I need upgrading advice (I may be asking too much though)

[SidheKnight]

Hello my fellow MMO-Champions!

My current PC can't run the lastest games at a stable 60 fps on high graphic settings, which is my goal.

For example: I'm currently running Far Cry 3 on medium-to-high graphic options at around 40-45 fps. Guild Wars 2 spikes from 39 to 54 fps every time I turn around the corner (again, mid-to-high settings). And RIFT.. oh, god; RIFT is unplayable (don't know why, GW2 has better graphics and at the same time runs smoother). Even WoW starts decreasing fps if I go full ultra.

My question would be: What setup should I get to achieve 60fps stable on the games I just mentioned without spending more than what's necessary? (If I can reuse parts of this setup, the better, so I spend less money).

This is my current rig:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 945 @ 3.00 GHz (quad-core)
Motherboard: Gigabyte 880gm-usb3
RAM: 12 GB, DDR3 SDRAM, 670 MHz dram frequency, 2000 MHz NB frequency
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6870, 1 GB, GDDR5
Power Supply: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550W
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bits
Resolution: 1920x1080

[Toffie]

You need a new power supply, CPU, motherboard, ram & a GPU.

Do you need the games to run on ultra, or is high/ultra fine?

[SidheKnight]

You need a new power supply, CPU, motherboard, ram & a GPU.

Do you need the games to run on ultra, or is high/ultra fine?

Well, high/ultra is fine, but maybe if I aim for ultra I will be able to keep the hardware for longer before upgrading again.

What do you think? Is it worth the difference in price to go from high/ultra to full ultra?

[Toffie]

Full ultra requires a overclockable CPU which ends costing around 90 $ more.
You could run ultra settings with things like shadow on medium and still do very good.

A system at 630 $ should handle every game you mentioned at close to maxed out with some setting tweaking.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H87M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Wintec AMPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $626.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-13 00:54 EDT-0400)

[chazus]

Notably, Far Cry 3 is pretty intensive. Even a 760 will only get about 40fps on High/Ultra, as far as Im aware

- - - Updated - - -

Also:

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $627.95

PSU sale ends in two days. If you want to get any of those setups, grab the PSU -now-

[SidheKnight]

Is my power supply really that bad? And I thought 12gb ram was ok for gaming?

Not complaining, just curious.

[chazus]

My mistake, I included the ram because Toffie did. You've got 1333 ram, so that ought to be just fine.

The power supply is up to you. The CM Extreme Power Plus is a particular poor quality PSU. You don't HAVE to replace it, however you do so at your own risk. Notably, the XFX 550w psu is on sale for $30 for another couple days. I personally think everyone who owns a computer should buy one tomorrow just to have it on hand.

[Toffie]

I replaced the ram since it might have higher voltage than 1.5v which may not work on some haswell boards.

PSU is very bad though according to this review : http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...y-Review/969/9

[SidheKnight]

Thanks for the answers guys!

I didn't know PSU was bad, I'll change it.

[Deleted]

Yes i agree power supply