Need help with potential low budget upgrades

csamson11

Commendable
Dec 14, 2016
1
0
1,510
I recently purchased two monitors on black friday and after getting them hooked up, my computer seems to be running much slower. My RAM/CPU seem to really be taxed from the upgrade and as I would like to utilize them I began looking into upgrading my RAM as I thought that would do the trick. After reading some articles I believe upgrading my RAM would only have a minor impact (correct me if I'm wrong) and I should focus on upgrading my CPU and/or GPU instead. I'm lost as to what parts are good/aren't good, incompatibilities, if I need a larger power supply, etc. My PC is stock other than I believe that it came Windows 7 and now runs Windows 10, so I'm sure a lot of things could use an upgrade, but realistically I'm on a $200-300 budget. I'll try to include the specs that are helpful, but if I leave something out, let me know and I'll update it ASAP.

Brand: HP - Compaq Pavilion p6-2003w
OS: 64Bit Windows 10
Processor: AMD E2-3200 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 2.40 GHz
Installed RAM: 4GB (3.49 usable)

Again, my budget is $200-300, but I would prefer to keep it in the low 200s. I appreciate any suggestions as they'll likely only improve my chances of a successful upgrade.

Thanks!
 
Solution
well looking at the specs of your computer on this page: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03052733

I am wondering if anything is really "worth" the upgrade to be honest, Chipset: AMD Hudson-D2 FCH, FM1 CPU, 100MHZ bus speed.

The page does indicate you can push that cpu to be a AMD A8-3800 (Liano) quad core (65w) since you have the E series board (65w)
newegg selles them for 58$ with free ship http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=AMD+A8-3800&N=-1&isNodeId=1

The dual screen is powered by the video card, which would be nice with a GTX660.
1. GTX660 SC 2GB for 140$ on amazon https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SUPERCLOCKED-Graphics-02G-P4-2662-KR/dp/B00966IREK
2. or low...
well looking at the specs of your computer on this page: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03052733

I am wondering if anything is really "worth" the upgrade to be honest, Chipset: AMD Hudson-D2 FCH, FM1 CPU, 100MHZ bus speed.

The page does indicate you can push that cpu to be a AMD A8-3800 (Liano) quad core (65w) since you have the E series board (65w)
newegg selles them for 58$ with free ship http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=AMD+A8-3800&N=-1&isNodeId=1

The dual screen is powered by the video card, which would be nice with a GTX660.
1. GTX660 SC 2GB for 140$ on amazon https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-SUPERCLOCKED-Graphics-02G-P4-2662-KR/dp/B00966IREK
2. or low budget ATI HD 5450 1GB, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1N829T6482&cm_re=ati_radeon_hd-_-14-150-655-_-Product

Ram can be taken to top speed of DDR3-1600 2x4G and that is pretty cheap ram to find newegg has 2x5 DDR3-1600 at 58$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820104709

so ~ 250 for upgrade... but will it be worth it to you ? many here are heavy into gaming, and maybe all you need is a cheap office computer then yes the upgrade would be sufficient, I use a 4GB Dual2Core Q8400 Myself, on dual monitors (HD5400 series) it works fine for that I need it to be.
if your expecting gaming performance, like other have said, save your cash and get a complete make over, not worth it


 
Solution