I need help with my gaming performance

So, I have a really crappy computer. I have Overwatch on the lowest settings and the lowest resolution, and only get a choppy, jumping 12- 24 fps per game. I bought this computer before I began to play games extensively.

However, my budget is very small, and I need to know if it’s better to save up for a better computer (in the $600 - $850 range), build my own computer over time, or take the computer I currently have and upgrade its parts. It’s only a year old.

If you do recommend upgrading/purchasing parts, can you give me suggestions? I’m not very knowledgeable in computers at all, and would like to know what I have to have.

h ttps://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-slimline-desktop-amd-a8-series-4gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-hp-finish-in-glossy-black/5759906.p?skuId=5759906

This is the computer I currently own.

I think saving for a better computer is the rite choice if you are not in a hurry. Because computer parts gets old really fast. And better models comes each year. And requirements for software and games also demands more with each year.

If you upgrade your current computer you will run in to trouble finding parts for it in future. And most of the games will not even run in it.
But if you save money and get a new one you can use it for a long time than the current one, and you will be able to get good fps and play most of the new games.

If you have money you can upgrade your current gpu just enough to get stable fps for Overwatch and then save money for a new one.

I mean shouldn’t have 14 fps with this PC, your graphics are in low right? I play in a notebook and i have 30-40 fps.

dont bother with that at all. build one
h ttp://www.logicalincrements.com/

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You can find Youtube video on making a cheap computer. Or maybe buy a console for your budget.

What is for sure is that Overwatch is unplayable at 12 to 24 fps…

Yeah, they are. I’ve checked multiple times with other people to make sure my settings were optimal. 40 fps sounds heavenly at this point, lol

Since you’re on a budget build your own and go for last gen used parts. You can get a beastly rig for 600.

Also your HD can be reused.

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I go the incremental upgrade route, doing things myself. Some parts like GPU, cooling, drives, PSU, case, etc can be re-used between builds. When you buy a new mobo normally that means new CPU & RAM.

But if that PC is a non-standard case then you might have difficulty with that (looks like an all-in-one slimmed down case).

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You don’t have a “crappy” computer, it’s just a computer that is not made for gaming.

It doesn’t have a dedicated graphic card which is the first thing you should look for if you want a gaming computer. What’s more, it’s a slimeline model. That means is smaller than a normal computer and your upgrade options are very, very limited. Don’t buy a slimeline model if you want to be able to upgrade it someday.

You should wait until you can buy a new PC. If you want my advice for the next time you buy a computer, don’t buy a slimeline model and make sure it has at least a mid-range graphic card, 8 GB RAM and a decent processor.

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Oi mate, i build systems in my freetime and often resort to used parts, maybe i can do something for you here ^^

Lets get started with the most basic stuff, Mobo, CPU, RAM and of course, your graphics card.

Your current system sports a Notebook CPU, the A8-7410 was launched in 2015, so its a few years old and the 4GB of RAM arent doing you a favour either.

The route i would suggest is going with cheap and used I5s and I7s, you will get decent performance even for modern titels with a used I5-6600, you can pick those up for around 150-200 bucks.

Throw in a Z270 or Z370 motherboard for 130-180 bucks for good measure and top it up with 8GB of DDR4 RAM for 80 bucks a pop brand spanking new. You can go with used here, but not many people sell DDR4 as it is the current generation.

If you need a cooler for your CPU as well, take the most basic Hyper212 for 20 bucks brand new.

your system needs power, since youre on a tight budget, modular wont be the leading thing here, so i suggest a nice 500W PSU, look into some from maybe Corsair for like 80 bucks brand spanking new. You want to take close attention if you buy used here since your powersupply affects every other component in your system, so dont cheap out here.

As for mass storage, you can grab the HDD out of your old rig then, i read it has a 1TB drive in it.

As for the case, just take a cheap (maybe even used) case that supports ATX as your formfactor or mini/micro-ATX. You can get cheaper mobos in the smaller mini and micro formfactor, but you do have to watchout since your cooling solutions will be more limited and the choice of your GPU is limited as well.

Were now at:

CPU: 150$-200$
MoBo: 150$-180$
RAM: 80$
Cooler: 20$
PSU: 80$
Case: like, 60$-100$

that leads us to a grand total of: 540$-680$

The rest of that budget can go into your GPU.

you can go risky and buy used mining GPUs, look for those who specifically say that they were undervolted, never ran hotter than 70°C and who got taken care of nicely. If youre not sure about it, leave the deal and hunt for another.

As for otherwise, get a used GTX 970, 1050ti, 1060 or 1070 (yes, those too, ive seen ads for used one sat ~300$) and youre good to go.

I would always recommend to save up and build your own system, you can expand it, repair it and change parts on your own and you learn a lot from it. And its really like LEGO just with more expensive parts.

If you dont know how to build your own systems, there are tons of vids on YouTube that show you how to do it.

As for the prices, i pulled them off of ebay germany and converted the EUR straight to USD, in just a 1:1 ratio. We are on the expensive side of things then since normalle the EUR is higher in value than the USD.

If you have any questions, dont be afraid to ask, some are Elitists but most gamers who build their rig themselves are kind and share their experiences and tips gladly with you.

o7
tatzecom

EDIT: I forgot to mention it, but this:

is quite the helpful tip. I got 2x 1TB SSDs for 300bucks there, shipping included. I had to pay 50 bucks import taxes, but that was because i imported it from the US of A to germany, but it is still 100-150$ cheaper than buying them fresh outta box on amazon.

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Your Notebook has dedicated graphics, his rig doesnt. His rig also utilizes a mobile chip from 2015 with Radeon R5 graphics, not the best imho.

Its a intel HD graphics the minimum for the game and is a integrated one.

eah maybe the intel integrated graphics are faster than the Radeon R5 graphics. Its a mobile chip after all, i have an Radeon HD 8750M chip in my laptop and Overwatch struggels a lot with it, i also just get around 24fps, in 720p with 75% render scaling.

@OP

Maybe cou could turn down the render scaling as well? From 100% to 75% maybe or something in the likes, if you output 1080p, you can scale it down to 50% to get an effective 720p picture without all the mumbo jumbo of big icons and stuff, maybe look into that aswell

Hi eridad,

I can’t provide consultation on your journey, but I wish you all the best.

Shown below are the minimum and recommended specs :desktop_computer: :

There are very knowledgeable users on these forums who will be able to provide valuable insight on this subject. Thank you for playing and I hope you can level up your Overwatch experience!

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$850 is a tough market now this day in age. As everything has SKYROCKETED in the consumer price index. Most parts are as follows to get you decently good hardware. You dont need to break the bank. But this is the average shopping list prices you will spend on a gaming rig.

Motherboard: 180
CPU: 260
GPU: 270
OS: 120
HDD: 70
Power supply: 125
RAM: 105
Extra Cables: 35
CPU Cooler: 22
Case: 165
gaming Monitor: 270
Gaming Mouse: 50
gaming Mouse pad: 30
Gaming keyboard: 65

Overall its about $1,700.00 to get into the pc gaming market to have an “ideal experience” on overwatch.

I would disagree with this. You don’t need to spend anywhere near that much to have an “ideal experience”. You can run this game on max at 60fps on a 1k rig, so you could definitely go much lower than that.

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Depends upon if you play hitscan or not, and how much quality you want in the gameplay. Trust me, this is about the ideal route a person would go to play amazing games.

This specific post has a comment below it that is a list of things to do when you have low FPS. Make sure you have done everything on it. The upper link will take you straight to that comment.

Hey, eridad.

Your first priority would be to upgrade your Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
An Nvidia GTX 1060 should be able to do it and i would recommend tweaking your graphics settings.

Some forumers have found what i posted to be used so if you think that it can help, you can have a look at this post as well.

The game is ABSOLUTELY FINE on a mid-range rig. You don’t need 240fps with negative input lag on supersampled max settings in order to play the game the way it was intended, and going out of your way to spend more than you need to isn’t going to give you a noticeably different experience. That’s just what people claim when they’ve never played the game on a mid-range rig and don’t know what they’re talking about.