Upgrading an old PC from early 2011

[Deleted]

Hello! I've been running my current setup since January 2011 and so far it has served me quite well. Nothing has broken which has been quite surprising. I was able to play games on rather good settings until start of last year, but due to other things taking my time and money I haven't been able to build a new PC so far.

I am looking for more opinions on what one should do in my situation. I am aiming to be playing Legion and Overwatch on high settings with good performance this year. New good graphics card was something I was mostly thinking about for starters, but I am not quite sure how badly my processor would bottleneck any possible upgrades from GTX 480. I like to record video footage while I play, so ones that allow Shadowplay would be very much desired.

Are there any good cards to serve as an upgrade to my current card in around 300 euro price range? I was thinking of maybe buying a new card and slowly upgrading rest of the pieces as it seems if I want to upgrade anything else, I need to start from getting brand new motherboard.


I am currently running:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB
16 GB DDR3
MSI P55-GD55 Motherboard
Win 7 64bit


I was recommended GTX 750 Ti by a friend, but looking after looking at some comparisons it seems to be a downgrade in some areas from GTX 480. People in this case often bring up the power difference between the cards, but since my electricity is included in my rent and is fixed that way, lower power card doesn't change that much when it comes to expenses. I also found GTX 950 being sold for almost same price, but I don't know much about it nor if it would do much good with my current processor.

I am interested in hearing people's thoughts on the matter. I haven't honestly followed up on things since I built this PC in 2011, so I am quite out of the loop.

[lockblock]

I agree the 750ti is side/downgrade and even more so considering power use isn't to be factored in. I would keep saving and get the pascal x70 or x80 whenever they come out later this year. Don't worry about bottlenecks. Sure they might happen but in the long run it wont matter.

[Nakotsu]

As far as the 480 to a 750 ti I upgraded from a 480 to a 750 asus ti 2gb card and it was a huge upgrade. I heard there was a big issue with the 900 series thou so id recommend doing some research on them.

[DrStiglit]

gtx 960, r9 380 or gtx 970 or r9 390. Not sure how much they are in euros but the 960 or 380 should def be below 300. The 970 or 390 are ~ 300 USD so may be higher in euro.

If you aren't having many issues then upgrading to the 960 or 380 may not be worth it.

[Kagthul]

I cant recommend the 960 to most people given how close the 950 is in performance (and can be overclocked to be comparable) and how much cheaper it generally is.

If you're on a budget, the 950 is very solid. The 750 Ti is.. im not really even sure why they are still selling it, honestly, considering how much better the 950 is and the 950 is usually only 10-20$ USD more expensive.

[Deleted]

Thank you for your replies!

I agree the 750ti is side/downgrade and even more so considering power use isn't to be factored in. I would keep saving and get the pascal x70 or x80 whenever they come out later this year. Don't worry about bottlenecks. Sure they might happen but in the long run it wont matter.

As I said I am not really looking forward to any games from the distant future, the games I'd like to get working well are Overwatch and World of Warcraft. Both work "okay", but knowing Blizzard Legion will be even more heavier and I don't want to be turning down my settings. The game isn't known for its amazing visuals and I'd not want to have it looking any worse than it does now.

As far as the 480 to a 750 ti I upgraded from a 480 to a 750 asus ti 2gb card and it was a huge upgrade. I heard there was a big issue with the 900 series thou so id recommend doing some research on them.

I've mostly heard good things about 970, but it is a pricey card, but it is in 400 euro range. Haven't heard anything about 950 or 960 though. I did this comparison on the 750 ti I was looking into.

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index...eforce-gtx-480 It doesn't seem to agree, but I don't really know.

gtx 960, r9 380 or gtx 970 or r9 390. Not sure how much they are in euros but the 960 or 380 should def be below 300. The 970 or 390 are ~ 300 USD so may be higher in euro.

If you aren't having many issues then upgrading to the 960 or 380 may not be worth it.

I am having rather low frame rate in WoW at times on highish settings, it seems to be bit all over the place though. In some raids or cities it can drop as down as 20, while in some areas it is around 120. Also the inability to use shadowplay with 480 is bothersome, trying to record things and having enjoyable gameplay experience rarely happen anymore.

GTX 960s are about 240 euros and GTX 970s are in the low 400s it seems. I have a lot of bad experiences with Radeons from the past, I don't plan on going back to those unless I really have to.

-------

Would slapping a Asus STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5 GeForce GTX 960 O.C. 4GB onto my current setup be completely idiotic thing to do? Would I benefit much or do I need to save up months to upgrade everything in one go?

Edit:

I cant recommend the 960 to most people given how close the 950 is in performance (and can be overclocked to be comparable) and how much cheaper it generally is.

If you're on a budget, the 950 is very solid. The 750 Ti is.. im not really even sure why they are still selling it, honestly, considering how much better the 950 is and the 950 is usually only 10-20$ USD more expensive.

The price difference between a Asus STRIX-GTX950-DC2OC-2GD5-GAMING GeForce GTX 950 O.C. 2GB and the card I mentioned above is only 40 euros though. I am not sure if I am allowed to post links to the store sites.

[DrStiglit]

I think the 4gb on the 960 is worth the $40 difference vs the 2gb on the 950. They are close in performance, especially if you OC the 950 but you can't increase the ram.

I would go Nvidia too if I didn't have a freesync monitor. That helped sway my choice to AMD.. Also finding a great deal on an open box 390 for $250...

[Kagthul]

I think the 4gb on the 960 is worth the $40 difference vs the 2gb on the 950. They are close in performance, especially if you OC the 950 but you can't increase the ram.

I would go Nvidia too if I didn't have a freesync monitor. That helped sway my choice to AMD.. Also finding a great deal on an open box 390 for $250...

the 4GB of VRAM on the GTX 960 is utterly useless, actually.

The card is not powerful enough to drive games that need 4GB of frame buffer at resolutions and framerates that are playable. Its quite literally lipstick on a pig.

[moremana]

the 4GB of VRAM on the GTX 960 is utterly useless, actually.

The card is not powerful enough to drive games that need 4GB of frame buffer at resolutions and framerates that are playable. Its quite literally lipstick on a pig.

This is not completely true, it depends on the game your playing.

[Kagthul]

This is not completely true, it depends on the game your playing.

No, it really doesn't.

I'm sure Lathais can weigh in here, he posted about dozen links the last time this came up with benchmarks to pretty much every game under the sun. I think maybe one game got better performance (AC: Unity or something?) and it was like 2fps extra.... and still sub-40fps. (And possibly because of the card because the 4GB model was factory OCed quite a bit higher than the 2GB model, so...)

At any resolution/detail setting where the extra 2GB of frame buffer becomes relevant, the GTX 960 cant produce playable framerates anyway.

Its a waste of money.

[moremana]

No, it really doesn't.

I'm sure Lathais can weigh in here, he posted about dozen links the last time this came up with benchmarks to pretty much every game under the sun. I think maybe one game got better performance (AC: Unity or something?) and it was like 2fps extra.... and still sub-40fps. (And possibly because of the card because the 4GB model was factory OCed quite a bit higher than the 2GB model, so...)

At any resolution/detail setting where the extra 2GB of frame buffer becomes relevant, the GTX 960 cant produce playable framerates anyway.

Its a waste of money.

This is one I dug up in a few. Its not earth shattering but to say theres no benefit is completely wrong and for $12 bucks more...meh

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/18...-vs-2gb/Page-2

[Sorshen]

No, it really doesn't.

I'm sure Lathais can weigh in here, he posted about dozen links the last time this came up with benchmarks to pretty much every game under the sun. I think maybe one game got better performance (AC: Unity or something?) and it was like 2fps extra.... and still sub-40fps. (And possibly because of the card because the 4GB model was factory OCed quite a bit higher than the 2GB model, so...)

At any resolution/detail setting where the extra 2GB of frame buffer becomes relevant, the GTX 960 cant produce playable framerates anyway.

Its a waste of money.

Well...



Then again, I'd argue R9-380 is a better pick in this price range.

[Deleted]

Thank you for your input, I will order some parts this week. So far I am more than likely going ahead with Asus STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-4GD5 GeForce GTX 960 O.C. 4GB and replace my processor's stock cooler and upgrade it for Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 4 and see if I can overclock it. I had two Radeons in the past and I had a horrible time, I haven't had any complaints with my NVIDIA cards though, so I don't see a reason to change.

What I am hoping to accomplish is to be able to play Legion on high/ultra settings, Overwatch on good/high while also being able to record both with Shadowplay. Also was told that it might be able to run Witcher 3 on medium settings with about 30-40 FPS. I am hoping to be busy with those three games for next year or two on the side while studying, so beastly PC would be bit of a waste.

[Sorshen]

You need a really good CPU for WoW, I'm not sure it will carry you to high/ultra settings.

[Deleted]

I can't really get many better processors added onto my current motherboard and I don't really have the money to splurge onto a new motherboard, cpu and a new GPU at this time. Also upgrading enough to allow me to use Shadowplay instead of fraps makes a big difference for me. Also having less noise would very much be appreciated.

[Kagthul]

Well...



Then again, I'd argue R9-380 is a better pick in this price range.

Which was the one game i mentioned as showing any difference because of how abysmal the port is.

It shouldn't require 2GB of Frame Buffer at all. Its just a shitty Ubisoft port.

[Lathais]

This is one I dug up in a few. Its not earth shattering but to say theres no benefit is completely wrong and for $12 bucks more...meh

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/18...-vs-2gb/Page-2

and that benchmark shows exactly what he said. There was one game that there was a massive difference. The rest of the games, the small difference that is there is easily explained by the fact that they used a factory OCed 4GB card and stock clocked 2GB card. Of course an OCed card is going to see gains over a stock clocked card. Really dumb comparison they made there.

They also state at one point:

Less Exciting, But Useful at 1440p

I would not even consider using a 960 for 1440p. It can barely handle 30FPS at 1440p, why bother? Saying this is almost as bad as comparing an OC card to a non-OC and saying the difference is due to something besides the OC.

For anything the 960 is designed for, which is 1080p play at med-high settings(not Ultra like they tried in those benchmarks, ROFL), 2GB is far more than enough. Sure, some games you can play well at Ultra(I have a 2GB 960 and do), but when you buy the lowest end gaming card out of the current gen(I bought mine before 950s were a thing), you don't expect to play anything on Ultra. 4GB is a gimmick on that card, lipstick on a pig, seriously. Of course, the difference in price of the cards has dropped, it was close to a $50 difference when they first came out. Combine that with the fact that the 4GB cards are going to have a good factory OC on them(to make them look better than they really are) and it may be worth it, but not really. I'd rather just grab a 950 and OC it and it will perform nearly the same, if I didn't just get an R9 380 which is clearly the better choice.

[Deleted]

Besides all the 2gb vs 4gb which will depend on the games you play and price (i would def buy the 4gb version for 10-20bucks more but not for 50).
Op the 960 will server you well enough for wow 1080p. But that cpu will struggle in raiding even if you overclock it. 99.9$ sure that i7 was before intel pushed the ipc up, sandy bridge was the 1st one i think. If you really raid competitive and want to avoid those 15-20fps drops you have no choice but to get a new cpu/mobo/ram, overclock won't cut it. It will surely be better than stock but it won't help more than 3-4fps.

[Deleted]

Besides all the 2gb vs 4gb which will depend on the games you play and price (i would def buy the 4gb version for 10-20bucks more but not for 50).
Op the 960 will server you well enough for wow 1080p. But that cpu will struggle in raiding even if you overclock it. 99.9$ sure that i7 was before intel pushed the ipc up, sandy bridge was the 1st one i think. If you really raid competitive and want to avoid those 15-20fps drops you have no choice but to get a new cpu/mobo/ram, overclock won't cut it. It will surely be better than stock but it won't help more than 3-4fps.

I don't know, I've seen people do nice things with the overclocked i5 750 so far. I'll take my chances, spending more money isn't an option for number of months and I won't touch Radeons again. I've had two and both have failed me in the past, besides I want my Shadowplay. My current fps with bit lowered settings in raids is around 40-50 FPS, but I can't record boss kill footage or anything of the sort due to my only option being Fraps.

If I wanted to upgrade my mobo and processor anytime soon, I'd need a bundle. Stores in my country don't do bundles and ordering from the UK costs about 50-60 euros just for shipping. Don't know about Germany, but if the delivery fees are anything like that then what I would otherwise save in the component costs, I pretty much lose in the shipping costs. Also upgrading mobo I'd need to get DDR4 ram most likely maybe even new power supply, which simply isn't an option at this time. That'd be extra 400-500 euros ontop a new GPU.

[Lathais]

I don't know, I've seen people do nice things with the overclocked i5 750 so far. I'll take my chances, spending more money isn't an option for number of months and I won't touch Radeons again. I've had two and both have failed me in the past, besides I want my Shadowplay. My current fps with bit lowered settings in raids is around 40-50 FPS, but I can't record boss kill footage or anything of the sort due to my only option being Fraps.

If I wanted to upgrade my mobo and processor anytime soon, I'd need a bundle. Stores in my country don't do bundles and ordering from the UK costs about 50-60 euros just for shipping. Don't know about Germany, but if the delivery fees are anything like that then what I would otherwise save in the component costs, I pretty much lose in the shipping costs. Also upgrading mobo I'd need to get DDR4 ram most likely maybe even new power supply, which simply isn't an option at this time. That'd be extra 400-500 euros ontop a new GPU.

Without a new CPU you are not going to get the results you are looking for. For WoW, the GPU you have is plenty. If you are having issues recording/streaming, shadowplay is a decent option, but a better option is getting a CPU that can actually handle it. Also, if you get a new CPU, you could switch to using OBS and OBS can use the integrated intel graphics to do it's work which in my experience works better than Shadowplay or OBS using NVENC(which basically uses shadowplay biut not really).

The choice is yours, but if you upgrade the GPU, you are not going to see a lot of difference other than shadowplay. The game will not run any better than it currently does and if you want to do any editing/rendering with those videos you make, the better CPU will also help A LOT more than a GPU.