New CPU/Motherboard for Game

[ClarkDaniels]

Hello all,

I am trying to figure out a better upgrade to that to increase performance for a new online game , SWTOR, i'm sure some of you have hard of it. I think it is my motherboard/CPU that is really bottlenecking the crap out of performance. I could be very wrong though. I built this computer about 4 or 5 years ago so I'm very aware some of the bigger parts may be way out of date. I have about 300-350 bucks I can spend on it. So I'm trying to get a decent upgrade in something lol. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Here is a list of my computer parts

Mainboard : Asus M2N-E SLI
Chipset : nVidia nForce4
Processor : AMD Athlon X2 BE 2350 @ 2100MHz
Physical Memory : 4096MB
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+
Hard Disk : Seagate ST3250310AS (250GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1P
Monitor Type : Hewlett Packard HP w2338h - 23 inches
Network Card : Atheros Communications AR5005G 802.11a/b/g Wireless Network Adapter
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3 (32-bit)
DirectX : Version 9.0c (May 2010)

Like I said, any help would be most appreciated but I'm thinking of more of a motherboard/CPU upgrade. At least I hope that would give me the bigger bang if not. Please enlighten me to a better solution! Thanks for the help!

 

[Gamerboy]

PC MINIMUM System Requirements
• Operating System: Windows XP, Vista or 7
(It will work on 32 or 64-bit Windows 7 and Vista)
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ / Intel Core2Duo Processor 2.0 GHz OR Better
• RAM: Windows XP 1.5 GB / Windows 7 or Vista 2 GB
• Video/Graphics Card: Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics / ATI X1800 / nVidia 7800 Or Better
• Video/Graphics Card special: Shader 3.0 or better
• Sound Card: DirectX compatible
• Hard Drive: 21 GB

It looks like you're good to play on lower settings. The article I got these requirements from did state that you'll need to have a decently fast processor if you're using integrated graphics. I'm not sure if you'd gain more from updating the cpu or the gpu though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
i5 2500k cpu - $220.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230
1155 P67 mobo - $100.00. Only thing bad about it is that it only has one pci express 2.0 slot so you won't be using two gpu's with this. However it does support 1600 speed ram for if/when you upgrade that.

 

[ClarkDaniels]

Thanks for the info so far Gamerboy. Unfortunately for the last hour I have been trying to figure out what to do with my computer in order to upgrade it decently. Everything is just sort of jumbling together in my head right now lol. Knowing that my motherboard/CPU is definitely outdated. Part of me wants to just find a better motherboard and CPU to stick in it, and load a fresh windows 7 64 bit premium OS in it, and forgive me for a very noob question. Could be my brain just fried now, what is the difference between upgrading a CPU and the GPU? Ack nevermind duh! lol GPU - video card lol. I honestly think I will be better off with a motherboard/CPU upgrade, but I am no expert on the matter, just mainly guessing because the motherboard/cpu is the one thing I haven't upgraded besides the OS since I built the thing lol.
- lol and thanks
DJ

 

[ClarkDaniels]

Hmmm what would you think of this ?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.777660

 

[Gamerboy]

The combo you linked is no longer available so the link is dead. Did you look at the cpu and mobo I put links to in my previous post? The i5 2500k is one of the best cpu's available for gaming.

 

[mpain55]

remember to check if your ram is compatible with a new mobo. Most of the mobos out are using ddr3.

 

[Gamerboy]

Ram is pretty cheap though. You can get an 8gb set of 1600 ram for around 50 bucks on newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

There are cheaper and more expensive sets but this one is around $45 at this time.

It's the HDD prices shooting up that has me stalled. I don't plan on building anything new with the prices of HDD's now.