5350 GPU Upgrade question

[rjp83]

Hey guys,
new to this whole thing. My current setup is the ASrock Am1b-ITX with a MSI Radeon R7 360. I was wondering if I could upgrade this and get better graphics and performance, or am I pretty much held where I am at with this card. I know there have been issues with CPU coolers and the AM1 boards and a lack of product, but was wondering if the same was to say for the GPU. What if any would be my other options in regards to this? THanks for the help!

 

[EarthDog]

Depends.. we need more information to help! But yes you can upgrade the gpu.

What cpu is in that board?
What power supply do you have?
What games do you want to play?
What resolution is your monitor?
Budget?

 

[rjp83]

Sorry my bad. Cpu is an athlon 5350. Power is a 500w diablotek which I badly need to change from the horror stories I have heard, and the monitor is an aoc with a 1920x1080. Would like to stay under the 300 dollar mark of at all possible. Only games i play are counter strike go, overwatch and no mans sky all of which run great on the current setup but would like to bring it up a notch if at all possible without having to rebuild the entire machine

 

[EarthDog]

That diablotek is a hunk of junk.. yikes. Try EVGA 550B.

Athlon 5350... is a bit long in the tooth.

I would try maybe GTX 960..

 

[rjp83]

yea when i put this together I had the diablotek laying around so I just used it. Its on my list of things to change out in here. I will do that when I change out the graphics card. Thanks for the recc on the gtx 960. I will look into that.

 

[Woomack]

Athlon 5350 will hold you down while using any faster graphics. Maybe it would be good if it had ~4GHz. I'm just saying what I saw while using it. GTX960 is already fast card which will be limited by this CPU.
If you can get GTX960 cheap then go for it. If you are planning to rebuild system in not far future then get GTX1060. If you are planning to use this platform for longer then better get something 2nd hand ( auction or whatever ) GTX960, maybe 660Ti/670/770 if you find it really cheap. Buying more expensive card for A5350 is just wasting money. One thing is CPU/APU, other is that there are limited PCIe lanes - 4 for graphics card if I'm right.
Check prices on Corsair CX/VS or any similar lower series. Anything from Corsair/EVGA ( can add some other brands ) will be better than your PSU. Higher quality 550W will be more than enough.

 

[EarthDog]

Good point on the pcie lanes! This is another thing that will artificially limit that card... but only by a few percent anyway.

While the cpu will put a glass ceiling on the card, it will still be a significant upgrade.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

I'd go with a uses 7950/7970/670/680 on the cheap as Woomack suggests.

Not worth making half an investment on a machine which is on its dusk times...

 

[EarthDog]

Aren't each and every one of those cards faster than a 960... and therefore be held back more?

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Yes, but cheaper used...

Edit: mmm, I think they are on par with a 960 (7970=680=960)

 

[Woomack]

about the same performance in most games at 1080p but 960's TDP is much lower