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Upgrade help for old Computer.

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  • Gaming
  • Computers
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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April 29, 2014 12:56:07 AM

So I have an old computer lying in the basement, and I want to upgrade it to a decent low/mid end gaming PC. I have a few ideas on what I can do to make it better, but I'm no component expert, so I thought I would ask over here. The current specs over on the machine is -

Intel 2.9 GHz LGA 1155 G2020 Processor
Gigabyte ga h61m ds2 Mobo
500W non branded PSU
4Gb RAM
No graphics card
2x 1TB HDD's
Windows 8.1

This is the basic layout of the current machine, and I wish to upgrade it to the following specs -

Intel i3 3220
Corsair VS650 650 Watt PSU
Sapphire AMD/ATI Radeon R9 270X with Boost OC 2 GB
A decent kit of 8gb RAM.

Will this be enough to play most games at medium-high settings? I have a 1600x1050 monitor which I plan to upgrade to a 1080p screen in the future. And will the new components work properly together? And have I missed some component which should be upgraded over the other or something like that?

Thanks! And sorry if I sound like a noob, I have been out of the PC race for a while, due to studies and stuff.

More about : upgrade computer

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a b 4 Gaming
April 29, 2014 1:10:09 AM

I would rather invest a bit more and go for i5 3570 (no-K) or E3-1230V2 (if your mobo is compatible with it) or i7 3770 (again no-K). Adjust with your budget.

The GPU is OK, you can play almost all of todays games in medium on fullHD. IF you still have more money, going to R9 280x is also a better choice. Do not do this if you do not have the money.

An additional (optional) upgrade would be getting an SSD. You PC will be really really a lot faster by loading, booting, opening programs, etc. but will not add 1 single fraps in games.
Get this if you still have money.

They should work fine.
The PSU is quite OK and the power rating is also enough but get Seasonic, Rosewill, Antec or XFX if you can
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April 29, 2014 5:33:06 AM

guanyu210379 said:
I would rather invest a bit more and go for i5 3570 (no-K) or E3-1230V2 (if your mobo is compatible with it) or i7 3770 (again no-K). Adjust with your budget.

The GPU is OK, you can play almost all of todays games in medium on fullHD. IF you still have more money, going to R9 280x is also a better choice. Do not do this if you do not have the money.

An additional (optional) upgrade would be getting an SSD. You PC will be really really a lot faster by loading, booting, opening programs, etc. but will not add 1 single fraps in games.
Get this if you still have money.

They should work fine.
The PSU is quite OK and the power rating is also enough but get Seasonic, Rosewill, Antec or XFX if you can


Thanks for your reply! The thing is, I'm very tight on budget right now, I am planning to upgrade my whole CPU/Mobo combo sometime when Broadwell drops. I just need something that can get by for right now. Will investing in a AMD FX 6300 be a better bet than the i3, as it is in the similar price bracket I'm aiming for.
Again, thanks for the reply!
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a b 4 Gaming
April 29, 2014 5:36:47 AM

OnlineCape said:

Thanks for your reply! The thing is, I'm very tight on budget right now, I am planning to upgrade my whole CPU/Mobo combo sometime when Broadwell drops. I just need something that can get by for right now. Will investing in a AMD FX 6300 be a better bet than the i3, as it is in the similar price bracket I'm aiming for.
Again, thanks for the reply!


No, for your case, I would not go for FX6300 since you will need to replace the mobo too.
Rather then to invest more on FX6300+new mobo, I would go for i5 3570 (no-K) instead of i3.
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May 1, 2014 2:25:35 AM

Alright, thanks. And I was wondering if I could just upgrade my GPU and PSU, along with a more roomy case, and upgrade to a new CPU/Mobo combination later on in the year? Will a high end GPU like the 280x and 770 be severely restricted by the lowe end processor?
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a b 4 Gaming
May 1, 2014 9:16:58 AM

Well..most games are more GPU intensive than proc intensive and yes your current processor might bottleneck or restrict the GPU.
How severe the proc will bottleneck is a bit hard to tell. It depends from games to games.
Now, if you take a good look at your current system, the biggest problem is actually the lack of a dedicated GPU.
Intels iGPU is super weak.
Although your current proc might bottleneck the GPU in some games but as soon as you upgrade or add the new planned GPU (R9 280x or GTX770), you will see already a really huge performance jump.
So, yes,
If you are short of money right now, it is also possible to first take the new GPU + PSU and the processor later this year.
It is just, if you are buying such high-end GPU, I would really recommend to get an i5 3570. Do not forget to get one soon.

The mobo, you can keep your current mobo, I see no point of getting a new one unles you want to OC your system and get a new mobo for OC.
The FX6300+new mobo, as I mentioned before, it not recommendable for you, a proc update should be the better choice.

Now, about the case, as long it can stil fit the new GPU I do not see a big reason to buy a new one.
What is your case anyway?
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May 1, 2014 11:14:42 AM

Adding a new GPU would be your best bet. I have no idea what video cards wouldn't bottleneck the G2020 and would be adequate, so it would be best to ask the other people. I bought the R7 260x 1GB for $100 for my A4-3420 system and R7 260x 2GB for $120 for my A6-5400k system and it has improved my performance dramatically. If you are a nvidia fan, there is the GTX 750 or GTX 750 Ti. Play around with the game settings instead of maxing out everything and with mid tiers cards, you will find that FPS drops if the game settings are too low such as short viewing distance causing it to render more often. I look off most of the eye candy settings (shadows, textures, foilage?, water/reflection) for better ingame performance

If you will be purchasing a larger case for a video card with giant cooler with multiple fan, make sure that you get enough case fans to move the hot air out of the case since it will require more suction to create a proper vacuum to pull air into the case as well as pull hot air out.
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May 1, 2014 4:46:48 PM

guanyu210379 said:
Well..most games are more GPU intensive than proc intensive and yes your current processor might bottleneck or restrict the GPU.
How severe the proc will bottleneck is a bit hard to tell. It depends from games to games.
Now, if you take a good look at your current system, the biggest problem is actually the lack of a dedicated GPU.
Intels iGPU is super weak.
Although your current proc might bottleneck the GPU in some games but as soon as you upgrade or add the new planned GPU (R9 280x or GTX770), you will see already a really huge performance jump.
So, yes,
If you are short of money right now, it is also possible to first take the new GPU + PSU and the processor later this year.
It is just, if you are buying such high-end GPU, I would really recommend to get an i5 3570. Do not forget to get one soon.

The mobo, you can keep your current mobo, I see no point of getting a new one unles you want to OC your system and get a new mobo for OC.
The FX6300+new mobo, as I mentioned before, it not recommendable for you, a proc update should be the better choice.

Now, about the case, as long it can stil fit the new GPU I do not see a big reason to buy a new one.
What is your case anyway?


Alright, so I will most probably do just a GPU upgrade to a 280x. Any idea how big of a PSU I should go for? And even I was thinking about just the 3570, so thanks! And my current case is a Circle one, it's quite old, and there is not enough room inside to give space for all the components. I was thinking about a Corsair HAF 912 combat case, as I'm getting an awesome deal on it.

Thanks for the reply, again! :) 
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May 1, 2014 4:54:32 PM

Pondering said:
Adding a new GPU would be your best bet. I have no idea what video cards wouldn't bottleneck the G2020 and would be adequate, so it would be best to ask the other people. I bought the R7 260x 1GB for $100 for my A4-3420 system and R7 260x 2GB for $120 for my A6-5400k system and it has improved my performance dramatically. If you are a nvidia fan, there is the GTX 750 or GTX 750 Ti. Play around with the game settings instead of maxing out everything and with mid tiers cards, you will find that FPS drops if the game settings are too low such as short viewing distance causing it to render more often. I look off most of the eye candy settings (shadows, textures, foilage?, water/reflection) for better ingame performance

If you will be purchasing a larger case for a video card with giant cooler with multiple fan, make sure that you get enough case fans to move the hot air out of the case since it will require more suction to create a proper vacuum to pull air into the case as well as pull hot air out.


And that is my main issue over here. :p  I plan to upgrade to a better processor, in the next 2-3 months, and I would be buying a mid-high tier graphics card, like a 770/280x. While the 750Ti looks like an awesome card, I want to go all out for this build, as I'm skipping this console generation, and just being on PC, so I want to be a bit future proof. And about the case, yes I will be looking into the cooling. How do you find the 260x on your build? And thanks for the reply! :) 
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