Upgrading PC advice needed

[Itachi]

Hi everyone! I don't have much knowledge about tech but I'll try not to sound like a total noob.

I want to upgrade my PC to be able to play NieR Automata and Final Fantasy XV decently when they are released on PC but I don't know what I should upgrade because I have no idea which components are not up to standard

My specs are:
Win 8.1 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2100 CPU @ 3.10GHz
12,0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz
AMD Radeon R7 200 Series
Motherboard Intel Corporation DP67DE (CPU 1)
I can't see what power supply I have, the sticker is blocked and I don't want to remove it out of fear of damaging something XD
(I bought this PC from my cousin who builds PC's occasionally)

Can someone please explain why when I start playing a newly installed game the settings are set automatically to high or ultra but it never plays perfectly for me, there's always a big drop in framerate. I know the game is supposed to set the graphics and video quality to the best quality for your current hardware but I can't play most games on ultra or even high so this was confusing.

Thanks for the help!

 

[captaincranky]

Your description of the video card is a bit vague, "AMD 200 series". Here's the Wiki on the whole line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Radeon_Rx_200_series Keep in mind the lower numbers in the series will not give you high frame rates in demanding games.

Then there's the CPU. in certain really demanding game, the dual core/ four thread CPU will extend further into class A titles, but may bottleneck a bit on some.

Simply based on best guess and potential availability, I'd start by figuring out which card is in the PC, and work on upgrading that first. In other words, if you find out the card is a 250, you'll need to step it up a couple of numbers.

Your CPU is a "Sandy Bridge", which is a generation 4. Intel is on generation 7 ATM. Not that there is a terrible difference between gen 4 and gen 7, (the clock speeds are quite a bit higher though). It would however, be more difficult to find a step up processor, since you would need to either buy used, or have to pay an inflated price on the CPU, as, "replacement parts".

If the PSU were insufficient, it would be more likely you would be experiencing hard crashes or overheating. Do keep in mind though, high temps will cause the CPU to "throttle back", possibly affecting frame rates.

If you're going to dive into working on this PC, it might be time for you to get over your fear of doing it.

Arguably, if you were going to replace a CPU, it's a lot more delicate and precise of an operation than replacing a PSU. To R & R a video card though, is pretty easy.