Looking for advice on upgrades...

[thewallofsleep]

I debated posting this in the Guild Wars 2 "can my computer run it" thread, but since this is more of a specific question and request for advice, I figured this might be a better subforum for my post.

Based on canyourunit.com, I know my computer far exceeds the minimum requirements for Guild Wars 2. The issue is that I don't want to run the game on medium or high settings and have lousy frame rates or blocky textures. I understand that with MMO's performance isn't usually as strong as it is on single-player games, and I can deal with that. I don't require ultra, but I would like it to be on the high end of the quality spectrum and have as few frame rate issues as possible (big gathering with dozens of players, I know most any computer's performance will suffer). I usually lower shadow quality and number of particles for spell effects in games which makes little difference to me visually, but seems to help out performance a lot.

My system is a Dell Studio XPS 8100, bought in late 2010.
-Windows 7 Home Premium
-Intel Core i7 CPU 870 (Guess it runs at between 2.9 and 2.93GHz. Is this low for an i7?)
-8gb RAM (I'm not sure what kind, I think it's DDR3)
-ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series (I don't know the exact model. The computer was bought in a store, and I'm unsure what chipset manufacturer Dell uses)
-1TB HD (Not SSD)

*I want a recommendation of a decent video card which will beef up my system, as I imagine it is the weak point of the rig. I'm looking for something under $350.00 USD. I already have a pretty nice BFG 600 watt PSU that I can put in my computer to replace the stock one, which is only a pathetic 350 watts. I have a general knowledge of this stuff, more than your average computer user or casual gamer, but not the kind of information a more serious hobbyist would have. I just want the best bang for my buck with the processor and RAM that I have; looking for the best combination basically.

*I was also thinking about overclocking the processor a bit (get it at least over 3.0 if possible), though with the new GPU, I wonder if I would need an even stronger PSU. I also have absolutely no idea how to overclock a CPU. I watched a video on youtube about it but still wouldn't feel comfortable doing it myself. I don't have any tech friends that live close enough who could do it for me. Is it even necessary with the system I have, and for wanting it for Guild Wars 2? I can play Skyrim on high or ultra settings with HD texture mods and other facial and body texture mods with pretty much no slowdown.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[OhpUldum]

I've been looking around at video cards this morning and found the price/performance ratio of the Radeon HD7850 to be a pretty good balance.

Check out this MSI Radeon HD7850 2GB GDDR5 on sale for $209.99. $50 off is a pretty good deal at the moment. However your budget does permit an upgrade to the next model up I just found its price/performance ratio not worth it especially since its around a ~20% performance difference but at the price of $100+ dollars more.

[thewallofsleep]

I've been looking around at video cards this morning and found the price/performance ratio of the Radeon HD7850 to be a pretty good balance.

Excellent recommendation. This seems like something that would be right up my alley. If my chipset is crossfire compatible, that card is inexpensive enough that I could possibly get a second one sometime if I want, though then I would DEFINITELY need a stronger PSU.

Still looking for opinions on the overclocking question, though as mentioned, I'm pretty sure that the video card is probably going to make a bigger impact on my system's performance, as my CPU seems to be pretty decent from what I've read, which is middle of the road, but on the higher end of that range (correct me if I'm wrong).

[teebo]

I dont think you will be able to overclock. Dell and all.

[n0cturnal]

Excellent recommendation. This seems like something that would be right up my alley. If my chipset is crossfire compatible, that card is inexpensive enough that I could possibly get a second one sometime if I want, though then I would DEFINITELY need a stronger PSU.

You can definitely run crossfire 7850 on a 600W PSU if it is of good quality.

[lockedout]

I dont think you will be able to overclock. Dell and all.

You can't OC, Dell locks the bios.
You may have a turbo boost feature that would get you to maybe 3.2 not 100% sure.

[thewallofsleep]

I dont think you will be able to overclock. Dell and all.

I don't know anything about overclocking really, so reading or watching videos wouldn't help me, so I'll take your word for it. I ran the Intel Processor ID utility and found that my processor (which has "Turbo Boost") is actually running at 3.19 GHz, which according to what I've read, is pretty damn awesome for the kind of chipset I have, "better" than some processors with a slightly higher speed. I'll be happy with what I have for now, but may upgrade next year to something a little stronger.

Thanks for all the information everyone.