Looking to start PC gaming again

kingbean · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:26

Hi All,

I am looking to start PC gaming again after moving over to the PS4. I'm wondering if it is possible to get gaming again on my PC although I know my rig is some what old. Below is current spec:

Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.00GHz
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 DDR3 Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB 1600MHz C9 (currently only reporting as 4GB though)
HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
ENERMAX Noisetaker AX Series EG495AX-VE SFMA 2.0 485W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply

Is there any GFX card that I could upgrade to that would allow me to start back? I'm not expecting 4K but 1080p would be good at the higher end of the settings scale (possibly expecting to much?). Would mainly be playing FPS games and Destiny 2 if i could stretch to it.

Budget I am not sure on but a full new PC is out of the question.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Danny75 · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:41

GFX upgrade first makes sense as the 6850 is very much the weakest link.

Look for cards that pull 180W or less, and only require 1 PCI-E 6-pin connector (or none). Otherwise change PSU at the same time.

e.g. GFX: GTX 1050Ti medium settings on average @ 1080p 60Hz. GTX 1060 6GB high/ultra settings on average @ 1080p 60Hz.

The 4GB RAM report could be problematic unless it's actually using all 8GB fine anyway. Want to troubleshoot that?

kingbean · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:44

Thanks for the quick reply Danny. Any suggestions for a card and PSU?

Also troubleshooting the RAM problem would be great. Would upgrading the RAM to DDR3 2133mhz help?

Danny75 · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:50

kingbean said:
Thanks for the quick reply Danny. Any suggestions for a card and PSU?

Going to need some idea of budget at this point for that. Gave you two types of cards to look at. Second-hand other types also an option.

kingbean said:
Also troubleshooting the RAM problem would be great. Would upgrading the RAM to DDR3 2133mhz help?

No not much at all. It would also be wise to determine if a stick has failed, or a motherboard memory slot has failed, or nothing has failed (false report), before spending on new RAM.

Where are you seeing the report? Can you try CPU-Z and also HWiNFO64 and see what they say?

kingbean · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:09

Will try sorting the RAM issue out testing out a stick at a time. CPU Z is showing as 4GB as well.

Looking at this card. This would allow me to start gaming at 1080p without any other upgrades? I assume the 6GB version is a must?

Danny75 · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:19

kingbean said:
Will try sorting the RAM issue out testing out a stick at a time.

Cool. While you're at it, you could get an air can or something, and blow out any dust from the slots.

kingbean said:
Looking at this card. This would allow me to start gaming at 1080p without any other upgrades? I assume the 6GB version is a must?

6GB is better than 3GB already in a few games, even at 1080p. Plus the 6GB variant is a little bit faster too. I think that's a nice choice.

You can game for sure, if your PSU cooperates (card can pull around 175W and requires 1 x 6-pin so seems good), and bearing in mind that 4GB DDR3 is going to hold you back in some/most games these days. See what happens when you test the sticks and slots.

kingbean · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:33

Danny75 said:
bearing in mind that 4GB DDR3 is going to hold you back in some/most games these days. See what happens when you test the sticks and slots.

If I get this working as it should to 8GB, would that be sufficient?

Danny75 · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:39

kingbean said:
If I get this working as it should to 8GB, would that be sufficient?

Yes.

kingbean · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:42

Turns out it is only 4GB so is working fine. Guess that is showing my age, my memory (pun not intended) isn't what it was.

Guess RAM upgrade will be needed as well.

Thanks for your help Danny!

Danny75 · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:52

kingbean said:
Turns out it is only 4GB so is working fine. Guess that is showing my age, my memory (pun not intended) isn't what it was.

Guess RAM upgrade will be needed as well.

Thanks for your help Danny!

Better than having a failed stick/slot I guess.

If you're going for another stick, try find one that's same frequency, same timings (although this won't be an issue if they're not the same, you just run with the frequency/timings of the slower stick) and voltage.

You're welcome.

mistersprinkles · 19 Jul 2017 at 02:13

Any chance you are for some bizarre reason running a 32 bit operating system? That would be why you can't see your 8GB of RAM. Get that sorted first, then OC your CPU into the high fours and get a better GPU.