Buying a New PC for gaming? Noob needs help

[simpliztik_]

My PC is 5 years old and I can barely see the potential in it when running on games like The Witcher 2 or Skyrim. But is there still hope? If I brush off all of the dust in it and replace my graphics card and processor with something that can run todays games, will it automatically make my PC a "gaming" PC?

I've asked about this in the past and posted the specs on my current PC and people have said that I need to buy a new PC. Should I buy a new PC instead? Are there PCs out there that can at least run games such the Witcher 2 and Skyrim?

Anyway, here are my specs if you're curious:
OS - Windows 7
Processor - Intel Pentium D CPU 3.20GHz
Installed memory (RAM) - 4.00 GB (3.50 usable)
Graphics - Radeon X1300 / X1550 Sereis

 

[SunnyD]

I've asked about this in the past and posted the specs on my current PC and people have said that I need to buy a new PC.

WWYBYWB?

Assuming you're not setting up to give away free ipodz...

Yes, you may as well buy a new PC. Your current machine is about 5 generations old in terms of CPU power, and about 7 generations old in terms of GPU power. Hell, your GPU was never even gaming-grade to begin with.

Your motherboard may or may not be able to handle an almost adequate processor (Intel Core2Duo or Quad series, assuming it's S775 even), so you'd need to replace that. In replacing that, you'll more than likely need to replace your ram, since you're probably on DDR1 or DDR2 in that box. You'll also want to UPGRADE your ram while you're at it, 8gb at least.

So we're talking already new cpu, gpu, motherboard and ram here - basically a whole new system.

Odds are your PSU is a bit weak, probably no more than 500 watt, so if you plan on putting even a decently powered GPU in there, you'll probably need something newer and providing more power. If you want to run SLI or CrossFire, well, you'll definitely need a better PSU even without telling me what you already have.

And on to storage. Yes, SSDs are all the rage, but not a necessary upgrade. However, you'll probably want to upgrade to the latest and greatest hard drive, probably 1TB+ 64MB cache 7200rpm SATA2 or SATA3 drive. Compared to your current drives (assuming they haven't been upgraded recently), this would feel insanely fast. If you do pick up a SSD (and pair it with a large high-speed storage drive), even better.

If you like your current case, keep it. If not, might as well get a new one.

And bam! There you go... the answer is: Buy a whole new system.

 

[simpliztik_]

Cool. Wasn't expecting the first reply to be a good one. thank ya!!

 

[simpliztik_]

WWYBYWB?

Right. Not on the forums, but on yahoo answers. Can't really depend on that site. Too many trollers.

 

[SunnyD]

Cool. Wasn't expecting the first reply to be a good one. thank ya!!

I should point out that while my comment said Core2Duo/Quad, I'm not saying target that for a new system. That series of CPU is ~3 generations old, and a dead end in terms of future upgrade paths. You'll be wanting to look at the second gen intel i-Series cpus (aka: Sandy Bridge: i5-2500/2600/k, socket LGA1155) at this point.

I was really saying Core2 series IF your motherboard supported it and you wanted to get something that could probably handle today's games fairly adequately (but not tomorrow's games) on a simple upgrade budget.

 

[wuliheron]

Theoretically you could replace both the graphics card and cpu to make it very respectable for gaming. However, five years is pretty old for a computer to last, but this generation of computers seems to lasting a bit longer. Without knowing what kind of computer it is its impossible to say. For example, I'd never recommend upgrading a five year old emachine because they're basically disposable computers. But a custom rig with a good power supply would definitely be worth upgrading. You'll just have to give us more information including the make, model number, power supply, and monitor resolution if possible.

 

[simpliztik_]

Theoretically you could replace both the graphics card and cpu to make it very respectable for gaming. However, five years is pretty old for a computer to last, but this generation of computers seems to lasting a bit longer. Without knowing what kind of computer it is its impossible to say. For example, I'd never recommend upgrading a five year old emachine because they're basically disposable computers. But a custom rig with a good power supply would definitely be worth upgrading. You'll just have to give us more information including the make, model number, power supply, and monitor resolution if possible.

Model: hp media center pc m7467c
Power Supply: 350 watts?
Resolution: 1680x1050

???????????

 

[Arachnotronic]

Here's my advice for a won't-break-your-bank upgrade that you'd DEFINITELY see a big difference with:

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 (3.0GHz)
Memory: 4GB Corsair DDR3-1600 Mhz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560/560 Ti or AMD Radeon 6870/6950 1GB (I'd go with NVIDIA because I have great luck with their products, but I've built a number of machines around the 6xxx series lately and they are fantastic)
Motherboard: ASRock M3A770DE
Chasis: Antec Three Hundred
PSU: Antec TruePower 750W
Monitor: Whatever you've got...unless you want to get something better, in which case, feel free to ask for recs!
HDD : I recommend at least a 1TB drive, 7200 RPM, either by Seagate, Hitachi, or WD (I have all three brands in my rig and they all work fantastically)

I've built no less than 9 machines using this CPU/Memory/Motherboard/PSU combo, and they are all fantastic gaming PCs. If you could specify a price range then I'd be able to give you a more detailed/suitable spec. But this should be well suited for even the most demanding of PC games @ 1080p.

 

[wuliheron]

Model: hp media center pc m7467c
Power Supply: 350 watts?
Resolution: 1680x1050

???????????

Yeah, that's a pretty disposable computer that was never meant for gaming to begin with. You might try a $70.oo radeon 5670 graphics card, but your power supply can't handle anything better. Your monitor resolution isn't high so that should help, but its always going to struggle with games.

 

[frozentundra123456]

The biggest issue to me is the Pentium D processor. I have an almost 5 year old system also, but it has a Core 2 Duo 2.2 ghz. I upgraded the graphics card to a low power 9800GT and can still play most games at 1440x900 at medium to high quality.

But yes, with that CPU and wanting to run at 1680x1050 I agree that you would be better off with a new system.

 

[Kudro]

OP,

What's your budget? And are you wanting to build a system or buy one pre-built?

 

[BofRA]

Head over to the General Hardware forum and fill out the sticky in a post. Those guys over there are very good at "building" you a very nice system