Need help upgrading my "old" system

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blaze_slayer

Honorable
Nov 4, 2013
4
0
10,510
Hi guys, I'm planning to upgrade my PC (purchased in 2010) and I need some help deciding what parts I can upgrade to. I'm on a limited budget of $400~$500 unfortunately, so the upgrade isn't really going to be very high end.

I'm mainly upgrading for the purpose of a little gaming, usually stuff like Dota 2, some photoshop and just general usage. Hoping that with the upgrade, i'd be able to play some of the newer titles like Battlefield and stuff.

My current config is as follows:

Processor: Intel Core i3 530 2.9GHz.
Motherboard: Intel DH55TC
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS
RAM: 2GB from a local company
PSU: 220W

If anyone could give me some advice on what parts I should keep/upgrade, i'd really appreciate it. Preferably I'd like to keep the CPU and Motherboard, while upgrading the other parts.
 
Solution
Foldalot
I am not sure how your CPU will perform on multiplayer games, but you won't have problems playing newer games on mid/high settings Singleplayer.

BF3 on high, Far Cry 3 on high, Crysis 3 on medium, Tomb Rider on high, Bioshock Infinite on very high will all go above 50FPS according to benchmarks

BF4 should go well on medium settings
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AxlFone

Dignified
May 21, 2013
2,665
0
13,960
There is not much poun to upgrade old build. New ones give you so much more performance. You can build good new one 600-900 $

First pick up case + psu. Then mobo ,cpu memory. + video card.
DVD if you need one. Maybe cpu cooler if you like silent working build.

Here is something Id plan build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Performance ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($102.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.75 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($84.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $965.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 06:39 EST-0500)

If you want to save more. Then look GTX 650 Ti boost 2GB video card or 7870 /7950. maybe good to have more memory 16GB is good.
Bigger SSD is nice. 256GB sandisk ultra plus is cheap fast and reliable.

Hope this heps future upgrade :) Good luck :)

Couple things and I did make build bit cheaper.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.48 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.75 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($84.95 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $893.12
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 06:48 EST-0500)
 
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blaze_slayer

Honorable
Nov 4, 2013
4
0
10,510
Thanks for the reply guys, I was wondering if it would make sense to just upgrade the Video Card and RAM, but i'm pretty sure a good GPU will probably be bottlenecked by the CPU, seeing as funds are really limited at the moment..

Can you guys recommend any good GPU's which won't get bottlenecked by my CPU?
 
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Foldalot

Foldalot

Honorable
Oct 3, 2013
738
0
11,360
Ah, I thought you had i5, didn't see that well at first.

Forget the GTX760. R7 260x might be a good choice, and 2x4GB 1333MHz (since your MB doesn't support more)

Also you'll need new PSU.

Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card

About 300$
 
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blaze_slayer

Honorable
Nov 4, 2013
4
0
10,510


Thanks for the recommendation. Will I be able to play some of the newer games on med/high settings at decent fps with that setup?
 
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Foldalot

Foldalot

Honorable
Oct 3, 2013
738
0
11,360
I am not sure how your CPU will perform on multiplayer games, but you won't have problems playing newer games on mid/high settings Singleplayer.

BF3 on high, Far Cry 3 on high, Crysis 3 on medium, Tomb Rider on high, Bioshock Infinite on very high will all go above 50FPS according to benchmarks

BF4 should go well on medium settings
 
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Solution
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blaze_slayer

Honorable
Nov 4, 2013
4
0
10,510


Cool, thanks for the reply! I think i'll take your advice and make that upgrade!
 
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