Back to pc gaming and need an upgrade?

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Hello, i want to come back to pc gaming after my pc being switched off for the last 2 years, you lot on here helped me build it in 2011, this is the spec

Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics
Intel i5 2500 3.30 Ghz
16gig of ram


Is it worth an upgrade? would like to do it as cheap as possible, maybe its still ok? i need a monitor before i can try any games, i broke mine while moving house :(

Cheers for your help :)


Ps, Looking to play overwatch, cod, forza, bf1, fallout, (maybe not on highest graphics) and some new games, quite a lot of indi games
 
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Also would i be able to run 2x 24" monitors on that card? guess im going to need an ssd, takes about 5 mins to boot this thing up now
 
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What resolution are you going to be gaming at? The card that you had is pretty crap and wouldn't run anything nowadays. The minimum vram you really want on any GPU nowadays is 4gb but 6gb is better to have. If you game at just 1080p then the 1060 is fine. You could always change the cpu to slightly better one (K version) maybe a 2600k from fleabay and overclock it. Also grab a SSD for windows drive, it will be the best thing you ever do.
 
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Soldato
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Also would i be able to run 2x 24" monitors on that card? guess im going to need an ssd, takes about 5 mins to boot this thing up now

What connectors do your two monitors require? Are they both DVI? Be aware that most of the GTX 1060 and RX 480 cards only have one DVI port (some of the reference RX 480s have none).

And yes, get a SSD it'll make a big difference.
 
Soldato
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If wanting to run 2 monitors you would be better getting a 1070 I reckon or 980ti.

Depends what you use the second monitor for. If you're gaming on one monitor and using the other for web sites, video or whatever then it doesn't place much extra stress on the GPU.
 
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i dont have the monitors yet and still have the 6870, it will be a 1080 monitor, one for gaming one for websites, or one for programming (edgecam) and one for pdf drawings, would like to game on both but dont think the rest of the pc would be good enough, would i be better off getting 2 cheaper cards? also might need a power supply more than 550watts if i did that.
 
Soldato
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i dont have the monitors yet and still have the 6870, it will be a 1080 monitor, one for gaming one for websites, or one for programming (edgecam) and one for pdf drawings, would like to game on both but dont think the rest of the pc would be good enough, would i be better off getting 2 cheaper cards? also might need a power supply more than 550watts if i did that.

If you're looking at something like the 1060 or RX 480 then a single GPU is just fine at 1080p, even for a dual monitor setup. Just make sure that whatever GPU you get has sufficient connectors for the monitors you plan to get. Most of the current generation of GPUs have sufficient DP and HDMI connectors, but quite a few no longer support DVI (at least not without an adapter).
 
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RX 480 8GB and Freesync 1080p 144hz monitor for super fast gaming, SSD for your snappy OS drive and another 1080p monitor for productivity :) I would probably find the extra £90 to get 2 of the Freesync monitors as my OCD would kill me otherwise :D

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £619.92
(includes shipping: £0.00)


 
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Daaaveee, would that card run games upto the frequency of the monitor? also is the freesync thing any good? cheers

It depends on the game really but it will give good frame rates and make use of the freesync. Freesync is worth having as it smooths out the choppiness you get when the frame rate dips and rises as you move around in a game, and you dont get any tearing either. You could get rid of tearing by using V Sync but this adds a lot input lag that you dont get with freesync.

Also although the monitor is 144hz, you don't need to hit 144fps all the time to get a benefit. If you do then great but even 80fps feels a lot smoother than 60 :)
 
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Thanks, i will probably get that 144 monitor and Rx480 then :) just played just cause 2 on steam, at least my 6870 still runs that on high lol
 
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