Upgrading my Rig - Need advice

[Cromodus]

Hello,

My PC is due for an upgrade, the games I play get less than optimal FPS. I was sure it was a graphics card issue until I ran a benchmark test with PC Wizard and apparently it's my processor.

Goals
With Diablo 3 and Planetside 2, I usualy run with about 40 FPS, however, it drops to 10-20 during large fights. This is what I'd like to eliminate.

Budget: Up to 800$


I have 4GB of RAM and I'm wondering if I really need more. I have a hardware monitor installed on my computer and the ram never gets near being full.

System Specs
> Mainboard : Gigabyte GA-790XT-USB3
> Chipset : AMD 790X
> Processor : AMD Phenom II X4 965e @ 3400 MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096 MB (2 x 2048 DDR3-SDRAM )
> Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
> Hard Disk : Western Digital WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device (1000GB)
> Hard Disk : SAMSUNG HD502HI (500GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW CH10LS20
> Monitor Type : LG Electronics LG TV - 47 inches
> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
> Network Card : Broadcom BCM4309 802.11a/b/g
> Operating System : Windows 7 Enterprise Professional Media Center 6.01.7600 (64-bit)
> DirectX : Version 11.00
> Windows Performance Index : 5.9 on 7.9

 

[ganoly3]

Hello. I would recommend upgrading from 4 GB of RAM to at least 8 GB. You could also upgrade your CPU to an AMD FX-8120/8150 if you wanted(requires a motherboard upgrade). If you want Intel, go for the i5-2500K or i5-3570K. The GPU is alright unless you want a big boost. If you do, then go for a GTX 660 ti if your budget allows. All of these are just suggestions and helpful advice.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I might also increase RAM to 8 GB if only because it's cheap. You should overclock your CPU to gain a good boost in performance before considering an upgrade.

 

[Cromodus]

I posted this in another forum and the people there are of the opinion that it's a heat management issue.

Considering my hardware, I should be getting better framerates in general.

I didn't check which one but some fans in my PC get very noisy during gaming.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Check HWMonitor.

 

[amgamer29]

Well 4 GB is not exactly what you would want to have in a gaming rig. So upgrade it to 8 GB. Anyway RAM is pretty cheap these days.
Yes your processor is definitely the issue here.
If you are an AMD fanboy then FX 8120/8150 should be great but as it is well known as of today hardly anyone would recommend AMD over Intel.
So you can get i5 2500k but if you are not comfortable getting almost 2 year old technology then Ivy brigde i5 3570k beats i5 2500k by a little margin but also costs a little more.

Intel processor should also last you a little longer than AMD.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey

 

[Cromodus]

Well 4 GB is not exactly what you would want to have in a gaming rig. So upgrade it to 8 GB. Anyway RAM is pretty cheap these days.
Yes your processor is definitely the issue here.
If you are an AMD fanboy then FX 8120/8150 should be great but as it is well known as of today hardly anyone would recommend AMD over Intel.
So you can get i5 2500k but if you are not comfortable getting almost 2 year old technology then Ivy brigde i5 3570k beats i5 2500k by a little margin but also costs a little more.

Intel processor should also last you a little longer than AMD.

My mobo has an AM3 socket, which is a bit outdated. If I get a new processor I'll have to change the board as well

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From the looks of it if I want to upgrade a single piece I'll have to revamp the whole machine so I'll probably get some ram, a better heat-sink/fan and overclock it for a year or two until I start from scratch.