Bought an old gaming rig

enso soul · Feb 10, 2014

Here are the general specs

CPU - Intel 2 Duo Core E8500
Motherboard - Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R
RAM - 2GB DDR2
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

I looked on Steam as well and it said my VRAm was 512 MB which I hope is ok. Reason why I'm posting this is to ask what can I do to upgrade it. Lately when I play games like League of Legends or Tera on high settings it freezes. I've tried to stream a couple of times while playing and it freezes. I was told it could be my VRAM but i think it's ok. I'm thinking maybe it's my RAM that needs an upgrade but I don't know where to start or even look around. I believe parts have to be compatible as well.

maxiim · Feb 10, 2014

enso soul :

What resolution is your monitor? And that GPU is extremely old, most low end GPUs nowadays have at least 1gb vram. As far as streaming goes, you need MUCH higher pc specs as well as a good internet connection to be able to stream and game simultaneously.

HEXiT · Feb 10, 2014

thats an entry level system at best for todays games. for lol your looking at medium settings at best to keep a constant 30+fps.
as for upgrading its not worth the expense. although if you can find a core 2 quad @2.4+ ghz on ebay for 30-40 used i would consider it a worth while buy.
if you can add a quad core then maybe you could stretch to a better gpu, something like a r7 250 or hd 7770 buit (they will work perfecly well if your motherboard has at least a pci-e 1.1 slot but not all 775 motherboards do) pretty much anything more will have diminishing returns and possible bottleneck issues.
but that being said it would also depend on your psu... ddr2 systems are just getting long in the tooth so new parts will often cost double the price of there ddr3 counterparts... for instance my mate just spent 50 notes on 4 gigs of ddr2 and that was the cheapest he could find, i spent the same about 5-6 months back and got 12 gigs of ddr3. this is why i say its not really worth spending a lot of cash on it... there just isnt a return for your money. which is obviously tight or you would have bought a better system.

enso soul · Feb 10, 2014

HEXiT :

thats an entry level system at best for todays games. for lol your looking at medium settings at best to keep a constant 30+fps.
as for upgrading its not worth the expense. although if you can find a core 2 quad @2.4+ ghz on ebay for 30-40 used i would consider it a worth while buy.
if you can add a quad core then maybe you could stretch to a better gpu, something like a r7 250 or hd 7770 buit (they will work perfecly well if your motherboard has at least a pci-e 1.1 slot but not all 775 motherboards do) pretty much anything more will have diminishing returns and possible bottleneck issues.
but that being said it would also depend on your psu... ddr2 systems are just getting long in the tooth so new parts will often cost double the price of there ddr3 counterparts... for instance my mate just spent 50 notes on 4 gigs of ddr2 and that was the cheapest he could find, i spent the same about 5-6 months back and got 12 gigs of ddr3. this is why i say its not really worth spending a lot of cash on it... there just isnt a return for your money. which is obviously tight or you would have bought a better system.

Wow I didn't realize it was that bad. So your advice is to get a quad core and better GPU?

enso soul · Feb 10, 2014

maxiim :

resolution - 1360 x 768
My internet connection is fine and has never let me down. As for the GPU it's a few years old I guess but I don't really know where to start as far as buying what and making sure it's compatible to everything in my pc.

HEXiT · Feb 11, 2014

its not completely useless. my mate still plays some games on my old 6000x2 88gt setup which i bought the end of 2006 and upgraded through 2007 and sold to him 4 years ago. same guy i told you bought the memory.
it played deus ex human revolution perfectly well @1080p low settings. and still looks decent. honestly im still surprised every time i see it running.
my guess is you just had to much expectation from it. at least unlike him your not trying to run a 1080p screen which will give you slightly better perfomance as your not putting all the cards vram into running a high rez screen.
just be conservative with settings and you should be fine for games like lol...

enso soul · Feb 11, 2014

HEXiT :

Thank you for your help. I'll take your advice but I really want to do an upgrade. Is there any I can upgrade what I have or maybe use some parts I have for a new PC build?

HEXiT · Feb 11, 2014

psu, case and hdds/dvd drive is pretty much all you could use in a new build.
but if you were to say jump to haswell then its likely the psu wouldnt be good enough either.

like i said look on ebay for a used core 2quad any 1 over 2.4ghz will be enough for now. but again dont go spending lots of money because the return isnt worth it. 1s you have it you will have more options.
reason i say get a cpu over a gpu is adding a gpu to a system thats already running short on cpu power will just increase your problems and cause your fps to bounce even wider than it already will... (bounce as in jump from minimum to maximum fps without a smooth transition)
gfx wise the 8800gt is minimum spec but will allow you to play pretty much any game you want so its not essential to upgrade that just yet.
although in 6 months things may be different as the new consoles take off... but if your willing to play the games you already have and forgo the newer titles then its perfectly fine...

enso soul · Feb 11, 2014

HEXiT :

I think the case is ok for now (it's a mid tower from thermaltake). I'll take your advice and hang onto the graphics card. I'll look for the 2quad core as well. Is there anything I should look for as well?

simon12 · Feb 11, 2014

Another 2Gb of DDR2 but only if its very cheap. If you really want to go mad the most you can do is get the Core 2 quad, a cooler like an 212 Evo to overclock hopefully over 3GHz, the 2Gb more RAM & an old high end card like a Radeon 4870/4890 (these frequently go cheap on Ebay in the UK). The problem is by the time you have bought all this you will have spend half as much as a far better brand new Motherboard, CPU, RAM & GPU which would all come with a warranty not used on Ebay. I suggest live with what you have until you can spend $400+ preferably 500+.

HEXiT · Feb 11, 2014

enso soul :

the q6600,q6700 q8300 and q8400 are the 1s to look for but it really does depend on price... get whichever you can find cheapest as long as your motherboard supports them which it should if it supports core 2 duo...

Search

Bought an old gaming rig

enso soul

Honorable

HEXiT

maxiim

Distinguished

HEXiT

Champion

enso soul

Honorable

enso soul

Honorable

HEXiT

Champion

enso soul

Honorable

HEXiT

Champion

enso soul

Honorable

simon12

Splendid

HEXiT

Champion

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page