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Edit: Scroll down to last post!
I have a desktop I got several years ago for like $600.
Being WAY out of the loop with hardware (I knew a lot about computers when 4x cd-rom drives were expensive), I was hoping you guys might help me get the best bang for my buck.
My goal is to be able to play through some newer games like Mass Effect, Bioshock, etc while spending as little money as possible.
Current specs:
Intel core 2 duo 6300, 1.86 GHz.
2 GB DDR2 SDRAM
NVidia GeForce 7300 LE
Reviews tell me that the 7300LE Absolutely sucks for gaming.
If I spent $70 for something newer like a Radeon 4670, would it significantly improve my experience or do I still need to spend an additional $200-250 on a motherboard/cpu combo like this?
I'm open to any suggestions.
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Well, think of it this way: if you went for the mobo/cpu first, you'd still need a better graphics card to run newer games. However, if you went for the graphics card first, you could see how it performed and then decide if you want to upgrade the mobo. It seems like you've got a good processor speed and memory size already, though obviously not the 'best' for the top of the line games.
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upgrading your graphics card is the most sure-fire way to improve your gaming experience. However, for more recent games like mass effect and bioshock you might need more than 1.86 GHz. It depends on what kind of quality settings you'd like to run. If you look online or on a box it will tell you the minimum system requirements.
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getting a video card like that is a great idea.
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What kind of Power supply do you have? It shouldn't matter too much, but if it is around 200-350w you might wanna get a new one before upgrading your graphics card, maybe around 450-550 depending on if you are overclocking. For a graphics card the sapphire 5650 is quite good (DX11, great for overclocking and quite) and is only around 170$.
You could also do with a new duel core. I think you can get like a 2.6 ghz one for under 150$~, also, if you are running a 64 bit operating system get 2 or 3 gigs more of ram.
That should allow you to run bioshock/ ME at decent frame rates.
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Well, your whole computer is getting pretty outdated at this point. There's no real point to get a radeon 4670 since it will be bottlenecked by your processor.
You probably are going to have to get a new motherboard/cpu. With that mobo you listed, you're going to have to get new ram too, since it requires ddr3 and you have ddr2.
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Thanks for the replies so far, they are very helpful. I can't overclock my processor. My motherboard doesn't have the options, and attempting to use software to do it simply crashed my computer.
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intel core 2 duo E7200
ati radeon 3850
will likely be possible if you have a decent PSU, i think it will be compatible on the motherboard
you *might* be able to stick with your current processor but it might be the bottleneck to the 3850. I guess you could always get a 8600GT or something if you don't want to upgrade more than the GPU
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On February 06 2010 12:55 writer22816 wrote:
intel core 2 duo E7200
ati radeon 3850
will likely be possible if you have a decent PSU, i think it will be compatible on the motherboard
you *might* be able to stick with your current processor but it might be the bottleneck to the 3850. I guess you could always get a 8600GT or something if you don't want to upgrade more than the GPU
Both of those aren't even sold anymore.
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Go ahead and buy the 4670. Also, might as well get your hands on a semi-decent LGA775 processor like the e7400 or something. Hopefully your motherboard will support it, that's really all i can say. If it doesn't it's time for a new computer.
On February 06 2010 13:04 xmShake wrote:Show nested quote +On February 06 2010 12:55 writer22816 wrote:
intel core 2 duo E7200
ati radeon 3850
will likely be possible if you have a decent PSU, i think it will be compatible on the motherboard
you *might* be able to stick with your current processor but it might be the bottleneck to the 3850. I guess you could always get a 8600GT or something if you don't want to upgrade more than the GPU Both of those aren't even sold anymore.
the 3850 is sold in AGP form, but he doesn't have an AGP motherboard.
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Hopefully you can tell us how much money you are willing to spend so that we aren't just guessing blindly.
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On February 06 2010 13:42 FragKrag wrote:
Hopefully you can tell us how much money you are willing to spend so that we aren't just guessing blindly.
I could spend more than $300 if I have to, but if I can get away with a decent upgrade for much less (like an $80-100 video card) and put off the mobo/cpu/ram upgrade for another year, I will.
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If you had money to uppgrade your comp ( to a Quad or E with much higher freq ) i would suggest a 5770. Otherwise i don't really know... 4670 probably.
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I will eventually buy a new mobo/cpu, but probably not for another several months.
If I get the 4670:
Is it better to get one with 1gb DDR2 or 512mb GDDR3?
It's probably worth pointing out that I'm sure my old motherboard only has PCIe 1.0, since it's several years old now.
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Get the 512MB one, it's not a typo, they're different types of memory. Google it if you're interested.
They might not consume the exact same amount of power but the difference is likely negligible.
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On February 17 2010 00:32 xmShake wrote:
Get the 512MB one, it's not a typo, they're different types of memory. Google it if you're interested.
They might not consume the exact same amount of power but the difference is likely negligible.
Google search seems to agree that they are in fact the same, some people just tend to call GDDRx DDRx. Can you provide a link?
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If you run that mobo cpu combo you'd also need a ram upgrade :D
Imo best thing to do is unless you just hate that mobo like nforce diver problems with windows 7 or something is to upgrade the cpu using an old c2d or c2q assuming that is lga 775
I'd just look at what your max fsb is on that mobo and shoot for a cpu around there toss in some money to get 4 gigs or ram spend all the rest on a gpu assuming you have a good power supply to do so. ofc the issue you might run into is if you're not carful about selecting your cpu is that it wont work on your mobo and then you'll just have spend 100 bucks on a cpu you can't use.
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EPT
