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Computer
Topic Started: Jun 6 2012, 09:24 PM (302 Views)
Cullen
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Still Biftec's Bitch
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Alright, so my computer is getting a bit dated (4 years) for the games I want to play. I have two options, upgrade my PC with ~ $300 (hoping to only spend ~$200) or save up and build my own computer from scratch. Currently I'm leaning towards upgrading my PC due to the fact that I will not be able to game happily this summer if I decide to save up. Also I figure the parts I'm buying I will be able to recycle towards a new computer.

What I'm asking for is some recommended video cards and power supplies. Those are the two parts I'm looking to upgrade as well as some additional RAM because I will most likely be upgrading to Windows 8 64bit.
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My Computer:

Hewlett-Packard Company
Model #: m8400f

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF06b/12132708-12133156-12133158-12133158-12133158-81959348-81979614.html?dnr=1

OS: Windows Vista 32-bit

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9600 Quad-core Processor 2.30 GHz
RAM: 3.00 GB
Power Supply: 300 watts
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I'm pretty sure my CPU/Processor can last a bit longer than my graphics card performance wise. It IS a concern of mine though. Any info about this would be awesome.

All help is greatly appreciated and any special deals you guys know of would be a huge help as well.


EDIT: Another concern is cooling, how much will upgrading my power supply and video card affect how hot it gets?
Edited by Cullen, Jun 6 2012, 09:49 PM.
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Foolscap
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Destroyer of Worlds
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I'm really outdated when it comes to upgrades, I haven't built my own PC from scratch in years. That being said, if you were to upgrade the system you have and include a current gen video card, I'd guess that you'll need to bump up your power supply to the 500W mark.

With regard to your current CPU, it's speed and being dual core should probably be ok, but what you'll find is that the bus speeds is going to hinder you. If you want to bump up your RAM, you might run into issues getting the right speeds with the newer RAM that will coincide with your bus speed of the processor. Again, not a huge AMD guy, so I can't say for certain how it scales with current gen hardware.

I'm curious why the push to upgrade to Win 8? Normally, moving to a new OS isn't going to be a driving factor in game performance and stuff. To me, it's $100 or so that could be better spent towards hardware, and imo Win 7 is more than ample.. I don't have any performance or stability issues with it.

www.tomshardware.com has a pretty extensive community, you might want to make an account and pop your questions to them, they can probably give you a more concise and thorough answer :)
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EpicTurtlez
Pro-Lurker
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Yeah, that computer would be a bit slow on playing high graphics games such as MW3 or BF3. Minecraft would be fine on it. I also custom built my PC and it works amazing! for $1200 i got a i7 processor with 3.4ghz and 16gb of ram and a gtx 560ti which plays BF3 on max at about 50fps. If you would buy a computer, i would save up for a really powerful one if you want a gamer one. Yeah power supply and ram you should bump a bit more ;P i would at least go for 500 watts and for 8gb of ram
Check out my youtube channel! :) Click here! :D
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Fireonfergal
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Le Frenchman
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I'd wait 'til you have some more money, and then get a new Power Supply, Graphics Card, CPU, and RAM. Your biggest worry might be case size. Some newer graphics cards are too big and require a larger case, though you shouldn't have too much of a problem if you're getting a card under $200-250. A $200 card should be good for newer games I'd say.

My policy when it comes to looking for parts usually involves taking a look at the customer reviews, and looking primarily at the highest rated products.

Possible GPU: found here
Possible CPU: found here
Possible PSU: found here
Possible RAM: found here

Total dollar amount: $360 on Newegg, though some other online stores, or even Fry's Electronics might have deals or cheaper prices.

Cooling wise, you might need to look into buying an extra fan or two. As well, cleaning up the cables, as in, moving them away from the middle area above the motherboard, will allow for better airflow. My PC has two fans on the graphics card heat sink, a fan in the power supply, three case fans, and the Intel cpu heat sink, and it never gets hot, as far as I can tell.

EDIT: you might also want to look into buying a new hard drive as well, and just salvage the case/motherboard and basically build your own computer.
Edited by Fireonfergal, Jun 7 2012, 10:56 PM.
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Re3st1mat3d
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Loudmouth
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EpicTurtlez
Jun 7 2012, 11:17 AM
Yeah, that computer would be a bit slow on playing high graphics games such as MW3
MW3 is not high graphics, you might want to swap that for Skyrim or something.
my old computer of 4 years can run MW3 on max XD
Come visit me at my Youtube page
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Cullen
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Still Biftec's Bitch
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Well I've looked into this a bit more, and I've found out that my computer is DDR2 for RAM, so the RAM that Ferg suggested is not an option (unless you guys know something I don't).

Secondly I think my processor can last a bit longer so I'm heading towards just purchasing the GPU and the PSU, then looking for a good deal on 2x2 DDR2 RAM. I have 4 slots for RAM all are currently taken. I have 2 1 GB cards; and 2 512 MB cards. However I have a question, would I be able to keep the 2, 1 GB cards and just replace the two 512 MB cards?

Lastly, If I'm forgetting something please let me know, I don't want to end up making a mistake with this purchase.

Thanks.
Edited by Cullen, Jun 17 2012, 07:16 AM.
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Foolscap
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Destroyer of Worlds
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As long as the RAM is all the same speed, and the slots you're replacing run in parallel, then yeah you *should* be able to just swap out the two 512MB sticks for 1 or 2GB sticks..
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Stargazerone
Biftec's Bitch
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I'm dumb on computers. mine has gotten too annoying for me to do anything. I think i've narrowed it down to two i think.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=306251&Sku=I455-92602
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1277082&Sku=SYX-1113

What do you guys think?
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JDGriffiths
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Mr. President
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I definitely like them, but you should probably buy the parts separately. You could get a way better deal. Try checking out Newegg.com or Amazon to compare the parts in that computer. May not be as easy as buying it in bulk. but you could save some cash :) and maybe make it more powerful with the money you save.
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Stargazerone
Biftec's Bitch
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I'm not gonna build one, i know it would be cheaper but i would mess stuff up so bad trying to put one together. I just want to get one that's fully assembled and will let me play games without severe lag.
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