What should I upgrade next?

tomriches91

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Dec 10, 2017
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4,510
I feel as if my PC isn't running games as well as it should, most games I play tend to lag a little. I'm not fantastic with computers and I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what I should upgrade to improve this?

Thanks

My build
Summary
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 3820 @ 3.60GHz 50 °C
Sandy Bridge-E 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-10-9-26)
Motherboard
MSI X79A-GD45 (MS-7735) (SOCKET 0) 36 °C
Graphics
DELL ST2310 (1920x1080@60Hz)
PHL 200S4 (1600x900@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (MSI) 35 °C
Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NA0 (SATA) 26 °C
232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (SSD) 29 °C
Optical Drives
ATAPI iHAS124 E
Audio
High Definition Audio Device
 
Solution
GTX1060 < GTX1070 < GTX1070Ti < GTX1080 < GTX1080Ti. I am no longer current on AMD cards, although I believe the RX 580 is roughly similar to the 6GB GTX1060, maybe a little stronger in many games, but not all; it also uses considerably more power.
^Agreed. The weakest part of that system appears to be the graphics card. Depending on the game, your network latency could also be causing lag, but there probably isn't too much you can do about it. Who is your Internet Service Provider (ISP), what speeds are you supposed to be getting, and what is your ping? http://speedtest.net can tell you what you're getting.
 
My ping is only 16ms, and I've seen it faster. Is your slow performance primarily in online games, or in any games?
To see if a new graphics card will help you, try turning down graphical settings, especially AA that uses more memory, and check performance. If it has notably improved, and you'd much prefer the higher graphics settings, then a new card will definitely help. If it makes little or no difference, it could be a network speed issue, especially if you're not seeing lag in non-network games.
For the money, a GTX1060 is a good choice. If your budget is higher, there are certainly stronger cards, but they'll cost a lot more. I'd want to be sure I would see meaningful improvement before throwing a lot of cash at a problem though.
 

tomriches91

Reputable
Dec 10, 2017
9
0
4,510


I don't tend to play online games often so I'm guessing it's more to do with hardware?

I did a little test on some of the games I play (Stellaris, Total War), while lowering the graphical settings on Total War helped a lot, nothing really happened with Stellaris, but to be honest there weren't many graphical settings on Stellaris and the lags tend to come late game.

I don't mind paying that little bit extra if it's going to last a little longer graphics wise, what other options are available?

I really appreciate your help.


 
GTX1060 < GTX1070 < GTX1070Ti < GTX1080 < GTX1080Ti. I am no longer current on AMD cards, although I believe the RX 580 is roughly similar to the 6GB GTX1060, maybe a little stronger in many games, but not all; it also uses considerably more power.
 
Solution