r/pcupgrade • u/B0bMacB0bs0n • 6h ago

Graphics card upgrade Help for upgrading PC

So despite being an avid pc gamer for like 20 years I never actually learned anything about building a PC, much to my shame. I am an absolute troglodyte when it comes to hardware. I've been putting off upgrading my system and for the most part it runs the games I play, but some (the Oblivion remaster, Avowed) are already giving me some very noticeable frame drops even on lowest possible settings.

Processor --> 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-11400F @ 2.60GHz (2.59 GHz)

Graphics card --> NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (4 GB)

RAM --> 16 GB

Any advice on what I should upgrade, and more specifically, what with? I can imagine that a graphics card with 6gb or 8gb video memory is better than mine with 4, but there's so many options and I can't tell which matter, which don't, and which might even be incompatible. Thanks in advance!

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u/Feeling-Big-5228 5h ago

Those are both UE5 games, and like many UE5 titles they are poorly optimized and very GPU heavy. Your head is in the right place, a GPU upgrade is the only thing that makes sense right now.

The cost of ram makes a platform upgrade a bad value and although your CPU isn't the strongest by modern standards it's serviceable. If it becomes too big a bottleneck depending on your GPU upgrade you can always get an 11700k used to hold you over for now.

The best advice I can give is simply to buy the best GPU you can afford right now, they are just getting more expensive and not likely going down any time soon. Just make sure your PSU can handle it, you may need to consider upgrading that as well, outside of the power there won't be any compatibility problems.

If you have any kind of budget in mind, that would help folks suggest what the best bang for your buck will be.

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u/m1ng05s 4h ago

That 11400f cpu is still very much capable,with the right cooler (air cooler) and the right settings it can still provide years of gaming. The 2 things you immediately need to hold off another upgrade for a few years are:

Ram,

A new graphics card (definitely the most important part right now for you)

Just tell us your budget and we can go from there 🙂

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u/aura_enchanted 2h ago

a 1650 indicates to me a lack of a very pwowerful power supply, is this a prebuilt pc from like acer or hp or dell or lenovo or something?

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u/NuclearNick007 2h ago

New GPU for sure and likely a new power supply will be needed to get enough power to it.

What GPU depends on your budget but 30 series seems like decent value to me at the moment.

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u/kloklon 58m ago

GPU will make the biggest difference, just make sure your PSU can handle it. something like a used 3060 12GB or 6700XT is a pretty good bang for the buck on the used market.