$220 budget. Need help deciding what to do with it

otimus

Weaksauce
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So, I more or less have a budget of $220 right now free (Sold an MMO game account of mine, and the money now only resides in my paypal) Anyways, if you need to know my current PC, it's a 280X, 8GB of RAM, a 2500K overclocked to 4.5 Ghz, a 700W PSU, and a 1.5TB HDD. I game at 1080p/60Hz. As far as it should be concerned, all I really do with my PC is gaming, and anything I need is gaming performance. If it matters, too, I do live in the hellish heat of southern Georgia, so, if anything at all pertains to reducing heat, that might would be a good thing! Anyways, basically, what I'm wondering is, is would it be worth it to sell my current videocard, the 280X, and get a GTX 970, R9 390, or something similar. (I'd greatly prefer going back to Nvidia (Especially now that they're giving away MGSV for free, a game I was going to buy anyways.), but I'm open to other suggestions if the performance is there). If I sold my 280X, I'd get about $120+, which would give me a bit over $300 to spend on a new GPU. Or -- would it be better to just stick with what I have for now, and get like, an SSD or something? (I do not have an SSD). In any event, I'd be open to hearing all kinds of suggestions of what to do here.
If it matters, I'm currently playing The Witcher 3 and GTA V. I also play BF4. If need be, this is my steam library: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Otimus/games/?tab=all

Thanks for the help!
 
SSD is good for all around performance, but it doesn't do much of anything for boosting your frame rate

I didn't notice any difference with GTAV and having it on SSD vs HDD (may have something to do with crappy online loading times). Witcher 3 has noticeably improved loading times though (no BF4 so no comment)

Personally if you only care about gaming then a newer video card is always nice, that said I wouldn't choose to go back to HDD only; it certainly makes using a computer more enjoyable :)

edit:
I'm on a 290x, but I'm waiting for next gen to come out (fury x doesn't seem worth it to me)
 
SSD for sure. Will make your PC much more enjoyable.

970 is great, but your 280X is a workhorse.

Hang on to 280X and save for GTX 1070 or whatever comes next summer from Nvidia.
 
What 700W PSU do you have?
What case do you have?
 
220 USD budget?

Invest in YNAB and purpose the remaining 160 USD into various budgets (including one for each component in your PC you'd like to upgrade).
 
I guess right now, my main decisions are going to be either

A) Sell 280X, get a GTX 970
or
B) Buy a 2-3TB HDD and a 256GB Samsung SSD
 
I guess right now, my main decisions are going to be either

A) Sell 280X, get a GTX 970
or
B) Buy a 2-3TB HDD and a 256GB Samsung SSD

If gaming performance is your priority, then you should buy the GTX 970 first. You should try to time your purchase around a sale where you can buy the GTX 970 or around $320 or lower.

You should eventually grab the SSD, but I recommend a 500/512GB model instead of a 250/256GB model. You can now grab a good SSD like the Crucial MX200 (to provide another example) for under $200.

If the internal heat is starting to become a concern, then you may need to upgrade your cooling solution. What are you using as your CPU cooler? Are you still using the stock case fans?
 
If gaming performance is your priority, then you should buy the GTX 970 first. You should try to time your purchase around a sale where you can buy the GTX 970 or around $320 or lower.

You should eventually grab the SSD, but I recommend a 500/512GB model instead of a 250/256GB model. You can now grab a good SSD like the Crucial MX200 (to provide another example) for under $200.

If the internal heat is starting to become a concern, then you may need to upgrade your cooling solution. What are you using as your CPU cooler? Are you still using the stock case fans?

Heat really isn't a problem per say, it's just that if I could get something that ran cooler, it'd be a selling point. I've got a Hyper 212 Evo on my CPU with a push pull config, and 3 140mm fans, and a 120mm in the rear.
 
For those games you listed that 280X should be able to get really close to your 60 FPS cap. Although if all you do is game then you'll see the most performance with a GPU upgrade. SSD is nice, but not all games take advantage of the faster loading times. Sure the PC will boot a lot faster and most programs will open a lot quicker, but from a gaming stand point GPU is the biggest piece of hardware that needs upgrading. I wouldn't get anything less than a 500GB SSD though.

Are you running out of space? If you need more space then it's only logical to buy more.
 
For those games you listed that 280X should be able to get really close to your 60 FPS cap. Although if all you do is game then you'll see the most performance with a GPU upgrade. SSD is nice, but not all games take advantage of the faster loading times. Sure the PC will boot a lot faster and most programs will open a lot quicker, but from a gaming stand point GPU is the biggest piece of hardware that needs upgrading. I wouldn't get anything less than a 500GB SSD though.

Are you running out of space? If you need more space then it's only logical to buy more.

I'm not hurting on space so much, but that's because I delete anything I'm not playing.
 
I'm starting to think maybe I should just up my budget, get a GTX 970 and maybe a smaller (120GB or so?) SSD.
 
120GB is enough for windows and apps and a couple games. Go bigger.
 
I'm starting to think maybe I should just up my budget, get a GTX 970 and maybe a smaller (120GB or so?) SSD.

Don't. In addition to size/capacity concerns, the larger capacity SSDs often perform better than smaller capacity SSDs from the same brand and model family (e.g., 250GB is faster than 120GB, 500GB is faster than 250GB, etc.).

Heat really isn't a problem per say, it's just that if I could get something that ran cooler, it'd be a selling point. I've got a Hyper 212 Evo on my CPU with a push pull config, and 3 140mm fans, and a 120mm in the rear.

The only way to get better CPU cooling is to pay for a 240mm or 280mm closed-loop cooler like the Corsair H100i (240mm), but given how fast your Sandy Bridge processor is running, you don't really need it. (There's also the DIY water-cooling option, but how concerned are you about the heat?)
 
Don't. In addition to size/capacity concerns, the larger capacity SSDs often perform better than smaller capacity SSDs from the same brand and model family (e.g., 250GB is faster than 120GB, 500GB is faster than 250GB, etc.).



The only way to get better CPU cooling is to pay for a 240mm or 280mm closed-loop cooler like the Corsair H100i (240mm), but given how fast your Sandy Bridge processor is running, you don't really need it. (There's also the DIY water-cooling option, but how concerned are you about the heat?)

Mainly, when I initially mentioned heat, I just meant having a cooler running device (like a videocard) vs a hotter running videocard, if both were similarly priced/performed close to the same, the cooler one would be seen as a bonus. I guess I didn't really go about wording that properly.
 
Might I recommend saving for a better gaming monitor? You're 280x is just fine for your current resolution, but if you can step up to a 144hz monitor you'll find yourself wanting a bigger GPU, i.e. 980ti which can be had for just under $600 at jet.com or the 290x for $260 at Newegg.

Hell you might just want to grab the 290x now and save for a monitor later. Not sure how long that 290x will last at that price.
 
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Might I recommend saving for a better gaming monitor? You're 280x is just fine for your current resolution, but if you can step up to a 144hz monitor you'll find yourself wanting a bigger GPU, i.e. 980ti which can be had for just under $600 at jet.com or the 290x for $260 at Newegg.

Hell you might just want to grab the 290x now and save for a monitor later. Not sure how long that 290x will last at that price.

Did you screw up somewhere there and add an extra zero to his budget? :D

Don't listen to these people complaining, they just don't understand that it's possible to upgrade one thing at a time. You'd get a sizeable performance increase with the 970, and since you have to pay to cool that thing down in Georgia summers, I can see why you're hankering for the power reduction.

I would make an SSD your next priority. You can get affordable 256GB models now for $80, so you don't have to save all that much more. If you play a lot of MMOs this could greatly improve your game experience (instant load times as the game engine streams in new assets), but otherwise it would not massively improve your gaming experience.

Other than that, you should be set.
 
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I put the 980ti in there to show what he would need for gaming at that resolution if he stepped up to a better monitor. Wasn't meaning for him to get a monitor and a card.
 
1.) You can get yourself a nice ac unit.
2.)You can get a 144hz monitor (which IMO would probably have a great impact on a smooth gaming experience).
3.)SSD is not a bad choice.
4.)If you are pretty content with what you have now, which I would be, I would take that 220 and reinvest in something and try to make a bigger profit so in the next few months you can get nicer things.

4 would be the wisest choice.
 
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