Jump to content

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade...


c0nt3nd3r

Recommended Posts

I am wondering whether upgrading my current PC is worth it for gaming as gaming with the current system specs suck as far as my graphics is concerned. I lag during gameplay.

I was considering upgrading the following parts:

Motherboard

Ram

Graphics

... or would keeping the current CPU, limiting my ability to upgrade the Ram to only DDR2 800 and adding an ATI 4000 series graphics card would defeat my purpose or waste my time and money versus getting a new AMD Dragon system consisting of AMD CPU and Graphics card along with the ability to add DDR3 Ram?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


If it is the PC in your sig you are talking about then the CPU is plenty fast enough for gaming. RAM looks OK but may not be as fast as brand-name stuff.

Buying a new motherboard would give you better features in most cases and allow for overclocking!

But when it comes down to it, it is the graphics card holding you WAY back. An 8400GS with a Q6600? That CPU is way too powerful for that graphics card to keep up with.

What sort of games do you play? Out of the HD4000 series the 4770 is the best value and will play any game at max detail on a 22inch monitor, and most games on your 24inch on max detail settings.

EDIT: And buying DDR2 800MHz RAM is plenty fast too. New mobo and RAM would not increase game performance as such, but would be a lot nicer like I said. Probably just upgrading your current PC sounds cheaper and more efficient than going and getting a new CPU and more expensive RAM as well.

Edited by Zenskas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it is the PC in your sig you are talking about then the CPU is plenty fast enough for gaming. RAM looks OK but may not be as fast as brand-name stuff.

Buying a new motherboard would give you better features in most cases and allow for overclocking!

But when it comes down to it, it is the graphics card holding you WAY back. An 8400GS with a Q6600? That CPU is way too powerful for that graphics card to keep up with.

What sort of games do you play? Out of the HD4000 series the 4770 is the best value and will play any game at max detail on a 22inch monitor, and most games on your 24inch on max detail settings.

EDIT: And buying DDR2 800MHz RAM is plenty fast too. New mobo and RAM would not increase game performance as such, but would be a lot nicer like I said. Probably just upgrading your current PC sounds cheaper and more efficient than going and getting a new CPU and more expensive RAM as well.

I've asked the same ? on another forum also to get as much info as possible and they are suggesting upgrading my graphics, psu and case as a new ATI 4000/nVidia GTX series will require a larger psu and more case space while keeping my current motherboard and ram.

I stated on the other forum that I've watched youtube videos where people are showing off their 4770 running usually with 4gigs of ram usually DDR3 and on an AMD x3/4 and the framerates/gameplay seem real smooth and nice.

How would my setup compare with the addition of such a graphics change as compared to an AMD x3/4 and 3-4gigs of DDR3?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Upgrading your CPU, RAM and motherboard you better leave for a year more, the Q6600 has enough power to run the games smooth, however, if you like to OC that system a bit than get only a new motherboard and that case.

Now, for upgrading what you already have just get the HD4770 and a PSU, no need change the case as it has enough room in it to place even a larger card than the HD4770. To get a bit more working space you can also take out the "media drive bay" that is placed in front of your case by taking out the screws or pop-rivets that are holding the carrier.

Zenskas already pushed you in the right direction, and forget about a new CPU and DDR3, you will be throwing away a perfect CPU and 3GB of RAM ;).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Upgrading your CPU, RAM and motherboard you better leave for a year more, the Q6600 has enough power to run the games smooth, however, if you like to OC that system a bit than get only a new motherboard and that case.

Now, for upgrading what you already have just get the HD4770 and a PSU, no need change the case as it has enough room in it to place even a larger card than the HD4770. To get a bit more working space you can also take out the "media drive bay" that is placed in front of your case by taking out the screws or pop-rivets that are holding the carrier.

Zenskas already pushed you in the right direction, and forget about a new CPU and DDR3, you will be throwing away a perfect CPU and 3GB of RAM ;) .

Will a Corsair 750W PSU fit in my case? I looked at that particular PSU as to be future-proof if I do more upgrading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Upgrading your CPU, RAM and motherboard you better leave for a year more, the Q6600 has enough power to run the games smooth, however, if you like to OC that system a bit than get only a new motherboard and that case.

Now, for upgrading what you already have just get the HD4770 and a PSU, no need change the case as it has enough room in it to place even a larger card than the HD4770. To get a bit more working space you can also take out the "media drive bay" that is placed in front of your case by taking out the screws or pop-rivets that are holding the carrier.

Zenskas already pushed you in the right direction, and forget about a new CPU and DDR3, you will be throwing away a perfect CPU and 3GB of RAM ;) .

I'm not into OCing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You got that right puntoMX, 3GB RAM and a Q6600 is nice for a while yet. Like I said, mobo should be fine if not OCing and RAM is too.

A 750W PSU could be a bit of a waste of cash (although it is cheap compared to in Australia...you would pay over $200 for that)as a 500-600W should be fine and be cheaper depending on quality but if you are thinking about a whole new build in a year or so then buying the 750W now could be a smart move as you could use it in your next PC with ease. If your current PSU is ATX then any other ATX PSU will fit. A Corsair, Antec or similar brand would be good and that 750W Corsair is pretty nice.

Edited by Zenskas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you lag during gameplay? you need to define what you mean by lag.

the word lag is normally associated with networks.

if you want better gaming performance then as other have stated, upgrade the graphics card.

for the resolution you have, get a 4870 or 4890 with 1GB vram.

Edited by ripken204
Link to comment
Share on other sites

you lag during gameplay? you need to define what you mean by lag.

the word lag is normally associated with networks.

if you want better gaming performance then as other have stated, upgrade the graphics card.

for the resolution you have, get a 4870 or 4890 with 1GB vram.

By lag I mean that when I am in an intense battle with lots of action - bullets flying, gernades exploding, smoke, flash, etc, I experience lag to where gameplay slows down or when online same result.

My internet connection is cable 15/2 so I don't feel my connection is the problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so its not internet lag, it would either be gpu. cpu, or ram.

run taskmanager while playing a game, then when "lag" happens minimize the game and check out what the cpu and ram usage is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so its not internet lag, it would either be gpu. cpu, or ram.

run taskmanager while playing a game, then when "lag" happens minimize the game and check out what the cpu and ram usage is.

Its pretty easy to see where the lag comes from :whistle: He has a Q6600 CPU with 3GB RAM so thats OK. Look at the specs for his PC. Gaming on a 24inch monitor with an 8400GS??? There you go. Like I said in my first post, a new GPU is needed and if your PSU is only a cheapo low watt model then a new one of those too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lag has been happening for a while with my current setup however, recently, whenever I have to restart my pc it beeps 3 times with the 3rd beep being longer than the first two and I have to leave the PC off for a bit. So, I am wondering if something is overheating, but the local PC repair guy told me it could be bad ram or gpu also.

Also, before going in-game if I lower my desktop resolution which I just started doing recently I find it helps somewhat with lag and overall gameplay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lag has been happening for a while with my current setup however, recently, whenever I have to restart my pc it beeps 3 times with the 3rd beep being longer than the first two and I have to leave the PC off for a bit. So, I am wondering if something is overheating, but the local PC repair guy told me it could be bad ram or gpu also.

Also, before going in-game if I lower my desktop resolution which I just started doing recently I find it helps somewhat with lag and overall gameplay.

Not sure about the first problem but if you buy a new GPU and it still happens then that eliminates one thing that is stuffing up and you will not have to change to lower resolutions too! Using a memory testing program like Memtest86+ you can see if its bad RAM. As for heat just use a program like Real Temp to see if the CPU is overheating and something like GPU-Z to see if your GPU is overheating.

Edited by Zenskas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

so its not internet lag, it would either be gpu. cpu, or ram.

run taskmanager while playing a game, then when "lag" happens minimize the game and check out what the cpu and ram usage is.

Its pretty easy to see where the lag comes from :whistle: He has a Q6600 CPU with 3GB RAM so thats OK. Look at the specs for his PC. Gaming on a 24inch monitor with an 8400GS??? There you go. Like I said in my first post, a new GPU is needed and if your PSU is only a cheapo low watt model then a new one of those too.

which is why i recommended a 4870/4890 in my first post :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lag has been happening for a while with my current setup however, recently, whenever I have to restart my pc it beeps 3 times with the 3rd beep being longer than the first two and I have to leave the PC off for a bit. So, I am wondering if something is overheating, but the local PC repair guy told me it could be bad ram or gpu also.

Also, before going in-game if I lower my desktop resolution which I just started doing recently I find it helps somewhat with lag and overall gameplay.

Not sure about the first problem but if you buy a new GPU and it still happens then that eliminates one thing that is stuffing up and you will not have to change to lower resolutions too! Using a memory testing program like Memtest86+ you can see if its bad RAM. As for heat just use a program like Real Temp to see if the CPU is overheating and something like GPU-Z to see if your GPU is overheating.

cpungputemps.jpg

My PC case is inside a cubby hole like area as my desk has a cupboard like area to put my case in underneath the desk. This is probably limiting airflow even though there space on each side of the case.

Can the Memtest program be run using a program like MagicDisc or does it have to be burned to a cd?

Edited by c0nt3nd3r
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...