Upgrading computer at 250$ budget? (gaming)

air3lander

Reputable
Jul 7, 2014
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4,510
im currently gaming league of legends and i have been for the past year or so, ive been comfortable enough to where its pretty smooth when i have everything on "very low" settings. I would like to upgrade, id like to be able to keep my fps at 60 or maybe even more if it means the better, and id also like to play smoothly maybe even at "very high" ,i dont know much about computers or anything , but i have a budget of around 250$ . i know its not much, but maybe a small upgrade could actually give a big impact. this PC is kinda old and was bought built, just those standard ones u get at the store.

Processor: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CP, E5500 @2.80GHz (2 CPUs) ~2.8GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 6.00 GB
System Type : 64-bit
Memory: 6144 MB RAM
Video Card(?): Intel(R) G45/G43 Express Chipset

im not sure if this is enough info, but feel free to request for more information about the computer . thankyou~
 
Solution

Robin Young

Honorable
Apr 19, 2013
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10,510
Well, a dedicated graphics card would be your first port of call. A modest graphics card would make a big difference. The rest of the system is getting quite old now too. I used to have one of those E series pentium dual cores and you could overclock the nuts of them, though I bet if your system came pre-built then the motherboard won't support this. If you can find out what motherboard everything is attached to and what kind of power supply you have I could help more :)
 


That PSU is tier 4: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
 

nokiddingboss

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Feb 5, 2013
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if you'll just be playing LoL and not much else, then just slap in a cheap r7 250x and you can run LoL on ultra all day with 60+ fps. LoL is LOL when it comes to requirements. no need to fork in 250 bucks if its not really needed.
 
Assuming you can recycle your case:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($40.05 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R7 250 2GB Video Card ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $253.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 

RobCrezz

Expert
Ambassador


PSU is fine, but the rest is terrible!. CPU barely an upgrade, single channel ram, and a crap GPU...


I would just buy a new PSU and a 750 Ti ti go in your existing PC.
 


Is this better?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($92.76 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $250.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 


If OP is getting a 750 ti he doesn't even need a new PSU, frankly.

GPU is the only thing I wasn't happy with but I had to keep it in budget. Find me a benchmark where single vs dual ram means more than half of naff all for gaming.

For league of legends screw it, just get the 750ti. Simple, cheap, effective and can be transferred to a new PC when you decide to retire that old E5500.
 
Solution

nokiddingboss

Honorable
Feb 5, 2013
671
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he'll be better off with a cheap gpu now for playing LoL. when he decides to buy a new pc, then a better gpu will be available at the price point of the (by then outdated) 750ti. LoL isn't exactly the definition of a GPU intensive game.
 

RobCrezz

Expert
Ambassador


Who knows? I dont know what PSU he has.

Single channel vs dual channel, in games probably hardly any difference, but in everything else, I dont know why you wouldnt when its often cheaper to run dual.

But yeah, that GPU is crap, 750 ti would be much better.
 


The whole build (socket change, single slot ram) was forward focused. Perhaps it would have been best to just focus on the now.
 
I would go for a cheap used card on Ebay things like the Radeon 6850 sell very cheaply you will likely need a new power supply to. And save the rest of the cash until you can afford a new build ($500+). But if you want the best you can for $250 now there are reasonable suggestions above but in my opinion they represent poor value.