Gaming PC Build Ideas

Hey everyone, so here's the deal:
I'm trying to figure out how much room I actually have to upgrade my GPU on this current setup:
AMD A4 3400 ×2 2.7Ghz
MSI A75MA-P35
4GB Corsair 1600Mhz
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
running on some absolute junk of a power supply... but I just picked up
EVGA 550 BP (if anyone can tell me if this thing is actually any good)
plus another 4GB of Corsair RAM, so really the bottleneck is the graphics card. Could I swap in something better? I'm looking at an AMD A8-3870 (also, if someone could explain that APU to me—I can't find anything online about whether it's the K version or not)
My budget is roughly $150 plus maybe an aftermarket cooler. Thanks.

I’m just not following—what exactly do you have on hand right now? Are you actually keeping that power supply or what? Honestly, at that price point, you could probably find much better options elsewhere. And regarding that AMD A8-3870, is it included in the deal or is that an extra cost? If it's extra, how much are we talking? Look, for the price of two sodas, you could basically overhaul the entire platform and just hold onto the RAM, then sell off everything else to break even.

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, I’m just lost on what you actually have sitting in front of you right now. Do you even have this power supply or not? Honestly, at that price point, you're better off just buying something else entirely. And this AMD A8-3870—is that included, or are you paying extra for it? If you're paying extra, how much? You could probably swap out the entire platform for the cost of two pizzas and just hang onto the RAM.

I've got the power supply and the RAM. The CPU should be arriving in a few days.

How much are you actually dropping on that CPU? I guess it feels like a bit of a waste to upgrade such an old, dead platform, but maybe you know something I don't.

fadedorca66 said:What’s the damage on that CPU? Seems like a waste of cash to upgrade a dead platform that's already seen its better days.

Djabe, the CPU isn't even my main concern here. I'm mostly just obsessing over the GPU so I can eventually lug it over to my next build... that's why I'm asking if the power supply can actually handle the load.

A power supply might not be much to look at, but it gets the job done.

LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB DDR5, XFX-R9-270A-CDFC
SanDisk SSD 120GB, Samsung EVO SSD 2.5"

Total: $1,853.84

Since there's only an AMD A8-3870, I guess you could try a light overclock.

If you're getting the CPU for free, I say go for it. You could probably grab that setup from crimsonstag84 plus an extra 4GB of RAM and be pretty much set.

Just grab this setup and you're all set:
1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 256Bit DDR5
1 x SanDisk SSD Blast R560/W425, 120GB, 7mm, 2.5"
1 x CPU Cooler LC-CC-95, Intel/AMD, 90mm 4-pin
1 x Corsair 1X4GB DDR3 1600 Low Pr

Total: $694 free shipping

Robert Ortiz58 said:Just take it like this and you're all set.
Just grabbed one NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 256Bit DDR5.
So, I picked up one of those Patriot SSD Blast R560/W425 drives—the 120GB version, 2.5-inch, standard 7mm thickness. Just a basic little thing. Honestly, sometimes you just need something small and cheap to get a system breathing again without spending a fortune on some high-end NVMe nonsense that most people don't even need for basic tasks. It’s fine. It does the job.
One single CPU cooler, LC-CC-95 style. Works for both Intel and AMD setups. It’s got a 90mm fan with a 4-pin connector. Simple enough.
Just one stick of Corsair VS550... wait, no, I'm looking at my list here. It's 1 x 4GB DDR3 1600 Low Profile. Just a single module. Honestly, I don't know why I'm even staring at this specific part right now. Probably because my old rig is acting up again. Typical. One stick. That's all I've got on hand.

Total: $694 Free shipping. Finally.

Is there any way I can squeeze more out of this budget for an SSD? And seriously, is there really nothing better than what's out there for under $300? Because if I have to shell out extra just to get a decent cooler, then I'm looking for a card that actually hits that $300 mark on its own.

crimsonstag84 said:There's only the AMD A8-3870 available, so you could probably squeeze out a little bit of an overclock if you're feeling adventurous.

So, thanks k, but couldn't I just throw in something like a 280 or a 380 for the GPU instead?

Given how much juice that power supply can actually handle, I guess the GTX 960 would probably be your best bet here.

It really has to be this way if you want it to work:
1 x ASUS GeForce GTX 960, 2GB 128 bit DDR5
1 x Memory Device SanDisk SSD DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC (4GB,1600MHz(PC3-12800),Single Rank,Unbuffered) CL11
1 x CPU Cooler LC-CC-95, Intel/AMD, 90mm 4-pin

Total: $709

Robert Ortiz58 said:Fine, if that’s how we’re doing this:
So, I've got one ASUS GeForce GTX 960 in here—the 2GB version with the 128-bit DDR5. Just sitting there.
So, I found this one stick of memory floating around—it's just a single 4GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 module. It’s running at 1600MHz (you know, that PC3-12800 standard) and it's non-ECC, single rank, unbuffered stuff. Latency is sitting at CL11. Honestly, looking at specs like this just reminds me of that old desktop I used to tinker with back in college when I was trying to squeeze every bit of life out of a budget build. It's basic, nothing fancy, just the kind of thing you grab when you're trying to patch up an old machine without spending a fortune. Not exactly high-end enthusiast gear, but hey, it does the job if that's all you need.
One single CPU cooler, the LC-CC-95 model—works for both Intel and AMD setups. It’s got a 90mm fan with a standard 4-pin connector. Simple enough.

Total: $709

P
So, why on earth would you even need 12 GB of RAM? Honestly, I feel like people just throw numbers around these days without thinking about it. It’s like when my buddy tried to convince me he needed a massive heavy-duty truck just to drive to the grocery store in Phoenix—totally overkill, right? But then again, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's actually useful. I don't know. It really depends on what kind of mess you're trying to run on your machine. If you're just browsing some basic sites or doing office work, you probably don't need to go that high. But if you've got a million Chrome tabs open—which, let's be real, is basically all of us—that extra memory starts to feel less like a luxury and more like a necessity. I remember back when I was messing around with an old setup, things felt snappy until the moment they didn't. Now, everything is just bloated. So, yeah. 12 GB? It’s that weird middle ground between "bare minimum" and "total overkill." Depends on how much of a multitasker you are.

How on earth do you get 12? You have 4GB, you buy another 4GB, and then you'll have 8GB total.

He already bumped it from 4GB to 8GB if you actually read the post 😬

Christian Ruiz84 said:I should have the power supply and the RAM/CPU in a few days

You don't need 12GB; just the GPU and a cooler should do it... though I guess you should keep in mind that even an overclocked AMD A8-3870 won't really be able to keep up with a GTX 960.

I’d probably suggest going with the MSI 960 instead, because from what I can gather, the Gigabyte version only uses a single heatpipe, whereas the MSI model actually packs three

crimsonstag84 said:Look, you don't even need 12GB. Just grab a decent GPU and a better cooler and call it a day... though, honestly? You should probably realize that even if you overclock that AMD A8-3870, it's still gonna bottleneck the GTX 960. It just won't keep up.

Man, you're really out here bringing me nothing but bad news :/ xD

Look, that's a decent GPU, but pairing it with an APU—especially one that old—is definitely going to cause some bottlenecking. That said, you could always just jump straight to a GTX 960. If that processor holds up okay, you can actually squeeze quite a bit of performance out of the GTXica; it varies depending on the game, but it's doable. Plus, once you grab it, you'll have a solid card ready for your next build.

You could basically look at the AMD A8-3870 as an improved version of the Athlon II 6xx series (AM3), maybe something along the lines of a Core 2 Quad Q9450. If you overclock it to around 3.5GHz, it might still pull its weight for a bit. But if you can scrape together $250–$300 by next fall, I guess it would be worth just switching over to an AMD Zen or Skylake platform entirely.

It shouldn't really matter if you hit a bit of a bottleneck since it was essentially free. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? 😬
Alternatively, you could put that money toward an SSD—that might actually be a smarter investment. To be honest, there are a few games out there where you'd really struggle to even max out the performance of that Radeon R7 260.