Upgrade from a GTX 1050 ti

[Miserablegit]

I'm looking at upgrading the pc in the study which is currently:

Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H310M-A: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP

I know the first thing I need is more RAM.

It's fine for everything it is used for but my son plays Fortnite on it and wants a bit more graphics horsepower. I'm looking at spending as little as possible to get a noticeable graphics upgrade.

My main PC is an old i7 with a GTX980 - I had been planning on upgrading that and then putting the 980 into the i5 but new graphics cards for the i7 are still expensive for the amount of use it gets these days.

Grateful for any feedback

thanks

[Origin Unknown]

Watching with interest as I have the same graphics card that could do with an upgrade.

2 questions, is your PSU capable of more draw from a more powerful GPU and do you have 1050 ti because of a space limitation? My machine will only take a small card hence the 1050 ti

[Miserablegit]

gah! Excellent question- I hadn't even considered either of those points!!!

PSU is a measly: CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY

and its an ASUS® H310M-A: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs motherboard.

It's in what I'd say was a "standard" size case - I'm surprised it's a Micro-Atx motherboard acually.

It was bought from PC Specialist with that spec as it seemed the best spec at that price at the time.

Edited by Miserablegit on Wednesday 26th May 16:13

[xeny]

Miserablegit said:

I'm looking at upgrading the pc in the study which is currently:

Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® H310M-A: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM) 8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP

I know the first thing I need is more RAM.

It's fine for everything it is used for but my son plays Fortnite on it and wants a bit more graphics horsepower. I'm looking at spending as little as possible to get a noticeable graphics upgrade.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1557-fortnite-benchmarks/ reports 68 FPS with a 59 FPS 1% minimum for the 1050 TI which seems pretty acceptable.

Is it possible something else isn't quite right, say a clogged CPU cooler so the CPU is throttling or some other problem? You've presumably got the latest drivers from Nvidia?

[Donbot]

Maybe a 1660 super. They are 125w so should be ok, though definitely best to check.

TBH if it's just for Fortnite I wouldn't bother with the current state of the market. Plus a 1050ti should be running it at pretty high settings anyway.

[maxdb]

GFX cards are going for silly money at the moment so I would recommend upgrading the ram initially to 16gb and see if that gives you an fps boost.

[Miserablegit]

Thanks for the feedback all- perhaps I’ll just get the ram for the moment.

[Drive Blind]

you're running single channel memory - add another dimm to run dual channel

2 years ago I upgraded my 1050ti, I went for the 1660ti

as mentioned, its a bad time to be buying GPU's

I doubt 350w PSU is enough for 1660 ti or 1660 super

[Tycho]

If you do get an upgrade then look at CEX who are offering £130 cash and £150 trade for a 4Gb 1050Ti. I don't think I paid that much for mine a few years ago.

[Miserablegit]

Just an update- thanks for the replies-
As suggested I've put off my GPU upgrade.
I bought more RAM for my main PC and thought I'd move the old RAM from my main PC to the study machine.
Opened up my PC with 16GB RAM to find it was 4 x 4 GB sticks in 4 of the six slots...Gaaah!

Opened up the study pc and it had 1 x 8GB in one of two slots - I've given it an extra 4GB which seems to have improved FPS in Fortnite so all is good.

I've now got 40GB in my main machine comprising 2 x 16GB and 2 x 4GB. I've got a spare 4GB that I'll try but I wonder if it will do more harm than good as there will then be an uneven number of sticks in the machine.

[xeny]

Miserablegit said:

I've now got 40GB in my main machine comprising 2 x 16GB and 2 x 4GB. I've got a spare 4GB that I'll try but I wonder if it will do more harm than good as there will then be an uneven number of sticks in the machine.

What motherboard is in the machine? I'm wondering if you've got three channels with 2 slots/channel and should ideally be installing memory in group of 3.

[mmm-five]

Miserablegit said:

Just an update- thanks for the replies-
As suggested I've put off my GPU upgrade.
I bought more RAM for my main PC and thought I'd move the old RAM from my main PC to the study machine.
Opened up my PC with 16GB RAM to find it was 4 x 4 GB sticks in 4 of the six slots...Gaaah!

Opened up the study pc and it had 1 x 8GB in one of two slots - I've given it an extra 4GB which seems to have improved FPS in Fortnite so all is good.

I've now got 40GB in my main machine comprising 2 x 16GB and 2 x 4GB. I've got a spare 4GB that I'll try but I wonder if it will do more harm than good as there will then be an uneven number of sticks in the machine.

Be careful of mix'n'matching memory, as it tends to work at the lowest common denominator - so a 2133mhz stick and 3200mhz stick will mean both will run at 2133mhz.

Also, if you've got more than 2 RAM slots, make sure the RAM is in the correct slot/channel so that the system uses them properly.

[rxe]

More memory and rebuilt the OS on the PC. That spec is more than good enough for Fortnite.