I need an economic upgrade

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sahan92

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Jun 27, 2013
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that machine is very old and if I were you, I would save up for a whole new system.
There is just no point in spending money on such an old rig and on top of it, any upgrade is not gonna be considered economical.
 
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Swordkd

Swordkd

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Oct 3, 2012
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Due to the age of the system, I'd recommend buying a new Case and components essentially. However, we'll need to know the specifics of your current Pc. How big of a hard drive do you have? What is it mainly used for?

Even with a budget of 350 dollars, I bet we could throw something together that's reasonable. Assuming you can reuse your OS, Hard Drive and DVD drive(assuming you have one).

Without knowing anymore specifics, this is what I'd put together with a 350 dollar budget. It has the option of being upgraded later for the CPU. You can also of course replace anything else, but the Cpu can be upgraded to the latest and greatest from AMD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ TigerDirect)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 1GB Video Card ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $351.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-27 09:39 EDT-0400)

 
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drewhoo

drewhoo

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Apr 5, 2012
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The link that you posted shows a range of possible specs for your current computer. So even if you have the best components possible within that list, that means your processor is 7 years old. I suggest buying a new motherboard, processor, RAM, and an SSD. If your budget allows, get a new power supply also. Those can go bad after a number of years (their wattage declines over time), and the longest I would consider keeping one is five years.

You currently have an LGA 775 socket motherboard. Should you want an Intel processor you would need a newer LGA 1155 motherboard, which is not the newest socket, but the LGA 1150, which is the newest, has not yet released a CPU that is within your budget (typically they release the expensive stuff first).

However, an AMD processor would probably give you a better value, since you can get a quad core AMD processor for about $100 whereas the price threshold for a quad core Intel CPU is about $170.

This $100 FM2 socket (the newest AMD socket) A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz is probably the best fit for your budget. It has good graphics capabilities also. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281

This is a matching Micro ATX form factor motherboard for under $50 that should fit in your case (): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130661

Here is a $33 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz ram stick that is supported by that motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231423

That puts us at $180 and we've replaced your motherboard, CPU, and RAM. At this point, I think it would be wise to get a new power supply and an SSD. You could add the SSD as the drive that holds the operating system and keep your current HDD, attach it to the new motherboard, and use it as storage.

This $100 120GB Samsung SSD offers the best value right now and will do the most to improve your system's every day performance.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188

This $40 300W Seasonic Power Supply is a high quality, well-reviewed unit that would enable you to add a small discrete graphics card if you ever desired to do so.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151090

That puts us at $320!
 
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