Wondering what I should upgrade

[LibertyWorkHorse]

Hello there everyone, I have had this rig for 4-5 years and I'm feeling that lag from some of the newer games being made today. I wanted to post my specs and get some advice on whether I should upgrade a part or two, or just save up for a new rig.

Motherboard: MSi Z68A-GD65 (MS-7681)
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series
CPU: Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge Socket 1155 LGA (OC @ 4ghz)
RAM: 8 gigs DDR3 @ 800 Mhz

Also thinking about getting another SSD that is reliable and is selling for a decent price. Any and all advice is welcome! Thanks for your time

 

[lakimens]

Well, that CPU can still hold up to new titles, just get a new GPU like RX480 or GTX1060, and you'll be fine.
Also, if you have an old SSD, you should download some SSD tool, probably from the manufacturer that scans the health of your SSD.

 

[WildCard999]

Upgrading RAM and getting a newer GPU would be a huge improvement for gaming. As lakimens stated the CPU is still really good.

 

[lakimens]

That RAM is 1600Mhz, it's just that the PC shows it as that DDR stands for Double Data Rate.

 

[WildCard999]

That RAM is 1600Mhz, it's just that the PC shows it as that DDR stands for Double Data Rate.

I didn't mean the speed, was talking about upgrading from 8gb to 16gb. When I did that upgrade the computer in general felt a bit faster and more responsive but depending on your budget to upgrade 8gb is still enough.

 

[lakimens]

Well, yeah, if he needs more than 8GB, which he might for some of today's games, if he wants to multitask chrome and those games.

 

[dudeman509]

Absolutely the graphics card.

You can decide later on the RAM if you feel it's paging out a lot.

So far, I've really only seen Titanfall 2 and GTAV gobble up past 50% of my 16 GB of RAM when gaming. Otherwise, 8 is usually fine.

SSD, OTOH, would be an excellent investment if you don't have one.

 

[LibertyWorkHorse]

Upgrading RAM and getting a newer GPU would be a huge improvement for gaming. As lakimens stated the CPU is still really good.

is there something better than DDR3 I should be looking at? Thanks!

As for the SSD, I have a Force 3 Corsair 120 gig. Seems to be doing fine. I tried to do a firmware update, but I don't want to risk anything since I don't have any major problems, luckily. Once in a while my computer would lock up, no blue screen. But its really random, and I just updated my bios for my motherboard, so hopefully that fixed that problem!

 

[dudeman509]

DDR3 is all that your machine can use.

If you do upgrade, try to match the speed and timings of your old RAM as close as possible.

 

[LibertyWorkHorse]

Well, that CPU can still hold up to new titles, just get a new GPU like RX480 or GTX1060, and you'll be fine.
Also, if you have an old SSD, you should download some SSD tool, probably from the manufacturer that scans the health of your SSD.

Which graphics card is better? I've been using http://www.nowinstock.net/ to find a good deal on either one, I just want to make sure I get a good manufacturer at a good price. Will either one work for my motherboard?

 

[rcald2000]

What is your full upgrade budget?
Is this computer a prebuilt (e.g HP) or was built for you?
What is your goal? For example, are you simply looking to game at 1080p @ 60 FPS?
Name two or three games that you focus on playing.
What is your current power supply's manufacturer and model number?
You stated that you'd like to get "another SSD". What is your current SSD's manufacturer and model number?
What is the precise HD 6900 GPU that you have? e.g. 6950, 6970? Who makes it?

 

[LibertyWorkHorse]

What is your full upgrade budget?
Is this computer a prebuilt (e.g HP) or was built for you?
What is your goal? For example, are you simply looking to game at 1080p @ 60 FPS?
Name two or three games that you focus on playing.
What is your current power supply's manufacturer and model number?
You stated that you'd like to get "another SSD". What is your current SSD's manufacturer and model number?
What is the precise HD 6900 GPU that you have? e.g. 6950, 6970? Who makes it?

This rig is one that my friend and I built with some parts that we had at the time. GPU is a Radeon 6950 HD series
I would like to play some of these newer, higher end games, or rather any game at near best graphics/performance.
Doom, Space Hulk Deathwing, ESO, Civ 6
I'm looking to spend about 250 or less on a graphics card upgrade that uses the rest of my parts to the greatest efficiency. Maybe the same amount on a second SSD in the future. Right now I know I have a Corsair Force 3 SSD 120 gig, and a 750 W power supply I have to open up my computer to remind myself the brand for the power supply and model numbers for both. Thanks for the help!

 

[rcald2000]

* buy new EVGA GTX 1060 Gaming SC (6 GB) for $259.99
* sell used HD 6950 on Ebay for $35 - $60
* buy 8 GB DDR 3 kit (4 GB x 2) with proceeds from selling HD 6950, to bring system up to 16 GB (assuming you have two free RAM slots).

The beauty of buying the GTX 1060 6 GB, is that you can transfer it to a new system in the future, if you wish to.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487261

Addendum: Ideally the RAM you purchase should be the same brand, model and specs of the existing RAM, or close to it. It is fine if it happens to be faster RAM, just not slower. Your RAM speed is 1600 by the way because of the double-data rate (DDR).