My old gaming PC: Keep as is or upgrade the parts?

Naprik

Reputable
Oct 9, 2015
9
0
4,510
I built this PC around 2008 and used it only to play World of Warcraft. It sat unused for the past 4 years. Now I have slightly more free time and want to catch up on my PC gaming. I upgraded it a little bit already before I came across this site.

Ultimately I need this PC to play old games well. Once I get through my back log, I'll build a new PC to play all the games that came out in 2015 and onwards.

My questions are:

Do I need to upgrade the CPU and the video card on my motherboard? If yes, then to what extent? Should I upgrade to Windows 10?

These are the games that I want to play at better than normal to max settings:

Assassin's Creed 1 to 3
Bioshock 1, 2 and Infinite
Borderlands 1,2 and TPS
Dark Souls
Dark Siders 1 & 2
Devil May Cry 1
Fable Anniversary
Fallout 3 & New Vegas
Half Life 2
Portal 1 & 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Strider
Styx
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Will my current set up be enough for the above?




What would it take for me to play the following at normal or better settings:
Dark Souls 2
Fallout 4
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate




My Current set up:

OS: Windows 8.1 64 bit

Power source: Suntec 450 switching power supply

Monitor: KDS Model No. 2200W 22 in. LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824155060

Motherboard: ASUS P5K https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P5K/

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @2.40 GHz http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Q6600-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B000LRMR26

Video Card: ZOTAC GeForce 560 GTX 560 1 GB GDDR5 PCI Express (refurbished) http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-Express-DisplayPort-Support/dp/B00DYSV4KU/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1442173852&sr=1-4&keywords=nvidia+geforce+gtx+560

Memory: 6.00 GB
2x Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL6 DIMM http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012Y0QT8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=16T5L5U67V9PX&coliid=IW5WGR7LIKH22
2x 1 GB version of Kinston Ram

Hard Drive: Western Digital 500 GB



The above Video card was an upgrade from a NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-8600-gt

I upgraded the from 4 GB of RAM to 6 GB

I upgraded from Windows XP 32 bit to Windows 8.1 64 bit




I don’t want to replace the motherboard. Is it worth it for me to replace the current CPU and video card to the max that the motherboard can handle? If I should upgrade the video card (again) would it be worth it for me to get another ZOTAC GeForce 560 GTX 560 1 GB GDDR5 PCI Express (refurbished) and link them together?

Can you please give recommendations for upgrades for CPU and Video cards?

Thanks in advance!
 

lodders

Admirable
You can only upgrade the motherboard and CPU together.
But if your CPU is running below 100% speed when gaming, you don't need to upgrade them. Press Ctrl Alt Del to access your task manager and resource monitor.
Upgrading the graphics card with a new one would greatly increase the gaming performance, just check it is compatible with the motherboard, and compatible with the new computer you are probably going to need in a year or two.