System Upgrade Suggestions

[haiwaan]

Hello all,

My name is Anyrban Ghosh, m 12-year-old boy from Jorhat, Assam.

I want to upgrade my system, i play a lot of PC game, my current pc Configuration is Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU 2.80 Ghz, 2GB Ram, Gigabyte G41M ES2L motherboard, Standard Intex 650W power supply, Standard I-ball cabinet.

I would like to know to how to make it better to run latest games, what is need to be done with my PC, i dont have graphic card yet but i am able to play games like COD1 and 2, Farcry, NFS (haven't tried Prostreet, Shift, shift 2, Hot pursuit new one), I really want to play good games like you all do, games like Crysis, Necrovision, Metro2023, left for dead, tho I havent tried to install them fearing my computer wont be able to handle such graphical mayhem, now i have somehow managed to safe around Rs 25000 (Indian Rupees) and I want to spend it fully on making my computer powerful gaming system, I wont be able to upgrade my system for next at least 1 and half year, so please suggest me how to proceed with this tight budget.

Which graphic card will go good with my system? Do i need to buy new processor and motherboard to play latest games or can i play with the present configuration just by getting a new video card? Please help me.

At present m thinking of going for intel i5 2500k and Gigabyte GA-Z68x-UD3h-B3 but if I do so i am afraid i wont be able to buy GeForce GTX 550i with my current budget.

I heard some guys saying u can upgrade ur dual core to quad core. Is that a good idea for gaming pc? if it is, then what u suggest would be the configuration for that type of system?

Again, some people asked me to go for intel i3 and same gigabyte board, basically m totally confused. I really not very much familiar with technical side. Terms like overclock, bottleneck confuse me.

Straight forward answers like, " u buys this, this, and that and u can play all games would rather help me then answers like that of technical" hope u Intelligent Technicians would help me.

Please please please help me.

 

[Pyree]

No, 2500k is a sweet spot build not a budget build. If you are on a low budget, go lower on the mobo and cpu. H61 chipset with i3 and get yourself a gpu. The gpu is makes most of the difference in gaming in majority of cases.

Also, let people know how much you are going to spend. It helps people to choose the right part for you. Since I am not in India, I think I better not suggest what you should buy. (don't know what component costs in your location).

Edit: you included the price, I just skipped it. sorry

25000rupee, so that's around $500 AU

You probably get something similar to this (under Lunyone's "Lower Budget" Gaming Build!" ):

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/317211-31-bestconfigs-poll-budget-based-gaming

Of course, if you can list your current full spec, you may save some money on psu and case so you can put them for better use.

 

[haiwaan]

Thank you so much for ur helpful reply.

my present system is Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU 2.80 Ghz, 2GB Ram, Gigabyte G41M ES2L motherboard, Standard Intex 650W power supply, Standard I-ball cabinet.


Can adding graphic card to my present configuration help solve my problem? if so which card should I go for? If there is no other option, I will go with the configuration u mentioned

Thank you again for ur help

 

[Pyree]

You definitely need a GPU, at least a mid range like a 6770 for games like crysis you want to play with good visual candy. Last post today, I'm going to bed. Its late in Australia.

 

[haiwaan]

ok, I am going for a new graphic card then. Good night, thanks again for ur help

 

[haiwaan]

Hi,

When u wake up tomorrow morning and when u free, do suggest some good graphic card for the configuration i mentioned.

 

[Pyree]

A 6770 is a good choice. I need more detail on case before making a decision on build, is it a full case or small case for mATX?

Also it would be nice if users from India join this thread to give you some idea on the local price and where to find bargain parts.

 

[haiwaan]

Hi,

Good morning,

I just come to know that my motherboard is PCI. people say it is worst. Now, my question is can I just get a new motherboard that suport PCI-E or above and get a new card like u mentioned?

So, I will be spending on Motherboard that support PCI-E and graphic card but keep the CPU as it is. Is that would be a good idea.

There is a site called " Can You Run it" . I checked and I got this result :

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/analysis.aspx

 

[Pyree]

No, you will need new cpu since the socket in new mobo won't fit your current cpu, unless you want to buy a 775 board which is at least 2 generation behind (no good for future upgrade).

 

[haiwaan]

CPU
Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.

You Have: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5500 @ 2.80GHz PASS

CPU Speed
Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.


You Have: 2.8 GHz PASS

RAM
Minimum: 1 GB (Windows Vista requires 1.5GB RAM)


You Have: 2.0 GB PASS

OS
Minimum: Windows XP/Vista/7

You Have: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600) PASS

Video Card
Minimum: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported.


You Have: Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family

Upgrade Suggested: Unfortunately, your Video Card does not meet this requirement. Click here to see some recommendations.

Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 256 MB 1.0 GB

3D Yes Yes
Hardware T&L Yes Yes
Pixel Shader version 2.0 3.0
Vertex Shader version 2.0 3.0

DirectX version
Minimum: 9.0c (included)

You Have: 9.0c PASS

Sound Card
Minimum: Yes

You Have: Realtek High Definition Audio PASS

Free Disk Space
Minimum: 12 GB
You Have: 100.2 GB PASS

DVD-ROM
Minimum: 8X speed DVD-ROM. This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some DVD-ROM, DVD-RW and virtual drives.

You Have: DTSoftBusCd00 PASS

 

[Pyree]

Ok, what game was tested? Crysis needs minimum HD 3850.

Also, please reply to what size your case is or I couldn't make a good decision on what mobo to get.

 

[Outlander_04]

I'dsuggest overclocking the processor you have , and buying just the graphics card you want .
That will improve your gaming massively for the smallest outlay

and later when you can afford a mb/cpu/ram you will already have a graphics card for it

 

[DelroyMonjo]

now i have somehow managed to safe around Rs 25000 (Indian Rupees) and I want to spend it fully on making my computer powerful gaming system, I wont be able to upgrade my system for next at least 1 and half year, so please suggest me how to proceed with this tight budget.
Does this mean you can't spend this money for another 1 and a half years or is this how much money you can spend NOW? That is about $1677.00 USD by the way, a nice sum of money.
Where do you buy computers and parts locally or do you mailorder or what?

 

[Pyree]

@delroymonjo

about 550 USD, 510 AUD, 375 EURO and 330 GBP

tight budget

I recommend reuse case, psu, HDD (if not terribly slow) and dvd (if not ide).

A new H61 i3 4GB 6770 build with new HDD and dvd is about 450 in Australia (not sure whether component is more expensive in India or not, but I give it a $60 headroom to allow for more expensive pricing of component in India).

 

[haiwaan]

most of the money I saved is by playing Fifa 2008, we here bet upto Rs 500 in games like Fifa and NFS.

My motherboard is Gigabyte G41M-ES2L, when I searched a more about it, it says

"G41M-ES2L has two standard PCI slots, one PCI Express x1 slot and one PCI Express x16 slots, which allows you to install a "real" video card. So, you can use this board to build or to upgrade in the future your computer into a simple gaming PC.

Near the expansion slots you can see a connector for the obsolete floppy disk drive cable, as well as internal USB connectors and internal audio connector, used for case front panel jacks."

Is above means, i do have PCI-E slot in my motherboard, if that so, does it solve my problem?

Now can i just get a new graphic card ?

Please suggest, U all really making The Computer subject interesting for me, real education.

 

[Pyree]

LOL, 12 year old betting on games.

I looked at the board and it has pcie (the blue one).

I guess you want to spend it all at once because your parent still have control on your finance. If they find out you have some saving, they tell you to put it into a saving account, like most Asian parents do (regardless of Chinese or Indian). I remember those day, it is very difficult to build the computer you want until 18 and you finally gain independence. Is this why you want to spend the money quickly?

 

[haiwaan]

U really got what exactly I want to say, I mean one side of my brain is telling me go and spend all money and get XBox 360 but if I do so I have to answer many questions by my parents as they really do not know how much money I do have.

They know that I play game a lot and they normally do not say anything about it because most of the family in my neibor thinks it is better to play games then to do other stuff like listening to heavy metal music which we obviously do listen every now and then.

The point If i upgrade my pc, i will more freedom as most of the hardwares will be inside the main cabinet so there is less chance that my parents would know that i have spent 25000 Rupees on hardwares that are motherboard, cpu, and ram because they will be inside, not physically visibile that what i think.

Now, if my motherboard is good, i will spend only on graphic card and keep the rest for Xbox 360 or PS3 .

So the whole story, this whole story is written with the help of my best friend, "Tsenging Baruah" He does a lot of surfing and told me about the idea of asking about the system over the net and that's how I got u all people.

Please help

 

[008Rohit]

Where do you bet on games man?! Great way to earn money for under-18 gamers like us.

I can suggest you a new build. The Pentium won't do any good in newer games.

Processor : Intel Core i3 2100 - Dual Core - 65W - 32nm LGA1155 Sandy Bridge - $124.99
Motherboard : ASRock H61-M GE - $69.99
Graphics Card : XFX HD-685X-ZNDC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 - $139.99
RAM : G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333Mhz Dual-Channel Memory - $43.99
Storage : Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - $59.99
Optical Drive : LG DVD R/W - $19.99
PSU : Corsair CX500 V2 500W - $39.99
Case : Your Choice - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310 ATX Mid Tower - $39.99

Total : $527 after rebates. Thats about Rs. 23,188.

 

[haiwaan]

Thanx a lot brother, I will definitely consider ur suggestion.

As I said, If I buy a full PC as u said, there is a chance that my parents would caught me because they do not that I have 25000 Cash with me . So I was thinking cant I just buy a new graphic card for the time being, because it will be inside the computer my parents wont know about it

There is no other option of earning so we bet, u can bet up to 500 (especially in FIFA 2008).

 

[008Rohit]

Actually, only getting a good GPU won't help you much. You need atleast a Core 2 Duo E8400 to ensure that your CPU isn't a bottleneck for a good GPU like HD 6850 or GTX 560.

Where do you bet on games? Cyber Cafe?

 

[Pyree]

Reuse your case and pretend nothing changes!!!

Parents: "Anyrban, your computer is faster than it used to be."
You: "No, I didn't do anything. It is not faster. May be you are getting slower."

 

[008Rohit]

+1 @above.
Great trick to fool your parents.

 

[Pyree]

You save 40 so it is a sub 500 build as well.

 

[haiwaan]

Best answer selected by haiwaan.

 

[haiwaan]

YAY" I would exactly do the same.

We have 7 good gaming parlours in our town (typical indian style PS2/PS3/XBOX 360 and PC).

Senior guys of our school and neihbour hangs around those parlour, we mostly bet with them, they normally loose.