What upgrades could I make on my computer?

[david90650]

I have an old computer it has a ATI Radeon HD 4850. My processor is a Intel core 2 Quad Q9400 quad-core. I have a 6 gb ddr2 ram. What other upgrades could I make to it?

Motherboard
Manufacturer: Gateway
Model: G33M05G1
Chipset: Intel P35/G33/G31 Rev. A2
Southbridge: Intel 82801IH (ICH9DH) Rev. 02
LPCIO: ITE IT8718

I used CPU-Z to tell me what my motherboard is. Is it really all that? I quite don't understand it. Could someone explain it to me?
My budget is about $500, so I cant really do much for now.

I would like to make my computer run faster, and allow me to do some gaming on it. I prefer Fps by the way.

 

[Termie]

For $500, you could practically buy a new computer. If you just wanted one upgrade, you'd get a new video card, like the HD7850, which will give you slightly more than double the performance in most games. That's $180 or so, giving you $320 left over if you also want a new non-overclocking Intel i5 quad core, motherboard, and 8GB RAM.

The issue will be what your power supply is, and whether your motherboard is pcie 1.0, which may make it incompatible with new graphics cards.

 

[Vectronic]

PCI-e3 *should* work in PCI-e1 (there are a couple cards that don't but they are fairly rare now).

The problem with that is you are kind of wasting money, since you are losing out on about 15% of the performance of the card, so going for a 7800 or 7900 probably isn't worth it.

But, yeah, there's really only two things, GPU, and getting an SSD if you don't have one.

You could max out your RAM (to 8GB) and also get RAM with lower timings, but... not really worth it.

Kinda like Termie said, for $500 get a new CPU/Board/PSU/RAM... probably just those, drag along your 4850, hard drives, and CD/DVD to that system.

That will significantly improve performance, and give you a better platform for upgrades... GPU/SSD... possibly better CPU, and more/better RAM as money comes along.

 

[BFG10K]

Moved to General Hardware - Super Moderator BFG10K.

 

[Ken g6]

Have you tried overclocking that Q9400? I realize it's not as easy as a Q6600, with the 9400's 1333MHz FSB, but you ought to be able to reach somewhere around 3.2GHz with good cooling. Do you have a decent HSF? If not, what case do you have so we can select one that would fit?

I wouldn't drag along a 4850 when you can get a 7850 for $150-$200. The biggest issue with getting a new mobo is that if your copy of Windows is OEM, it's locked to your mobo.

 

[puffswimi]

I had a similar issue and was thinking of junking my Intel Core Duo E8400 3.0Ghz/8GB. Upon the recommendations of the board I got an 128SSD, reloaded Windows7 at 64 bit, and overclocked to 3.6 from stock 3.0 (could've gone as high as 4.2 but involves more than I am comfortable doing myself).

So far, big differences. Computer definitely is moving faster but since I don't play games or do graphic intensive stuff it is not immediately apparent.

The cost was but $100 on my SSD and I basically have an upgraded computer now.

 

[mfenn]

Have you tried overclocking that Q9400? I realize it's not as easy as a Q6600, with the 9400's 1333MHz FSB, but you ought to be able to reach somewhere around 3.2GHz with good cooling. Do you have a decent HSF? If not, what case do you have so we can select one that would fit?

It's a Gateway, so I don't think that overclocking is in the cards.

OP, I recommend getting a new CPU/mobo/RAM/GPU/PSU rather than trying to do a piecemeal upgrade.

i5 3350P $180
ASRock B75M-DGS $55
Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 8GB $44
PowerColor 7850 2GB $165 AR
Antec Neo Eco 520C $30 AR AP
Total: $474 AR AP

 

[Termie]

It's a Gateway, so I don't think that overclocking is in the cards.

OP, I recommend getting a new CPU/mobo/RAM/GPU/PSU rather than trying to do a piecemeal upgrade.

i5 3350P $180
ASRock B75M-DGS $55
Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 8GB $44
PowerColor 7850 2GB $165 AR
Antec Neo Eco 520C $30 AR AP
Total: $474 AR AP

He'll probably need an OS license, and he might not be able to reuse his gateway case easily. Add another $140 for those items.

Honestly, in his situation, I'd just pick up an HD7850 and stop there, or maybe just a 650ti for $120 or so.