Help a poor computer noob

[Valo56]

Hey guys. Anyone any good at shopping for parts and upgrading computers? I know I've caught you talking about mouth-watering computer parts before on IRC. :P

I have an HP Envy h8-1534 which I bought back in late 2013, and I'm looking to upgrade it, specifically with a new graphics card and power supply. I've not done anything fancy with it yet, it's got everything it came with. Its graphics card, an AMD Radeon HD 7570, simply does not cut it. While I can run most anything I want to, that is usually at lower settings, unless it's a particularly optimized game. (Oddly enough, I can run Skyrim at max graphics settings yet Garry's Mod only on lowish settings.)

As I'm looking at getting newer games like Star Citizen and Grand Theft Auto as they come out, as well as other resource intensive games like Arma III that are already out, I feel I've reached a point where I need an upgrade.

My price range is between $300-450, for both power supply and graphics card.

Any suggestions?

Also, full disclaimer, I'm a computer noob. It's been almost ten years since I did any real work on computers, and that was just building some for a class in high school. While I'm not woefully inept, I am paranoid of getting something that isn't even compatible with my computer or motherboard, so try and suggest things you're certain will work with my computer, or tell me what I need to look for to tell.

Thanks for reading. :)

[Kotenku]

I can't really account for why Garry's Mod runs poorly on your system, Valo, but it's not a problem with your GPU.

I  can't recommend trying to build a PC to the requirements of Star  Citizen, because at this stage the final game's requirements aren't even  known. Your best bet there would be a lot more money, and a new  computer from the ground up, and also to give them another $10,000,  because who knows it it's ever really going to come out anyway...

Anyway, some websites list the minimum GPU requirement for Star Citizen as an AMD Radeon HD 7970 which sells on Newegg, Refurbished, for about $190.

If  you want something better than that, look for a card with more RAM, and  with a form factor that fits in your machine. Yours has 1 PCIe x16 2.0  slot. Current GPUs use PCIe x16 3.0 - they can still work in 2.0 slots,  but not as well. Some cards will require extra space, so just be aware  of that; it's pretty straightforward.

For a PSU, generally all  you need is to make sure it has connectors for everything in your  machine, and more Wattage than what you've got now. Try to go with a  reliable brand - I like Corsair, but Antec, EVGA, and CoolerMaster are pretty reputable as well.

All this aside, though, prevailing wisdom with upgrading computers is that you cannot future proof a machine.  You could spend $2,000 dollars now, and build a machine that will run  Star Citizen on Ultra settings when it comes out - Or you could wait  until it comes out, and spend about half as much on equivalent parts  which will run the game just as well.

Hope this helps.

[Sankis]

If you're willing to spent up to $450 to upgrade a prebuilt, my suggestion would be to keep saving and when you have about $800-900 you can build (or purchase for a premium) your own system that will far outperform that system, even upgraded.

The garry's mod problem is strange. Graphically that's a 10 year old game. My guess is that it's something specific to your install or you're being bottlenecked in a way thats not GPU related.

[Valo56]

Probably, it's a non-issue in any case as I don't even play it anymore. I'm just looking to slowly upgrade this thing over time, perhaps exchanging it entirely as time goes by until I have a completely new system. My goal is to be able to handle games such as Arma III, Shadow of Mordor and Grand Theft Auto on higher graphics settings. It doesn't have to be great (though if I'm up toward the top of my price range it had better be), but I'm beginning to notice this thing's inadequacy more and more (especially with Shadow of Mordor most recently, and to a lesser extent Elite: Dangerous).

[Kotenku]

Valo,

I can't really recommend that plan, but in that case you should probably start reading some guides online about what to look for and what to expect, since next time you upgrade, you're going to want to swap out your Motherboard and Processor - which means you'll (almost definitely) need a new installation of Windows as well.

In the meantime, look for a graphics card with DirectX 12 support, more than 2GB of VRAM, and a higher rating on http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/, and a PSU with more headroom, 600-750W is excessive, which, if you're looking to upgrade repeatedly in the future, at least gives you enough headroom that you won't have to replace it twice.

[Valo56]

Duly noted, I'll keep looking into it. Thanks.