Upgrading Pretty bad Computer First Time

[Bigern1]

Hi, I know nothing about this but I want to upgrade to play high end games like Farcry and maybe Crysis, I have a budget of £350 (around $700)and I need to know what new parts I need (I was thinking CPU, mobo, memory, graphics card.)

I don't know what specs you guys need but I have Everest so just tell me what you need to know and I'll post it up.


I did some research and heres what I think is right to buy but I need experienced opinions;

Graphics Card - BFG GeForce 9600 GT (512MB) -£110
CPU - AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad-Core -£125
Memory - I was gonna get 4GB but I heard I needed Vista to fully use this, need clarification.
Mobo - AsRock K10N78HSLI-GLAN - No idea about this I just picked one that seemed to be compatible with the above.

I know I'm asking much but any and all help appreciated

 

[Bigern1]

Also the £350 budget isn't in stone I am willing to go over (not too much) if needed

 

[mexpedip]

what parts are you going to reuse? ie: power supply, case, monitor, keyboard etc.

MOBO - $100-$120 get the P45. This is an intel chipset so you need an intel cpu
CPU- $170. E8400 @ 3ghz
RAM - $50 get the Gskill 4gb (2gb x 2) any 64bit OS will recognize 4gb of RAM. If you are using a 32bit OS then it will utilize and up to 3gb.
GPU - $150 ATI Radeon 4850

total upgrade would be approx $500 USD. Make sure your PSU is good enough. BTW, for $700 USD you can build a very nice system from the ground up.

 

[fahdh2]

You want at least a 500 watt PSU. Refer to this site for details as to cards/power requirements: http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd4800/requirements.html. A PSU should cost anywhere from $30-$65. Also note that ATI cards have a tendency to run hotter than nVIDIA cards, so you need to get a graphics card with decent cooling (fan w/heatsink on card). Also, you will need to get a CPU cooler, which should cost anywhere from $30-$65 for what you need. Be sure to get some Arctic 5 Silver thermal paste as it only costs $6 and it can decrease your CPU temps. Get 4 GB of memory as your computer will recognize at least 3GB (only Vista 64-bit version recognizes 4GB+ RAM), and that will be better than 2GB. I suggest: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267. It was only $30 after a rebate when I bought it, so you can choose similar RAM to that. You might have compatibility problems regarding the voltage of this particular RAM, though. 1.8v usually works with all mobos. BTW, you should get an intel CPU (better performance for same price....no questions, period). I think a Q9300 will suit your needs nicely (highly overclockable-up to 4.0 ghz!). Hit me a PM if you have any questions. Are you going to be buying all your prts in Europe? I know that they sell computer parts there for more than here.

 

[buzznut]

I agree, I would start with a good quality power supply. Whatever your crappy system has in it currently probably won;t handle the needs of a powerful gaming system, esp if Crysis is that important to you.

A 9600gt will be pretty weak for the games you are suggesting. I would recommend spending 150-300US on a video card, unless you want to buy a new one 6 months down the road when you realize how slow your 9600gt is.

I like the radeon HD4850 recommendation.