Upgrade / salvage, replace? 8 year old desktop

drogo45

Reputable
Nov 13, 2015
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4,510
So i'm feeling the burn with my 8 year old gaming rig.. got no chance of running any new major releases and even existing titles that are getting updated with new content and are struggling / are unplayable (i'm guessing it's a lack of RAM).

OS: Vista 64
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
GPU: Nvidia GTX 280 - 1GB (running Approx. Total Memory 3816mb)
RAM: 6GB (3 x 2 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM)
MB: ASUS P5N-D Mainboard - Nvidia nForce 750i SLI - Intel Core™ 2 Duo/ Quad/ Extreme - ATX
Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

Not sure what case I have, it looks like a small coolermaster but there's nothing to identify it.. just the 1 hard drive (1tb)

So should I upgrade or replace? What cost can i be expecting for a rig that can run the new releases, either last a while or will be able to upgrade when it needs it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Bad Actor is correct. It's time to move on. But just in case you can't, upgrading your current rig wouldn't be a total waste. It would be a good idea especially if you couldn't afford to upgrade all at once. I recently sold a similar computer to a friend that is using it to do some decent gaming. (sold it cheap as he is broke..)

1. Get a second stick of 2 GB ram. I don't think the older intel systems could run dual channel unless all the banks had matching sticks.

2. Get a GTX 950 2GB. Some of your fps loss is happening because the systems needs to use system ram for gaming. It should allow you to play most games on low to medium settings at 1080p. If your power supply supports a GTX 960 or 970 go ahead and get that instead. They will likely be bottlenecked by the CPU to a degree but will play nice till you can upgrade the motherboard, CPU and RAM.

3. Overclock. q9550 overclocks pretty well and with that CPU you'll need all the help you can get.