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Extremely cheap upgrade, Help!

Last response: in Systems
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Hi guys,

I have an ancient Acer Aspire desktop (money was tight at the time and it fit my needs) and my old gaming rig needed to be sold. I'm a casual gamer, nothing too intensive (some sins2, GTA SA and maybe a bit of Oblivion)

I'd like to upgrade, nothing too major, the acer so I can play a few games on it, however as mentioned it is ancient. It's main components are:

CPU: P4 3.06GHz
MOBO:E661FXM
GPU: SiS 661FX (integrated), AGP 8x slot available
PSU: don't know atm, need to check it out but I think it's a 450W
RAM: 512Mb PC3200

I was thinking another 512Mb stick and a HD 2600XT or an X1650 PRO, question is will a 450W PSU handle it?
I'd like to keep it under £50 but £75 is probably more reasonable I think. Also if I were to upgrade would this last a couple more years?

Finally I know I'll get told by some that I should just ditch this and buy myself something new but I'm afraid money is still an object for me.

Thanks for the help guys,

Zorginator

P.S. not sure this is the right section, if not sorry could you point me in the right direction?

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Homebuilt system Master

Zorginator said:

Finally I know I'll get told by some that I should just ditch this and buy myself something new but I'm afraid money is still an object for me.


You need to stop thinking upgrade and start thinking upgrade path. Throwing any money at that machine will just be a waste.
It's possible to get a cheap bundle with MB, CPU, and memory for around £100.

Newf said:
Yes, you need to open your case and check out the power supply.
I think it will only be a 250w cheapie. OK for integrated graphics, but not much else.

+1

Waist of money if you ask me, you wont be able to use none of the new parts in the future, but if you mast....try 2 get second hand parts, and spend as less as possible. get some ram and HD2600XT if you can find it cheap (second hand)

Ok, so I found out what the PSU is. It's a 300W FSP Group inc. probably not enough right?
Only reason I'm not saving up for a new build is it'll be 2 years by the time I have enough for a decent rig, that isn't exaggeration. I'm going to uni this fall so I need to save as much as possible, however I do miss playing games on my PC
If the PSU isn't enough I think I'll just get some more RAM, unless there's a GPU I can run (he hopes against hope)
I found a second hand HD2600XT for £26.00 shipped, and RAM for about £15 shipped.

Thanks for the help and criticisms (not being sarcastic)

Zorginator
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