How would this GTX 260 based PC perform for gaming in 2013

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sbch

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Jul 11, 2013
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I am looking to modify my old PC with a very low budget and so only want to upgrade the CPU and GPU with used parts I can find for very cheap online. To buy both of these components would only cost me €70 in Ireland and my budget would really be maxed out at €100. To cut the cost I don't want to have to buy a new mobo and so am limited to 2gb ram and an e6700 CPU as these are the best my current mobo can support. I understand this is probably too low but want to know can it be done and would a pc with the below specs be capable of playing modern games on medium settings with a smooth framerate?

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.7ghz CPU
MSI P4M900M2-L mobo
Nvidia GTX 260 Sparkle GPU
2GB ddr2 ram

Thanks!
 
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n1ghtr4v3n

n1ghtr4v3n

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I have a friend who still owns gtx260 and he is able run all the latest games as far as I know. He also owns a core2duo cpu dont really remember the which one though.
So I believe you can at least play the recent games with this upgrade, but most probably with lower settings.
By the way if its possible try to add another 2gig's of memory at least. They are relatively cheap these days. Proabably it will fit your 100€ budget.

good luck.
 
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sbch

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Thanks, lower settings is perfectly fine. I would like to increase the memory but my motherboard will only support 2gb total and that's what I currently have installed. If I really couldn't afford to upgrade the memory, do you know would these other upgrades still be worthwhile?
 
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sbch

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I've only got a Pentium Dual-Core e2200. The PC was just the family desktop 5 or 6 years ago and was hardly used for gaming even then. I haven't even tried buying new games to try on it because I know with it's current specs it couldn't run anything. I'm just curious if by replacing a couple of key parts could I turn it into a moderately capable gaming rig
 
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Onus

Onus

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Not well. A GTX260 is about as powerful as a HD7750 or GTX650. Your CPU should be good for most games (especially if you are able to overclock it some), however it may struggle with higher settings on newer games that are better threaded.
Are you sure you cannot use more RAM? Only 2GB is another limitation; 4GB would really help.
Overall, I believe you could play pretty much any game, but many will be on low-medium settings.
 
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swifty_morgan

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Feb 10, 2006
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the motherboard only supports 2gigs of ram. that would have been the only logical thing to do..... increase it.
 
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n1ghtr4v3n

n1ghtr4v3n

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for 100€ there arent many options... sadly :(
I'd say it would be an ok upgrade at least it would make games playable...
 
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sbch

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I've looked into it since and have found conflicting reports on how much memory my motherboard will support. I saw on another tom's hardware thread that someone said 2gb was the limit but several google results say different things about how much memory it can take. Can anyone tell me how much memory an MSI P4M900M2-L can support?
 
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swifty_morgan

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sbch

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Ok, thanks for confirming anyway. So am I right in thinking this wouldn't be worthwhile with the memory limitation? If it's any help the type of games I was hoping to play are Alan Wake, Arkham Asylum, GRID, Fallout 3...games that are a few years old but may have been demanding at the time of release. Again like I said, framerate is more important than picture quality but I would like to be able to play on my 32 inch TV
 
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n1ghtr4v3n

n1ghtr4v3n

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a complete build with the cheapest parts needs a budget around $300-350 something like €200 so I believe its... pointless...

read the question again he has a budget of €100
 
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syuhas85

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I have a GTX 260 I run ultra on everquest 2, battlefield 3, planetside 2, skyrim etc. gtx 260 doesnt have direct x 11 but is still a beast for its age.....

although im runing fx 6300 six-core, and 16GB DDR3 1800 but ya Im not selling my video card until it cant run these games it does a fantastic job. im runing only 30-40fps on ultra settings but thats the same as a console you dont see your game slowing down no dragging or loading points... its still a good card for its old age!
 
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vmystikilv

vmystikilv

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I currently have a GTX 260 also with the FX6300, Actually I have 2 of them but often only use one because of do multi monitor. My card plays everything really well today but I have two major concerns for you.

1. you are not going to have the power to handle it without buying a new power supply (an expensive one)

2. before I upgraded, my GTX's were in a AMD 64x2 3800+ with 2.5gb of ram. long story short it ran 0% better than my 9800gt. This card needs memory and processor speed to meet its full potential. If I were you I would look for an old 9800gt. I still have it on an old rig in the back and it handles batman arkham city with all high settings including physx's turned on by itself really well. Its paired with a AM3 Athlon 270. If you are trying to do something cheap and play games just find a 9800gt. then, you can put the extra money toward saving for a new rig and have something to tide you over.
 
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