Advice (6 year old system now!)

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Perry Storey

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Jul 23, 2013
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Hi guys, i built my computer around 6 years ago now! im looking to see if i can upgrade a couple of bits but need some help as i barely know anything when it comes to this!

ill post up my current spec so people can see what direction i should head in!

CPU - Intel core duo e4400 (socket 775?)
Mobo - ASUS p965
Ram - kingston 2GB DDR2 (as much as i know)
GPU - Nvidia Geforce 8600GT

Now this all works fine although has started to slow over the years! i dont reinstall often as i dont think its been needed!

i rarely do multi tasking the most i ever do is watch films or stream whilst playing League of legends!

i can play league of legends fine at around 35fps which is enough but it dips up and down! ideally i want a stable 60 fps and ability to run stuff faster!

Sorry for the long post i can get more info if needed!

low budget! i dont think i need anything special! so bang for your buck :)
 
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rad666

rad666

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While doubling your memory wouldn't hurt (assuming your MoBo has the slots), the best thing you could do would be to do a clean install and clean out all the garbage that's collected on your system over the years.

Failing that, a Registry cleaner (CCleaner) and a good, through defrag would help.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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More memory would certainly be good.

For gaming a new GPU would help out a lot and you could always transfer that to a new system later on. GTX650Ti or GTX660 (GTX760 if you want to spend a little)

Not very many 'new' choices out there, but you could also track down a used core 2 quad, q6600 or q6700 or even q9400 and up chips to drop in your old rig.

I know quite a few people still running Q6600 and Q9550 still doing high end gaming. With a decent heatsink you can push those things to near 4Ghz and above.
 
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goonbar79

goonbar79

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I wouldn't spend too much money on this. It is pretty old, and any upgrade to quad core will cost you pretty penny, and it isn't worth it.

I would overclock the cpu as high as possible without spending more cash (unless you have better heatsink lying around). May be 2.5ghz or so. This actually may depend on the RAM, so try to see how hi you can go without voltage change. Consider more RAM, but probably 4GB is enough total, so get 2x1GB for as low cost as possible (ask around).

As for the gpu, it can be transferred to new systems easily, so you can spend more without worrying about future use. But for your system, I think a $60~$80 gpu is sufficient. Otherwise, you can spend $150~$200 now, and transfer to newer system later.
 
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Perry Storey

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Jul 23, 2013
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Wow fast great answers !

i realise the system is old ha!

ill look into some more RAM. Question, do i have to match the rAM currently in there or can i add anything into the spare two slots? with sufficient drivers?

i think the GPU can cope (from what i can tell) i think the processor is struggling and i believe the socket isnt used any more! :/!

ill also look into how to over clock it! Thanks!
 
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eddieroolz

eddieroolz

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League of Legends isn't demanding at all - I run at 50 fps on a Phenom laptop with Radeon 5650.

I believe your bottleneck here are:

1. RAM (2GB is not enough)
2. CPU

The best way to cope with RAM would be to add additional sticks. You didn't specify the motherboard model, but assuming you have 4 slots total, 2 are likely used already. You can buy any DDR2 and fill out the remaining 2 slots, but it's highly recommended to buy a model with same rated speed and timing. This way, you eliminate the different speed/timings as a potential issue.

For the CPU, your best bet is to overclock it to around 2.8-3.2GHz. My secondary system runs a similar CPU to yours at 3.2GHz and it's still able to play DOTA 2.
 
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Perry Storey

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Jul 23, 2013
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Is overclocking relatively easy? ive had a quick read and seems risky as i only have the standard cooling on the CPU, my case does have a fan at the front and one at the back! with vents all over if that helps much!

CPU-Z says model is P5B

im just trying to see how i can find out the specific speeds of the RAM
 
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Perry Storey

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Jul 23, 2013
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Ram - Kingston 1GB PC2-5300 (333hz) is what cpu-z says (max bandwidth)

ive found
Kingston 1GB DDR2 667MHz comes up when typing Kingston 1GB PC2-5300 into search bar! wondering if this is because its DDR2 its 333.? x 2?
 
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eddieroolz

eddieroolz

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Yes, you are correct. Your RAM is operating at 667MHz. Assuming you have 2 free slots, it would be ideal to find two more 1GB 667MHz sticks.

However, mixing and matching the capacity/speed on sticks is doable (my secondary system ran with 1GB, 2GB 1GB sticks for years).
 
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Perry Storey

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Jul 23, 2013
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ive ordered some that are the same as they are so old and cheap ha!

is this overclocking relatively easy to do? or a programme that you can run to set it for you at safe levels?

Cheers Pez

thinking about a new build after going on my bro's alienware!
 
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eddieroolz

eddieroolz

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