GPU Help
#1
I built my first computer a few months ago, and I'm in the process of investigating upgrades for it. It was originally built as a general purpose budget rig for about $350. Here are the specs:

AMD A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz Quad-Core APU (Not OC'd)
4GB DDR3 (Should be upgrading to 8GB soon)
64-Bit Windows 7

While the computer was built for general use, I wanted to use a fairly powerful APU so I could do some gaming on it. It's working great so far, but it can't run PCSX2 as well as I'd like. If possible, I'd like to get a stable 30FPS with 2x resolution or higher. I'm already planning to get another 4GB DDR3 RAM stick, but I was wondering if adding a GPU would help. I read that CPU is more important than GPU when dealing with emulation, but I'm not sure if that applies to APUs. It wouldn't be an incredibly expensive GPU, but matching the graphical power of the APU should be in my price range. Additionally, I was thinking of buying an SSD to generally increase work speed. Would either of these options make a huge difference, or should I save PS2 emulation for when I build an actual gaming rig.
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#2
The ram won't make a difference.

If you overclock the processor to about 4Ghz and get a decentish GPU you should be okay for PCSX2.
[Image: XTe1j6J.png]
Gaming Rig: Intel i7 6700k @ 4.8Ghz | GTX 1070 TI | 32GB RAM | 960GB(480GB+480GB RAID0) SSD | 2x 1TB HDD
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#3
I think the APU can hit 3.9GHz max when overclocked. Hopefully that will work.

The GPU might be harder to buy than I thought. I just checked my motherboard, and it doesn't have a PCI Express 3.0 expansion slot. I have one PCI Express 2.0 x16 port to work with. This is what I get for buying a no-frills Micro ATX Board...
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#4
There is nothing wrong with PCI express 2.0. A 3.0 card will work fine in a 2.0 slot, I know for sure because that's how my setup is. 3.0 has more theoretical bandwidth than 2.0, but even the fastest graphics cards in existence don't saturate 2.0s bandwidth yet. So it's not a factor.
[Image: XTe1j6J.png]
Gaming Rig: Intel i7 6700k @ 4.8Ghz | GTX 1070 TI | 32GB RAM | 960GB(480GB+480GB RAID0) SSD | 2x 1TB HDD
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#5
Yep, Blyss is right.

BTW did you have to beat me Blyss?
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#6
Hey I have been MIA for a while, I gotta be cool sometimes. Cool

@OP if you tell us your budget we can recommend some good cards.
[Image: XTe1j6J.png]
Gaming Rig: Intel i7 6700k @ 4.8Ghz | GTX 1070 TI | 32GB RAM | 960GB(480GB+480GB RAID0) SSD | 2x 1TB HDD
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#7
Excellent news. I'm still really new at this, so any help is appreciated.

EDIT: Just saw your most recent post.

Before selecting the APU, I was looking into this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121800

My only requirement is HDMI compatibility since my main monitor is a 32" LCD TV. Approximately $150 would be good, but I could go as high as $200. This was supposed to be a budget built, so I want to keep it low.
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#8
What's the speed of your ram?
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#9
That should do well enough to let you set 3x resolution in most games. Stuff on this list might be an exception though:
http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-The-...#pid327486

Edit: Although for $150 you can do a LOT better.
[Image: XTe1j6J.png]
Gaming Rig: Intel i7 6700k @ 4.8Ghz | GTX 1070 TI | 32GB RAM | 960GB(480GB+480GB RAID0) SSD | 2x 1TB HDD
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#10
This is the RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820231718

DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Timing 9-9-9-24
Cas Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V

EDIT

Aside from Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Shadow Hearts, I've beaten everything on that list that I already own. If the list is that short, I should be fine.
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