Upgrade or buy new PC?

Trevor451

Hey guys I am wondering should I upgrade this 5 year old PC or just buy a new desktop altogether? I probably just want to upgrade the gfx card and the ram since upgrading the CPU might be difficult. Any suggestions would be appreciated thanks :-).

Specs are in txt file

Solitaire

Depends on what you want to do with it. But 99% of your possible responses are going to yield a response of "new build time"

Ancient CPU, ancient mobo, archaic RAM... even the HDD and optical drive may be fairly dated by now and the PSU and case are probably for the high jump too

hare05

Tossing a modern graphics card in there would be pointless as it would be choked by the rest of the system. You'd get the best framerates possible for a P4 computer, but any card you buy now can do a helluva lot better.

Also, new card would mean new PSU, so you're doubling the cost of a useful card simply to be able to use it.

New build methinks!

Go for an i3-350, a Radeon HD5770 and 4GB of ddr3 and you'll be sorted for the next 4 years of basic computing, and at least a year and a half of high end gaming.

cherryghost

Agree with Soli and hare05

If you're very tight for cash, shop around adverts.ie and see if you can spot yourself a cheap AGP card. Most go for around 30 max.

Trevor451

Thanks for the fast reply s guys It looks like I have to build a new PC

hare05 wrote: »

Tossing a modern graphics card in there would be pointless as it would be choked by the rest of the system. You'd get the best framerates possible for a P4 computer, but any card you buy now can do a helluva lot better.

Also, new card would mean new PSU, so you're doubling the cost of a useful card simply to be able to use it.

New build methinks!

Go for an i3-350, a Radeon HD5770 and 4GB of ddr3 and you'll be sorted for the next 4 years of basic computing, and at least a year and a half of high end gaming.

How much would it cost to build one of those machines? It sucks that I cant get a job until I am 16 :rolleyes:
At least it can run San Andreas on very high settings lol

Solitaire

What kind of games do you play? And what's the resolution of your monitor? If that's ancient too...

If you need a monitor on top you'd be better off getting a basic system from Currys/PC World then throwing a cheapo graphics card in. Even if you're lucky you'll be paying over €500 for the privelige

Or you could assemble a build from second-hand stuff on Adverts. If you luck out on a decent base unit going cheap and get a second-hand monitor to go with it you'll still be paying €400-600 but will probably get a better spec.

Or you could put together your own build for the craic, although it starts getting very pricey in comparison if you need a new monitor and/or operating system You could build a pretty spiffy macine for <€500 but add a monitor and OS and you can top €700 for a mid-range build

Trevor451

The monitor that came with the desktop is good enough I guess. I am currently running it at a resolution of 1152X864. Max resolution it supports I think is 1280X1024. I also have a windows 7 DVD I bought ages ago but my laptop broke so I could use it on my new build I guess I am mainly a console gamer since I own a xbox 360 and a wii but I love PC games such as the sims and simcity 4 and grand theft auto SA for its mods.

Solitaire

A very basic rig based around a cheap E5300 or X2-250 etc. a cheapish mobo and 2 or 4GB DDR2 would do fine. See massy's old HD4830 languishing on Adverts for €50? Get it. That kind of setup will run anything fine at 1280*1024 - I speak from experience on that count

hare05

Pretty good idea in general Solitaire, but what about combining that x2-250 with a 5750 just so he has the DX11 box ticked once it starts getting heavily used? They won't be as easy to find second hand but I think in terms of longevity he might as well go for one. If he buys an AM3 mobo, he could always upgrade to a 6 core in a few years when they're cheeeep!

And also, ddr3. Spend a little more now, have it run well in 5 years, that's my way of doing things.