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500$ to upgrade my computer, help?

E

endlessmike133

Senior member
RAM: 8GB

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Video Card: Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family

Free Disk Space: 773.5 GB/1 TB

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7500 @ 2.93GHz

Now obviously I'm guessing my CPU needs to be updated and so does my videocard.

Problem is I only have 500$, I just wanna play games like Civ IV, BF:BC2 and TF2 smoother and atleast better graphics than consoles.

thanks for your help!
 
If you want to stay with your current motherboard and RAM, about all you can do is upgrade to the Core2 Quad processors. Newegg sells those for $150 to $350.
You'd have to replace your motherboard and RAM to upgrade to the i5 or i7 Intel processors.
I'm NOT sure about the RAM requirements for the AMD processors, but those would also require a new motherboard.
 
i5 4 core 4 logical core and 460 1GB video card. A quality 550w or higher PSU, 130 bucks for 8GB ram comes to about 500 bones.. thx
 
tweakboy said:
i5 4 core 4 logical core and 460 1GB video card. A quality 550w or higher PSU, 130 bucks for 8GB ram comes to about 500 bones.. thx
Click to expand...

An important thing you seemed to have missed is a motherboard. He is on socket 775 not 1156/1155. And 8Gb of RAM for gaming is pointless.
 
endlessmike133 said:
I'm actually gonna pick up a 5870 (on sale for 200$, can't beat that), but is buying a separate CPU Cooler necessary because if I'm not mistaken the Intel C2Q comes with one..
Click to expand...

It comes with one, however that isnt a very good cooler for OC, for stock settings it is fine. A hyper 212 or a cnps10x performa, for example, would lower your temps 10c (if used with correct thermal paste and application)


Sent from my DroidX
 
mnewsham said:
It comes with one, however that isnt a very good cooler for OC, for stock settings it is fine. A hyper 212 or a cnps10x performa, for example, would lower your temps 10c (if used with correct thermal paste and application)


Sent from my DroidX
Click to expand...
I'll get the Hyper 212 and some thermal paste then.

So, Intel Core 2 Quad Processor + Hyper 212 CPU Cooler + 5870 and I should be set to game smoothly..


thanks for all the help guys.
 
endlessmike133 said:
I'll get the Hyper 212 and some thermal paste then.

So, Intel Core 2 Quad Processor + Hyper 212 CPU Cooler + 5870 and I should be set to game smoothly..


thanks for all the help guys.
Click to expand...

You'll get better performance with one of the "better" quads, but the one you linked to should still be better than what you have now.

If you can find a way to spend more, the Sandy Bridge processors should be out next week. They'll blow the doors off the quads...but you'll need motherboard and RAM to go with the processor.
 
BoomerD said:
You'll get better performance with one of the "better" quads, but the one you linked to should still be better than what you have now.

If you can find a way to spend more, the Sandy Bridge processors should be out next week. They'll blow the doors off the quads...but you'll need motherboard and RAM to go with the processor.
Click to expand...

Agreed, with a larger budget ($650-700) you could probably get new 1155 mobo i5-2400 and 4GB ddr3 RAM, and the 5870 for 200
 
From the looks of your specs it looks like you may have an off the shelf computer. If you do post what kind it is. You may not have any upgrade options.
 
mnewsham said:
Agreed, with a larger budget ($650-700) you could probably get new 1155 mobo i5-2400 and 4GB ddr3 RAM, and the 5870 for 200
Click to expand...
I might be able to stretch the budget, but would it really be that worth it?

I just wanna be able to play BF: BC2 on max settings 2xAA 4xAF on 1280 x 720 or 1440 x 900.
 
endlessmike133 said:
I might be able to stretch the budget, but would it really be that worth it?

I just wanna be able to play BF: BC2 on max settings 2xAA 4xAF on 1280 x 720 or 1440 x 900.
Click to expand...

Well socket 775 is a "dead" socket, once you get this you have no more upgrade options left, but it is your choice.
 
endlessmike133 said:
lol If I can't upgrade this computer I'm just gonna say fuck it and buy a 3DS...

But should I really have problems upgrading from iC2 Duo to Quad?
Click to expand...

Well check the psu, dell's are not known for there psu's however. If it can handle the cpu then good but im not sure, and I know for a fact it won't power a 5870 (needs a good 600watt psu at least). might consider a build from scratch, look to spend about 900 tho on a decent one.
 
Get a 6870, a case and PSU to put it all together. Unless the Dell is an XPS the case is likely to suck donkey balls. The C2 D @ 2.93Ghz is still a good gaming processor, it isn't your bottleneck, the GPU is the likely culprit here. Then put whatever is left into your budget for a chipset upgrade in the next few years.

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-506-_-Product

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-042-_-Product

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-015-_-Product

Total: $357.97

Gonna look like a new computer, feel like a new computer, and all that you'll need to do is upgrade the chipset later to Sandy Bridge or Bulldozer. You can put the $150 left over in the bank, and put that toward a now Mobo, CPU, and RAM upgrade which shouldn't cost over $375.
 
I think I'm gonna go with:

HD 5870 1GB - 200$ (on sale)

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel Mid Tower ATX Case - 60$

Antec Earthwatts 650W PSU - 70$

Sandy Bridges Core i5 2400 CPU - 185$

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - 70$

G. Skill Ripjaw Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 RAM - 50$

ASUS DVD Burner - 20$


Total (so far) - 645$

Does anyone have any recommendations for a mobo (lga-1155?) and a CPU Cooler compatible with Sandy Bridges?
 
Last edited:
endlessmike133 said:
I think I'm gonna go with:

HD 5870 1GB - 200$ (on sale)

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel Mid Tower ATX Case - 60$

Antec Earthwatts 650W PSU - 70$

Sandy Bridges Core i5 2400 CPU - 185$

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - 70$

G. Skill Ripjaw Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 RAM - 50$

ASUS DVD Burner - 20$


Total (so far) - 645$
Click to expand...

Wow, you sure upped the budget! Keep in mind that the 2400 will likely cost more than bin price (~$50) and you also must remember a motherboard (~$150). So your likely price for that build is more like $850.
 
Davidh373 said:
Wow, you sure upped the budget! Keep in mind that the 2400 will likely cost more than bin price (~$50) and you also must remember a motherboard (~$150). So your likely price for that build is more like $850.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

OP, since you are apparently gaming on an Intel IGP (the horror!), ANY discrete GPU would be a huge upgrade. The Dell PSU could probably handle something modest like a GTS 450, and it would certainly be a hell of a lot cheaper than a whole new machine (which is what you're essentially looking at in your latest post).
 
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