28 replies to this topic

[Eskimo_sam]

hey guys i want to upgrade my pc but need to know if its worth it
i have a q8300 quad core at 2.5ghz which i cant overclock
2 gig of ram
and a gt220

if i just upgrade my gpu and ram would that keep me going for another year or 2?
or should i build a new one ?
will my cpu cause a bottleneck or is it still ok to use??
also whats a good mid range gpu im thinking the 6770?

[Plutonas]

depends what you play on ur pc.. if you expect modern games... hmmm

Look at this charts how it looks like with the today cpus... http://www.cpubenchm...Q8300 @ 2.50GHz

just give us a list of games u play or wish to play with it.

here is a comparison with my cpu at the momment... and my cpu is 3 years old... http://www.anandtech...oduct/89?vs=107

Edited by Orion, 26 January 2013 - 07:03 PM.

[Eskimo_sam]

at the moment its battlefield and farcry 3 im not worried about full 1080 graphics mesium settings is fine and atleast run this years games

[3Dude]

an old core 2 huh?

Yeah, your ram is definately hurting.... And that core 2 might stay relevent until the end of this generation, but i dont know how well it will hold up once the ps360 are no longer holding the pc back.

Id suggest getting a new one, 2008 was 5 years ago.

You dont even have to go top o the line, you can probably get a good bare bones i5 with tons more ram than you have now, ripe for building up for around 3-400 bucks (or lower if your savvy). And that will likely last you another 5 years, as pc is probably going to be held bacj pandering to durango/orbis multiplats again, and an i5 smokes the crap outta jaguars and bulldozers (ugh, i cant BELIEVE sony picked this failure, BULLDOZER? FOR A GAMING MZCACHINE, hell amd's phenom II outperforms bulldozer at gaming, what were they THINKING?).

Edited by 3Dude, 26 January 2013 - 07:30 PM.

[DragonChi]

I think your CPU is probably ok, considering it is a quad core (which for some reason 3Dude misread as dual core). But in terms of your ram and GPU. For most games that look any kind of decent, I would have a look at a GTX 600 series card. one thats been out for a while so its easily affordable, but beefy enough so it takes the majority of the effort away from your CPU. And you definitely need more ram 2 gigs is barebones these days. It would also help to know what motherboard you are using. that will determine what hardware is compatible when upgrading.

Edited by DragonChi, 26 January 2013 - 09:17 PM.

[PedanticGamer]

Okay OP if you could give a full break down of your current setup so the following:

Motherboard:
Ram:
CPU:
PSU:
OS:
Harddrive(s):
Case:


Now as you want to upgrade your pc and given you current specs I would say yes it is well worth upgrading if you have the money. Your ram and cpu will need to be upgraded to run all of this years games well. CPU may be worth the investment as well, but really no one can recommend much without knowing your motherboard and OS in particular.

Edited by PedanticGamer, 26 January 2013 - 10:51 PM.

[3Dude]

I think your CPU is probably ok, considering it is a quad core (which for some reason 3Dude misread as dual core). But in terms of your ram and GPU. For most games that look any kind of decent, I would have a look at a GTX 600 series card. one thats been out for a while so its easily affordable, but beefy enough so it takes the majority of the effort away from your CPU. And you definitely need more ram 2 gigs is barebones these days. It would also help to know what motherboard you are using. that will determine what hardware is compatible when upgrading.

Core 2 is the commercial name of his cpu, not the number of cores. The Q8300 is intels core 2.



And no, its not going to be okay because it has 4 cores, because it has 4 old crusty cores. Well, old and crusty for pc's, its from 2008. And im willing to bet his mother board is from 2008 or earlier as well.

Hes going to want an icore at the very least. Well thats not true, ID personally want an i5 at the very least.

Edited by 3Dude, 27 January 2013 - 03:43 PM.

[Alex Wolfers]

If you want to overclock a PC the easy way just pour sodapop on the motherboard.

[Hinkik]

You have so old parts, you have to like replace everything but your chassi and harddisc to upgrade it.

For cpu you need a new motherboard and for a new CPU you need a new CPU cooler.

Your CPU will just bottleneck your GPU if you just buy a new GPU so I would consider building a new one and maybe keeping the chassi and the harddrive.

[Eskimo_sam]

thnx guys i think its best to just build from scratch
im thinking of using the amd a10 apu with the added 7 series gpu for dual graphics..... and 4gigs of ddr3 ram
wat do u think to that? anygood??

[Plutonas]

u could easily tell us, about how much u offer... min and maximum and what parts u will use from ur old one, into ur new rig (case, hdd, etc)... I am intel and nvidia fan, but thats ok if u want a low budget strong rig..

AMD gpus, have lots of issues and most of the times u need many patches for the games... Nvidia is just plug and play.

And if u end up buying a new pc... u can keep ur old one for documents, surfing the web, movies, music... and keep the new pc for hard core gaming.

Edited by Orion, 27 January 2013 - 07:17 AM.

[Skywalkman-GB]

listen, the cpu you have is fine, get 2 more gigs of memory, then add a better GPU (nvidia gtx460 or gtx560) and your good for a good few more years, one thing though, make sure your PSU is upto powering the new upgrades!

[PedanticGamer]

listen, the cpu you have is fine, get 2 more gigs of memory, then add a better GPU (nvidia gtx460 or gtx560) and your good for a good few more years, one thing though, make sure your PSU is upto powering the new upgrades!

If he wants to run everything the 460 will not be enough. Given the low price atm I would be looking at lower end 600 series cards.

[3Dude]

thnx guys i think its best to just build from scratch
im thinking of using the amd a10 apu with the added 7 series gpu for dual graphics..... and 4gigs of ddr3 ram
wat do u think to that? anygood??

Some pretty good bang for your buck there.

http://arstechnica.c...-apus-reviewed/

Hope this helps your a10 persuit.

Edited by 3Dude, 27 January 2013 - 03:40 PM.

[Skywalkman-GB]

If he wants to run everything the 460 will not be enough. Given the low price atm I would be looking at lower end 600 series cards.

i have a gtx460 and it runs everything, yes some things maybe not maxed out, but it is capable of running everything you throw at it, bf3 at all high/medium runs perfect at 60fps, and thats pritty much the most demanding game out, BF3 at medium still looks pritty amazing, theres hardly any difference from ultra besides the fps loss, and the lower end of the 600 series, thats a gtx650, which the gtx460 easily beets at 1080P, the ops only has a core 2 quad, so anything more than a gtx460 will be a waste of time and money as he will run into cpu bottlenecks.

Edited by Skywalkman-GB, 28 January 2013 - 12:19 AM.

[PedanticGamer]

i have a gtx460 and it runs everything, yes some things maybe not maxed out, but it is capable of running everything you throw at it, bf3 at all high/medium runs perfect at 60fps, and thats pritty much the most demanding game out, BF3 at medium still looks pritty amazing, theres hardly any difference from ultra besides the fps loss, and the lower end of the 600 series, thats a gtx650, which the gtx460 easily beets at 1080P, the ops only has a core 2 quad, so anything more than a gtx460 will be a waste of time and money as he will run into cpu bottlenecks.

BF3 the most demanding game out there. lol. Metro 2033 easily holds that place and the sequel comes out this year, to run that at 1080p at 60fps if metro 2033 is anything to go by will need more then a 460 at medium settings. Same goes for Crysis 3, though if you turn of the dx11 features it should run reasonably well.

Edited by PedanticGamer, 28 January 2013 - 01:06 AM.

[Skywalkman-GB]

BF3 the most demanding game out there. lol. Metro 2033 easily holds that place and the sequel comes out this year, to run that at 1080p at 60fps if metro 2033 is anything to go by will need more then a 460 at medium settings. Same goes for Crysis 3, though if you turn of the dx11 features it should run reasonably well.

yes that is true, but still the fact remains is the gtx460 will be fine with his cpu he has and will run every game out there, some with reduced settings which he doesnt mind. Anything more than a gtx460 will not gain him any improovment unless he also upgrades to an i5 or i7 which would proove costly.

[3Dude]

yes that is true, but still the fact remains is the gtx460 will be fine with his cpu he has and will run every game out there, some with reduced settings which he doesnt mind. Anything more than a gtx460 will not gain him any improovment unless he also upgrades to an i5 or i7 which would proove costly.

Well, hes not talking about whats out now, which hes happy with, but whats to come in the future.

[Skywalkman-GB]

Well, hes not talking about whats out now, which hes happy with, but whats to come in the future.

makes me laugh lol, my son still games on his GT430 and it runs everything fine just with reduced settings lol, man a gtx460 is more powerful than any console out now, and is probably beefier than the 720 and ps3 lol, and is in fact more powerful than the steam box GPU cooming out soon, you question if its futureproof for a couple of years

[3Dude]

makes me laugh lol, my son still games on his GT430 and it runs everything fine just with reduced settings lol, man a gtx460 is more powerful than any console out now, and is probably beefier than the 720 and ps3 lol, and is in fact more powerful than the steam box GPU cooming out soon, you question if its futureproof for a couple of years

Oh, sorry, im rather specifically talking about his cpu, not gpu's.