PC Upgrade Ideas

Alright, here’s what I'm running right now.

Intel Core i3
NVIDIA GeForce GT Series 1Gb
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSB0 SATA CdRom Device 500Gb
Kingston 4GB RAM
MSI MS7721 A78M-E35 AMD A78 FM2+ M/B
550W power supply

So, I want to upgrade this thing because some games are lagging, and I guess I need to swap out a few parts. First off, I'm planning on getting more RAM, but I have no clue which GPU would actually work with my current motherboard to make sure everything stays compatible. 🙂
Basically, I need advice on RAM, a new graphics card, and maybe a power supply. That's about it.
Thanks for any help.

What kind of power supply and graphics card are you running exactly?

The power supply is an EVGA 550W ATX, but I'm a bit stuck on the graphics card. 🤣 Since I bought this PC pre-built, I didn't get any of the original boxes—my mistake, I guess 🤦—so now I'm seeing conflicting info about the GPU. I listed it as an NVIDIA GeForce GT Series above because that's what shows up when I boot, but there's a sticker on the card itself that says HD7770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E, which is pretty confusing. 😵

mistyhound94 said:I'm using an EVGA 550W ATX power supply, but the graphics card has me a bit confused. 🤣 Since I bought this PC pre-built, I don't have any of the original boxes lying around (my bad 🤦), so the specs for the GPU are all over the place. I listed the R7 200 series above because that's what shows up when I boot up, but there's a sticker on the card itself that says HD7770 1G GDDR5 PCI-E, so now I'm just lost. 😵

Yeah, the card is definitely a 7770, basically an R7 250X. Your main issue is the power supply; honestly, don't even think about upgrading anything else until you swap that out. THIS is a great deal, for example—grab that first, then you can actually start planning an upgrade. As for RAM, just grab the cheapest 4 GB of DDR3 RAM you can find, and regarding the GPU, there’s no point going higher than an XFX R9 270, otherwise you're just going to run into a massive bottleneck.

ASUS Radeon R7265-DC2-2GD5 Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC
KINGSTON ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC (4GB,1600MHz(PC3-12800),Single Rank,Unbuffered) KVR16N11S8/4
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
Corsair SS-400ET, 400W, bulk

$631 Centro

crimsonstag84 said:ASUS Radeon R7265-DC2-2GD5 Kingston ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC
KINGSTON ValueRAM DDR3 SDRAM Non-ECC (4GB,1600MHz(PC3-12800),Single Rank,Unbuffered) KVR16N11S8/4
LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95 - 90mm
Corsair SS-400ET, 400W, bulk

$631 Centro

That's way too much, $433 for a 265i. Other shops have the 270 for the exact same price.

Alright, I have more questions. Why would I need a better power supply? 😁 I mean, isn't 400W enough? 🤔
And another thing regarding the RAM. I was thinking about grabbing a dual kit, maybe this or this since I read that having matching sticks is supposedly better. That would work for now, I guess, but I'm wondering if I eventually upgrade to 2x8GB RAM, will it even work with my current motherboard, or should I just plan on upgrading the whole board later on?

To be honest, Microsoft makes subpar power supplies; a 400W unit from Corsair will outperform that Microsoft junk any day. As for the RAM, the sticks don't necessarily need to be identical.

Adam Moore3 said:That feels steep, $433 considering you can grab a 270 at other retailers for basically the same price.

Actually, I guess there are plenty of $17 XFX R9 270 cards out there with shorter warranties and weaker coolers, and honestly, the performance gap is pretty slim—maybe just 5-15%.

mistyhound94 said:Alright, I’ve got some follow-up questions. Why go with a better power supply? 😁 In my mind, isn't 400W plenty? 🤔
And there's the RAM situation. I was thinking about grabbing eitherthis or this as a kit since I've read that having two identical sticks is much better. That works for now, but I'm wondering if I decide to upgrade to 2x8GB later on, will this combo play nice with my current motherboard, or should I just plan to swap the whole thing out down the road?

That Corsair unit is basically a luxury spacecraft compared to that Microsoft one (it's way more powerful, higher quality, etc.). If you want the gritty details on your Microsoft setup, practically everything applies to this.

You don't need 12GB of RAM for gaming.

Honestly? If I were you, I'd just upgrade the RAM and leave everything else alone.

Chris Robinson25 said:Honestly... I'd just move the RAM up there and leave everything else alone.

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Chris Robinson25 said:Honestly, I’d probably just stick to upgrading the RAM and leave everything else alone. Maybe that's all it needs.

Bryan Taylor6 said:Signature

That alone probably won't fix the stuttering; I guess you'll just see fewer hiccups and maybe a few extra FPS here and there.

Honestly, it’s not really worth sinking money into that rig unless you're planning to overclock the processor—then maybe you've got something.

Timothy Kim60 said:That Corsair unit is basically a luxury spacecraft compared to that Microsoft one. It’s leagues ahead in quality, I guess. If you actually care about the details for your Microsoft setup, the Corsair is worth just about anything. Whatever.

I guess you don't really need 12GB of RAM for gaming. Maybe.

Yeah, I read that article you posted. I had no idea those kinds of power supplies were even an option, I guess. 🤔 Well, I guess that was taken into consideration, so I'll probably just end up going with that Corsair.

I guess I'll probably need at least 8 GB of RAM to handle current titles and whatever comes next. Plus, I really want to run GTA V without all that stuttering, even if I have to settle for low settings.

crimsonstag84 said:That alone won't fix the stuttering. I guess it might reduce the hitching a bit and maybe squeeze out some extra FPS, but that's about it.

With my current setup, I’m barely hitting 40 FPS when things get heavy. I play Dota 2—which is moving over to that Reborn update—so I already know what's coming. During a big fight, I'll drop from 50 FPS down below 30 and the whole thing just starts stuttering. Without the Reborn stuff, I could maybe hold a steady 50, but since Dota 2 is transitioning, I doubt I'll be able to play it properly at all. That's why I'm looking into an upgrade. 😁 I'm just trying to figure out how to get my other games running at a decent resolution. I guess. Maybe if I can actually improve the picture quality. 🙂

Chris Robinson25 said:It probably isn't worth putting money into that build; maybe if you overclocked the CPU, it might make sense.

You're making it sound like an old single-core Celeron on a Socket 478 board with an AGP slot.😬

The processor is pretty much on par with an AMD Phenom II x4 955... I guess with a little overclocking, it could actually handle an R9 270. That card is more than twice as fast and should hold up fine until he upgrades his whole setup, which hopefully won't be for at least another year.

That’s exactly what I was thinking—overclocking and a GTX 750 Ti. Anything less than that just isn't worth the hassle.

So, am I supposed to overclock this thing too? Well, the BIOS actually has that option available, so I guess I'll just go ahead and do that then. 🙂

Overclocking? Locked processor, a dead motherboard, a Microsoft power supply... I'm guessing you're running the stock cooler?

mistyhound94 said:So, should I try overclocking? Well, the BIOS has the option, so I guess I'll give it a shot. 🙂

Man, man... when you don't ask, the answer is obviously yes—assuming everything stays stable. You can probably squeeze another 10-15% out of that chip. That motherboard isn't much to write home about, though, so don't expect miracles. You'll see... or I could just swing by and check it out myself 🙂