Hardware upgrade question! Please help!

[tevans2057]

I am wondering what the weakest link is in my current PC ( I built it on my own). Right now I get good performance on Ultra settings, but still get some FPS drops here and there in SC2. I do also get some severe drops in Fallout New Vegas, and even in League of Legends i get FPS drops during some fights, which makes me wonder if something i have done is hideously wrong. (I run all games at 1080P Full settings).

Here is a list of my hardware!

Processor : Amd Phentom II x4 965 3.4GHZ (not overclocked)
RAM : 4GB DDR3 ~1600 speed
Video : Nvidia Geforce GTX 560TI (Manufactured by Gigabyte) 1gig DDR5 Video Memory
Mobo : MSI 870 G45
Power Supply : 500W
Hard Drive : Western Digital 1TB (32mb Cache, 7200RPM, SATA)

Any advice would be great, as I am looking to upgrade a component art of my PC.

Thank you all for your help!

If i should be posting this some where else, please let me know, as i just signed up for the forums today.

 

[iceclock]

your hardware looks good enought to run games on high, so i wouldnt see whynot it wouldnt work at an optimum level, make shur u got all the latest windows updates and hardware drivers, and ur bios is at its latest,

 

[tevans2057]

Yeah I thought that my specs would be plenty to run these games, which is essentially why I am posting on these forums. I am seeking advice, so anything at all would be appreciated. If its not my gear, perhaps there is a diagnostic tool or benchmark system I could use to make sure my system is running everything correctly, and at optimum levels?

 

[Uther39]

AT fill 1080p resolution, you will notice an FPS drop on the harder titles, Crysis 2, Metro etc etc, as its pushing it for your 560ti, so its your GPU thats causing the drop a GTX 570 to 580 or SLI your 560 would resolve the FPS drop.

 

[tevans2057]

Hrmmm, what do you think would be the best investment? Getting a 2nd 560ti , or getting a 570 ? Also as a side note, any good websites to sell used hardware? I am in US by the way.

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[iceclock]

newegg.com or ncix.com

 

[simon12]

Before you spend big bucks I recommend you try dropping your settings 1 notch from ultra and see if it really takes away from the game at all. You could also try a small overclock if its just a few extra FPS you need. BTW you can't SLi on that chipset.

 

[tevans2057]

Hrmm, well thanks everyone for your input, i really appreciate it. So it would seem that a GPU upgrade is my best choice here, any advice for affordable GPU's that would give me a significant performance enhancement? I know the 580 is good and the 590 is really good (but out of my price range). I have mainly been an Nvidia guy but i am open to radeon suggestions too.

 

[tevans2057]

Best answer selected by tevans2057.

 

[Uther39]

Invest your money in one of these,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121432

They are truly an excellent card.