Upgrading Oldish PC

geneukum

Honorable
May 17, 2013
17
0
10,510
Hey guys,

Looking to make a few upgrades to this PC and move the compatible parts to an older PC that will only be used for internet browsing and distro hopping. Could you make a few recommendations to make the most of my budget (~$500)?

My current build is:

Operating System = Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU = Intel Core i5 760 @ 2.80GHz Lynnfield 45nm Technology
RAM = 4.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard = ASUSTeK Computer INC. P7P55D-E LX (LGA1156)
Graphics = ASUS VS238 (1920x1080@60Hz) 1024MB GeForce GTX 465 (EVGA)
Hard Drives = 466GB Seagate ST3500418AS ATA Device (SATA)
 
Solution
I would try to overclock your cpu first. So get a good sink/fan. -> Hyper 212 ~$25
More Ram -> 8-16GB ~$70-$120
Upgrade GPU -> gtx 670 or HD 7970 or 7950 ~$350-$390
For general speeding up you can't go wrong with a better CPU cooler and a dose of overclocking, the little Coolermaster Hyper 212 is cheap and perfectly adequate for 'light' overclocking (I'm running a i5 750 at 3.4GHz on one, no probs).
For pure gaming the most obvious upgrade is a faster graphics card, have a read here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32693.html

An extra 4Gb of memory is going to be handy as will a larger hard drive.
Depending on the graphics/HDD spend you could get a smallish SSD but it'll depend on how you balance the budget.
Blowing the lot on a new CPU/mobo isn't going to get you very far, it'll be seriously held back by the current graphics card, besides, there's still plenty of life in existing CPU.