than a competing AMD chip.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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By 'strict dual core', I mean that WoW does not appear to utilize the Hyper-Threading technology (dual core + HT = 4 threads) that the i3 has. Therefor, in a simplistic sense, WoW views an i5 (4 actual cores) as double the processing power of your current i3.

I'm not saying your GPU is fine for now (I've narrowed it down to an R9 270) - there's likely equal gains between a CPU upgrade and a GPU upgrade. Your GPU is ok overall, it's not the best, but it's far from the worst & should allow playable FPS.

Your FPS are likely kept low(ish) by the GPU, but the lower-end and min FPS are likely impacted by the CPU.
If you want to 'boost' your min FPS, the CPU would be the best upgrade. Boost high & average, the GPU would likely do that.

As for the AMD vs Intel option..... in the simplest sense, i5's will outperform their FX counterpart.
Although they're a little more expensive, the performance to cost ratio is much greater than AMD's offerings.
Switching platforms would not be beneficial to you at the moment, as the cost of the motherboard etc adds to that.

Your Dell PSU (or motherboard?) may well be proprietary though, and it might not be a basic 'straight swap'.

Even with an i5, a solid, quality 500W PSU is all you need.
Something like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($62.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $62.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-10 11:58 EDT-0400

*I know it's a 620W..... it's $4 more than the 520W option. PSU would be under less stress and would last you even longer (it's quality, so would last you a long time anyway!)
 
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Sales1ma

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That makes alot of sense. I am just trying to boost my min FPS then. So I would get the PSU you recommended and this CPU:
Intel Core i5-4690K Processor 3.5 GHz

What's your guys thoughts on that?
 
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Sales1ma

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So I found out what card I have. Its the 270x which got some good reviews. So I think it IS time for a CPU and PSU upgrade. Then I will upgrade the gpu later. Thanks guys!
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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As an FYI, I wouldn't necessarily recommend a 4690K. You likely have an 'H' series chipset (with no, or limited overclocking ability) and the K CPU would not be capable of utilizing its added capability. A standard, locked 4690 is likely cheaper, or a 4670, 4590 or 4570 would be cheaper options, without paying for features you can't use.

arges86 is right about it lacking Haswell support - good catch!

The 2GB aspect of the "R9 200 series" pretty much limited the 270X as the only option it could be, so no surprise there.
 
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Sales1ma

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Sales1ma

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I went ahead and bit the bullet on the K version so it's too late for that. But it will be okay for my motherboard at the moment right? As long as I don't over clock? Also with future upgrades in mind, should I just get a 600w psu in the future?
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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The new cx650m is a decent psu. That would be the first thing I would get. That 4690k will still work fine, just highly unlikely that you will be able to overclock. I using a 6700k, with an H170 board myself, for now anyway. The 270x isn't a horrible card, but WoW favors Nvidia. A future upgrade, to a GTX 1060, would be a nice leap in performance.
 
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Phaewryn

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No harm in getting the devil's canyon cpu, you just wont have use of its higher end features, it wont hurt anything to have it in there though, and if you decide on a later board upgrade, it'll still be a fantastic chip for your next build. I just went with the same chip as well. If you want to stick with an AMD graphics card (like you have now) but a newer one that will perform better, they now offer the RX 480, but like the poster above pointed out, nvidia cards seem to be much better at high end gaming. The AMD RX 480 is at a $250-325 price point. It's what I've decided on. But for WoW is seems the nvidia 1060 is doing fantastic, and would likely be a better choice for you at the same price point. But first get on that new power supply, before you fry all your new fancy expensive upgrades. I went with the evga supernova, personally. There's an article/post here on the power supply tier, it's very helpful in choosing a quality, safe, power supply: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html As for size, I wont bother with anything under 650watts. Mine is 850, I'm sure it's overkill, but better safe than sorry. Frying power supplies can not only kill all your components, they can burn down your entire house.
 
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arges86

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Most likely not:
http://blog.antec.com/power-supplies/under-powered-psu-myth/

But it can lead to shortening the lifespan of your components (by letting noise through).
I've even seen a truly terrible PSU (awhile ago... Athlon X2 days) cause system instability because it couldn't supply enough voltage on its 12V rail to support the system under taxing loads.
http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/powersupplysysteminstability.aspx
 
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Sales1ma

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Aug 10, 2016
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Well I got the evga super nova 750W. Modular. So that should work for some years now. I am going to upgrade to a GTX 1060 at a later date when I have extra money. But once I do, man! I think I MIGHT have beast on my hands. Thank you guys for all your help and information.
 
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Sales1ma

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Aug 10, 2016
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And maybe a new MOBO if I want to experiment with OC. One more question....if I want to OC in the future; when I replace my MOBO, do I have to install windows again? Or should it boot right up?
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Which SuperNOVA? There are different quality within that brand name.

G2, P2, T2, GS, GQ, PS are all top of the line.
B2 is good
NEX-Gold are 'ok'
NEX-Bronze are the worst of the line.

With a new motherboard, it MAY boot right up, it may not. I'd always recommend a clean install.

Which OS are you running? Anything less than Windows 10 and you'll likely need a new license to go with a new motherboard. Windows 10 seems to have changed some of that, and you should be able to reactivate.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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I didn't even know the G1 was still sold. Solid enough, not as good as the later models, but should be alright.

Windows 10, should reactivate on a new motherboard - you may need to link it to a MS account, the new revisions to licensing aren't 100% clear.
 
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