Low budget gaming pc

[Wickatricka]

So I built a pc from old parts I found and I spent about 100 dollars on it.

Here are the specs that I'm focusing on.

Graphics card - HD Radeon 6770 1gb
Cpu - AMD Athlon 5350 Quad-core


Now I was thinking about upgrading my graphics card because its almost 5 years old. I was thinking if I just did that I would get way better frame rates. Of course the Athlon would bottle neck the shit out of it but I was thinking I would upgrade that later down the road.

Would that be a good idea? I have around 150-180 dollars to spend on a graphics card. I'm trying to stay on the low side so which graphics card would be the best option for around that price?

 

[Ambient_Malice]

I recommend taking a look at this guide from October 2015.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

You're pretty much guaranteed to be able to find a Radeon R7 260X or GeForce GTX 750 Ti for around $150. But if you're lucky, and savvy enough to hunt around, you mind find something higher end such as a GTX950 for under $200, which offers a bit more performance than those others I mentioned. Bear in mind your CPU will bottleneck you in certain games -- anything from Ubisoft made recently comes to mind.

 

[votemarvel]

What PSU do you have in there? Don't want to buy a new graphics card and find out it is too thirsty for your machine.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

From what I can find, your current GPU can draw 100 or so watts from your PSU, so upgrading to an Nvidia 950 should be doable for about 160$ (350w PSU requirement, so I doubt that's any different than what your current one demands). The AMD equivalent (Not quite sure what that is, AMDs system is a bit more confusing to me) should run you about the same.

Bottleneck in mind, you can get a Geforce 750ti for 120$, and that has a bit less power draw, and could still run most things on the market as of right now.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Do power supplies go obsolete quickly? Id assume newer tech would be able to get more power for less energy but prehaps thats naieve.

Im trying to learn more about PC building. I just discovered to my annoyance that my motherboard doesnt support modern ram which sucks. I dont know if it will happen with CPU and GPU like it does with RAM but keep an eye out for compatability issues when using such an old motherboard

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Do power supplies go obsolete quickly? Id assume newer tech would be able to get more power for less energy but prehaps thats naieve.

Im trying to learn more about PC building. I just discovered to my annoyance that my motherboard doesnt support modern ram which sucks. I dont know if it will happen with CPU and GPU like it does with RAM but keep an eye out for compatability issues when using such an old motherboard

PSUs are one of the few things that can "Future proof" in PCs. Some come with 10 year warranties. I've noticed that as tech upgrades, less or the same amount of power tends to be consumed on the lower/mid end spectrum of things, even as that technology advances. How much power you need depends on your build, though it's generally a good idea to get a bit more than what you think you'll need. If you build a mid-end, and then go on to build another mid-end 5 or 6 years down the line, odds are your PSU will still be good.

Most PSUs aren't that expensive, either- but be wary of the super cheap ones, as I've heard a lot of Dead-on-arrival stories about them. shelling out another 20-30$ for quality control isn't a bad idea.

 

[Wickatricka]

From what I can find, your current GPU can draw 100 or so watts from your PSU, so upgrading to an Nvidia 950 should be doable for about 160$ (350w PSU requirement, so I doubt that's any different than what your current one demands). The AMD equivalent (Not quite sure what that is, AMDs system is a bit more confusing to me) should run you about the same.

Bottleneck in mind, you can get a Geforce 750ti for 120$, and that has a bit less power draw, and could still run most things on the market as of right now.

I have a 600 watt psu. Pretty sure I'm going with the gtx 950. Thanks for replies.