Used Gaming Computer ($200) and a few questions to get back into PCs

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Hogalogz

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Dec 8, 2015
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Hello!

I am wondering if I am just wasting $200 buying this rig or not? ($150 for computer and free monitor; $60 for upgraded GPU) I fell out of gaming awhile ago and so I have plenty of catching up to do with old games/pc parts. I have listed my main questions below.

CPU: Phenom II X4 945
GPU: GTX 550 Ti (current one; will be installing the below mentioned GPU)
MoBo: MSI 785GT-E63
6 gb RAM
PwrSup: Apevia ATX-CW500WP4
Also the guy is throwing in a 17" 1440x900 LCD monitor for free.

So question 1:

Is the graphics card the bottleneck?
I have found a used graphics card that I am planning to buy for an upgrade; two Radeon HD 6870 (one is 2gb, one is 1gb). The guy wants $60 for both. I was originally just wanting to upgrade to a 2gb GPU and may still just use the 2gb.
If its not the bottleneck, what is? Is there any other component which would be better to upgrade?

Question 2:

Can I use crossfire with this MoBo/setup? It is unclear to me from many different sites. Would I even want to use crossfire? It is my understanding it would limit the system to 1gb of vram

Question 3:

I was reading reviews on this power supply and there was some pretty negative ones about how its super cheap. Would I need a bigger/better power supply with this new video card? Would it be stupid and risky to keep the current power supply?

Question 4:

Still with me? Thanks for reading all the way down here!
Is this a waste of my time and money? It seems like a pretty good deal to me considering my situation but I can decide if I should just put this money toward a $1000 setup a little later.
 
Solution
Wayfall
Well its your computer so its up to you what brand you wish to go for (I just go with NVidia as I have had lots of problems with AMD stuff but that's just me so don't take my word for it)

On the subject of CPU's I would ask you read this Tom Hardware article:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901.html

Then for the GPU read this one:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html

After reading though's I would say do a ah heck load of research then come back and tell us what you have decided and we'll tally it up performance wise.

But I would recommend you get at least a 500w PSU, 8GB (if the motherboard has two ram slots get dual channel RAM so that would be 2x4GB...
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Hogalogz

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Dec 8, 2015
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Really? Just straight up not worth it? Im just not sure if I want to invest in an expensive comp at all.

This seemed like a good deal as a temporary solution while I get caught up on some older games. Hmmmmmm
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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Jan 10, 2014
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If you're going to spend $1000 on a PC, then it doesn't make sense to buy a stop-gap solution now. You'll just end up upgrading as soon as your budget allows and that $200 can get you a very good motherboard or a Skylake i5 CPU.

Getting started with PC gaming isn't cheap, but the costs are recouped over the mid-long term.
 
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Wayfall

Wayfall

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Dec 27, 2013
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What games do you want to run then we can work the pc around your needs.

I'm an Intel and Nvidia person and I would recommend probably an i3 if your just light gaming but if you want bigger games I would say an i5.

The graphics card will depend on what resolution you want and how intensive you want the games settings to be.

If your a light gamer get a GTX 750TI or a GTX 960.
If your looking at playing the big games get a GTX 970.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
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Hogalogz

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Dec 8, 2015
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4,510



Thanks. I am definitely a light gamer; used to be much bigger into it and am also feeding some nostalgia here. Right now I am limited by my pc but Starcraft 2 works on low settings, which is nice... haha. Havent played Fallout: New Vegas yet and I would like to run that on high settings. Like I said, I have some catching up to do on my pc games.

Is the GTX 750 ti better than the 6870? I have that card available as well for the same price but according to this the 6870 seems better in every way but power consumption.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/XFX-Radeon-HD-6870-2-GB-vs-GIGABYTE-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti

Thanks
 
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Wayfall

Wayfall

Splendid
Dec 27, 2013
3,569
12
24,115
Well its your computer so its up to you what brand you wish to go for (I just go with NVidia as I have had lots of problems with AMD stuff but that's just me so don't take my word for it)

On the subject of CPU's I would ask you read this Tom Hardware article:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901.html

Then for the GPU read this one:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html

After reading though's I would say do a ah heck load of research then come back and tell us what you have decided and we'll tally it up performance wise.

But I would recommend you get at least a 500w PSU, 8GB (if the motherboard has two ram slots get dual channel RAM so that would be 2x4GB sticks=8GB), 500GB-1TB HDD (I have a great WCD 1TB HDD that has lasted for 2 years so far with no faults: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-WD10EZEX-3-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B0088PUEPK) and also look for a decent motherboard but look for one that doesn't have overclocking capabilities as you won't be using that feature and just one PCIE port (the slot that the graphic card goes in)

Also don't forget the case haha...

Hope this helps
 
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