Should I Upgrade?

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Travis13

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2013
19
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Hello everyone, I am just getting back into PC gaming. I bought a gaming PC off a friend at work and was wondering if there is anything I should upgrade. He had it built a few years ago, but I am more interested in doing the upgrades myself (if necessary). Here are some of the specs:


Intel Core i7 920@2.67GHZ
RAM 6 GB
GeForce GTX 285

Anything else you need to know, this is all fairly new to me. Not sure what model the motherboard is
 
Seba

Seba

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
1,599
259
126
Depends on the game and the resolution you want to play.

I would first get the game (or games) and only upgrade if necessary. First upgrade candidate would probably be the graphics card.
 
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stahlhart

Super Moderator Graphics Cards
Dec 21, 2010
4,273
77
91
Welcome to the AnandTech forums.

I think that your questions regarding hardware upgrades will be better addressed in General Hardware than here, as they do a lot more build critiques/recommendations there, as opposed to here which is more graphics card specific.

So I'll move your thread there for now, but you are more than welcome to return once you have the rest of your hardware questions answered, and want to delve deeper into the GPU questions here.

Good luck...
 
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nurturedhate

Golden Member
Aug 27, 2011
1,767
773
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Do you have a budget in mind?
What games/software do you plan on running?
Do you wish to overclock?
What motherboard/power supply?
 
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Travis13

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2013
19
1
61
I gave $200 for it, and am looking to spend about $1500 if that can get me a pretty decent setup. Plus I would like to learn to do it all myself. The power supply and motherboard I am not sure about, is there a way to tell? Also it is in an Antec Nine Hundred case
 
Essence_of_War

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
4
81
Should be a sticker on the outside of the PSU that will allow you to check the specs.

You should be able to find out about the MoBo from the BIOS I think. Do you know how to access the BIOS? Usually it's by hitting the delete or f12 keys at boot.

Also:
If possible, it would also be useful to know:
PSU - brand, model, capacity
MoBo - make/model
Storage - SSD? HDD? Brands and capacities.

General condition of case. Does it need cleaning? Was it coated in a thick layer of dust when your friend gave it to you?
 
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dave_the_nerd

dave_the_nerd

Lifer
Feb 25, 2011
16,991
1,620
126
I'd keep the CPU - overlocks to ~3.5 GHz weren't uncommon, and at that speed it'll punch in the same weight class as a current-gen i5. (Although it'll use more power to do so.) But it's not super-sucky as is, either.

A new video card should wrap it up. You wouldn't need to upgrade the PSU necessarily - there are a lot of decent video cards that will significantly outperform the GTX 285 while pulling the same or less power. (Budget for a GTX 285 is 200w.)

6GB of RAM is enough for now. Most games still don't eat more than 4GB. An SSD upgrade would be nice, too, if it doesn't have one.

Still, I'd mostly be worrying about cleaning the case, cleaning/replacing aging fans, reapplying thermal goo on the HSF (which is probably dried out on a 3-year-old build and ready to be replaced) and other maintenance type stuff.
 
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Essence_of_War

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
4
81
You may not HAVE to upgrade the PSU, but it would be good to at least check to make sure it's a legit model. It probably is since your friend seems to have used it for a while, but it's worth checking.

Do you know what resolution you'll be gaming at?
 
Torn Mind

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
12,051
2,765
136
Intel has the i7-920's recommended price at $305 at their "ark". You got a really good deal.

But yeah, please tell us the games you're planning to play and what resolution. That can help us suggest the most appropriate hardware for you. You don't need as powerful hardware if you game on a monitor at a lower resolution.

For the PSU, we ask for the make/model to be sure it isn't one of those cheap(in the quality sense, not the price sense of the term) PSUs from some company like Diablotek that might not really put out what it is labelled to put out.
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
7,949
48
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www.techbuyersguru.com
Travis13 said:
I gave $200 for it, and am looking to spend about $1500 if that can get me a pretty decent setup. Plus I would like to learn to do it all myself. The power supply and motherboard I am not sure about, is there a way to tell? Also it is in an Antec Nine Hundred case
Click to expand...

$1500 in upgrades? That would be a whole new system!

You can easily drop in a card like the $200 HD 7870 and get over twice the performance of the GTX285. I wouldn't worry about overclocking the CPU unless you wanted a higher-end video card, but honestly, $200-250 is the sweet spot. You don't need to spend any more to enjoy modern games. Your CPU and memory are fine.
 
R

riversend

Senior member
Dec 31, 2009
477
0
0
Agree with most of the sentiments here. Check the PSU, drop in an SSD if it does not already have one, and then upgrade the GPU. If your monitor is less than 1920x1080, upgrade the monitor and the GPU together. Save the rest of your cash for future upgrades.
 
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Travis13

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2013
19
1
61
MoBo is a Gigabyte Ga EX 58 UD4P, PSU is an Antec 850, and the HD is a WD Caviar Black 1TB. I took the side off the case and yes it is very dusty, all the fans work great.
I guess I am looking forward to building something myself, I have always wanted to, but was always afraid I would mess something up.
Really no particular games I want to play, but I would like to be able to run close to max settings on some future games.
 
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Travis13

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2013
19
1
61
Also, I have no idea how to "overclock" or things of that nature, but with the help of this great site and members, I hope I can learn
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
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www.mfenn.com
Termie said:
$1500 in upgrades? That would be a whole new system!

You can easily drop in a card like the $200 HD 7870 and get over twice the performance of the GTX285. I wouldn't worry about overclocking the CPU unless you wanted a higher-end video card, but honestly, $200-250 is the sweet spot. You don't need to spend any more to enjoy modern games. Your CPU and memory are fine.
Click to expand...

Agree here. A 7870 or GTX 760 would bring that machine up to spec for new games. Add an SSD like the Samsung 840 120GB for general responsiveness and you're golden.
 
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BigChickenJim

Senior member
Jul 1, 2013
239
0
0
OP, if you have a budget of 1500 bucks I'd say relegate that sucker to web surfing and typing and build yourself a totally new rig. You could build a great, and I mean really great gaming rig from the ground up for 1500 bucks. You may even be able to salvage that processor and save a couple of hundred smackers (though that would be negated by the $200 you already spent).
 
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Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
7,949
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www.techbuyersguru.com
Travis13 said:
http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16814130921

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16819116901

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16813130686

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemNumber=N82E16820147192

How would this work? My only question, if this is a viable option, would be the software? Since I have a new hard drive, how do you go about loading everything.....OS etc.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, Newegg's mobile site links won't work for people reading this from a computer.

By the way, if you're new to gaming or building, I don't think there's any reason to build a whole new computer.
 
Essence_of_War

Essence_of_War

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2013
2,650
4
81
Yeah, it sounds like if you invested a little time into a thorough cleaning of the case, and perhaps $200-300 on a new GPU, and maybe another 100 or so on an SSD, you'll be in really good shape.

I understand wanting to build something yourself, but I think you got this box for a pretty sweet deal, and it seems like a shame to let it go to waste.

We've asked a few times about what resolution you'll be gaming at, do you know yet? That will strongly influence what folks recommend for your GPU. If you don't have a monitor yet, we can give you recommendations for that too.
 
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Travis13

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2013
19
1
61
Resolution I'm not sure about, whatever looks good without putting to much stress on it. Thinking about a Evga 770
 
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