Upgrade path? ( I want to play games again. )

[Campy]

The obvious problem in that rig is the graphics card, disregarding the gpu even the vram won't be enough for simple modern games even on low settings. What you need to upgrade to depends on what kind of fps you want aswell. If you're fine sitting at <60fps you could try something like a (used?) 1050/1050Ti or 560/570 and if that doesn't satisfy, start looking at other used options like those mentioned in this thread, or plan for a full system rebuild.

 

[x0red]

I want to thank everyone for their input . I appreciate it.

The rx 580 8GB and the 1060 6GB are roughly ( roughly ) around the same price , with the 1060 being a bit more expensive but with 2 less GB ram.

Is the 580 a good card? Do you foresee any benefits if i were to pay an extra 40$ for a 1060? Do i benefit from anything having a 580 with an extra 2GB ram vs the 1060?

If i dropped the 580 in my current setup , can i get away with playing games until i can afford a new cpu / mobo and ram?

Such a damn conundrum i'm facing. It will probably be my last build before i die , if i can manage to stay alive long enough.

I have to go re-read everybodies response , if i do not answer you immediately it's just my ADD... I do appreciate your help and questions.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just get the RX 580 that's on ShellShocker at Newegg. $230 - $10/15 (?) gift card.

 

[beginner99]

If i dropped the 580 in my current setup , can i get away with playing games until i can afford a new cpu / mobo and ram?

You can play but the CPU is also clearly a bottleneck and some new games might not run at all or very slow.

You need to make some fundamental choices right now. Do you want to invest into PC gaming or nor and if yes how serious are you? Just casual? Do you want to play online competitively or just single-player? And so forth.

GPU is clearly the bigger bottleneck and should be replaced first. However which one depends on when you will upgrade your mobo+ CPU and for how much. And if you are so low on money are you sure you don't have other more important stuff to spend money on than gaming?

The cheapest option is to buy used and play older games that you can get on steam sales for like $10 a piece. Price for games add up quickly...

 

[VirtualLarry]

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125966&ignorebbr=1

If you don't mind a gimped 4GB VRAM RX 570 card (Gigabyte dual-fan, should be decent quality), they have some for $139.99 after a $20 MIR. ($159.99 before rebate.) Also includes AMD's three-game bundle pack, which may be worth something to you.

I'm thinking of getting one, if they're not sold out by tomorrow, just to get the game bundle pack. (Already own an RX 560, RX 470, and four RX 570 cards. They're good cards, though not quite as performant as the 1070ti 8GB I briefly owned.)

Edit: Speaking of which, my friend is in a similar situation. He has an AM2+ ASRock board, with VRM-section solid caps, supports 140W AM2/AM2+/AM3 CPUs according to spec, but it's 10 years old too. Currently has an Athlon II X4 640 and 4x4GB DDR2.

Would the above RX 570 card be waaay overkill for his rig currently? What if I gifted him one of my Phenom II X6 1045T 2.7/3.0Ghz (only three cores turbo at a time, at stock) CPUs, would that play games like Soul Calibur VI OK?

Thinking that could maybe help him out a bit this Nov.

Edit: The alternative solution, besides a complete platform upgrade for my friend, would be dropping in one of my two GT 730 2GB GDDR5 cards I just recently picked up for similar purposes. That might match better with an Athlon II X4, but it might not be enough to play SCVI PC.

 

[Flayed]

It will probably be my last build before i die , if i can manage to stay alive long enough.

Sorry to read this, are you sick?

 

[zinfamous]

I want to thank everyone for their input . I appreciate it.

The rx 580 8GB and the 1060 6GB are roughly ( roughly ) around the same price , with the 1060 being a bit more expensive but with 2 less GB ram.

Is the 580 a good card? Do you foresee any benefits if i were to pay an extra 40$ for a 1060? Do i benefit from anything having a 580 with an extra 2GB ram vs the 1060?

If i dropped the 580 in my current setup , can i get away with playing games until i can afford a new cpu / mobo and ram?

Such a damn conundrum i'm facing. It will probably be my last build before i die , if i can manage to stay alive long enough.

I have to go re-read everybodies response , if i do not answer you immediately it's just my ADD... I do appreciate your help and questions.

You will need to replace the CPU as well, as others have mentioned, because that old gal will only be utilizing some 60% or so of a 580. (I had the same CPU way back when, but replaced it in ~2012, I think).
580/1060 class are more or less perfect for 1080P and with most of the eye-candy, so I wouldn't worry about spending much more beyond that. ...but if you do want to get into VR at some point, then you need to think Vega 56 or 1070 as the bare minimum, most likely. ...but then on top of that, it's ~$500 for the VR gear, I believe.

I didn't see anyone mention this, but the RX 590 is supposed to be released relatively soon, and nVidia appears to be upgrading the 1060 as well, so you may want to wait a bit to see what those offer. If price isn't way off, then the supposed 10% performance gain with the 590 over the 580 might be worth it.

If you are an AMD person, then you probably want to look at the Ryzen 2600/2600+, or even one of the Raven Ridge APUs? ...that would be an efficient way to step up your setup now and toss in a discreet GPU some months from now when there's a better picture of performance and price, if you feel you need to go that route.

 

[Jaskalas]

If you want max nice settings*, you'll want a 1060 (6gb) or 580 or equivalent.
If price is more of a concern, you can easily enjoy 1080p with a 1050Ti or 570 or equivalent.

PS, "max settings" varies by game, and most are not needed / are wasteful at true "max", and look 100% perfectly fine at a slightly lower setting with much higher FPS.

 

[ZGR]

That CPU needs replacing. If you are at 60hz, a basic quad core from AMD Ryzen or Intel Core is fine. 1 single GPU that is RX 570 or GTX 1060 performance will let you max games out at 1080p60hz.

I would recomnend splurging more on a 1080p144hz or 4k60 monitor. There are models available in USA under $200. This will mean a GTX 1070 or Vega 56 or max settings at 1080p144hz or medium settings for 4k60. For Fortnite, my buddy is completely CPU limited at Tilted Towers with a 4c8t i7. 1060 is idling.

Fortnite at 144hz is highly recommended and even a 1060 is overkill.

 

[Flayed]

Is the 580 a good card? Do you foresee any benefits if i were to pay an extra 40$ for a 1060? Do i benefit from anything having a 580 with an extra 2GB ram vs the 1060?

The 580 is a good card. I would buy it over a 1060. I don't believe a 1060 is worth $1 more than a 580. The extra 2GB of vram most likely won't benefit you much if at all.

If i dropped the 580 in my current setup , can i get away with playing games until i can afford a new cpu / mobo and ram?

You will be able to get away with playing games, but perhaps not the brand new AAA blockbuster games. Unfortunately, online multiplayer games tend to tax older cpu's very heavily so these type of games may not run great.

Still may as well buy the GPU first and save up some monies. If you have been out of the loop from gaming then there will be plenty of older less resource heavy games for you to enjoy.

 

[mopardude87]

Drop any form of msaa in any modern title and i am sure even a 1070 will be more then enough for 1080p max and 60+ fps. I played BF1 for a short bit on my 1070ti and my i5 4670 had that gpu at like 40-70% gpu usage all maxed at 1080p. Had to go to like about 150% scale resolution before the gpu became the bottleneck again no joke.

The i5 4670 sorta today mind as well be a x4 955,all the games going seriously multithreaded and BF1 stutters on the I5. I ended up ordering a i5 8400. Hyped to see what it does.