Need to know what to upgrade these specs to? (Price range for a 15 year old)

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Mattos

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Jan 22, 2014
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Hi im new to computers and i have this really old computer with these specs:

2x1gb ddr2 ram
pentium r dual core e6300 @ 2.8ghz processor
intel r g41 chipset ecxpress graphics card
P5G41-M LX motherboard

I think that's all the specs and i just want to know what to upgrade them to, because im 15 and don't have ALOT of money. I have about ($500) from Christmas/b day. I want to be able to run day z with at least 20fps! I really need your help, im new and confused as hell. Thanks.

-Matt
 
Solution
Seladon-1370374
So here's what I recommend you :

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $489.41
(Prices...
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Seladon-1370374

Seladon-1370374

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Jul 23, 2013
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Hi, Matt.

There's not much that you can do with the parts that you have right now, but with $500 you can build a whole new one !
Is there a CD/DVD writer in that PC that you could reuse ?
Will you need a new operating system, or do you already one that you can use ?
 
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Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
Aug 3, 2006
28,224
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With only $500 to spend, I'd probably lean towards the following component upgrades:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($200.95 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-800 Memory ($56.56 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $467.49
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 23:07 EST-0500)

Another option (and probably the better option) would be to replace the whole core system (motherboard, CPU, and RAM), but this requires spending ~20% of your budget on an operating system:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($105.38 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $488.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 23:20 EST-0500)

Processing power would be about the same, but you're not financially limited to only 4GB of RAM by going this route. You don't have as much graphics processing power, but it's easier to upgrade this later when you have more money and you do have a better power supply going this route.

-Wolf sends

Edit: Each of these options require that you reuse the case, hard drive, and optical drive.
 
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Seladon-1370374

Seladon-1370374

Honorable
Jul 23, 2013
2,213
0
12,960
So here's what I recommend you :

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2G0Il/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.67 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $489.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-22 23:34 EST-0500)
 
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Solution
Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

Titan
Moderator
Aug 3, 2006
28,224
1,514
133,290
Couple of things of note:

1) That power supply comes to $39.99 AFTER a $20 mail in rebate. Total price is actually $509.41 before rebates. Not sure it matters to you, but it does exceed your $500 budget.
2) You can only use your current Windows 7 OS if it's a retail version. A version that was pre-installed on an off the shelf system or an OEM version cannot be installed and activated on a new motherboard.

-Wolf sends
 
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