Upgrade vs New Build for SC2, D3 and some photoshop/ilustrator

[Scylas22]

Hey.. first of all thanks for any help you guys may provide... I used to be a lurker in here but to be honest its been a while since I had the time to keep up with the times.

About three years ago I build a PC so that I could play a few games and do some light photoshop. As of today, all I do is play starcraft 2, some WoW, Civilization and photoshop/ilustrator (nothing too crazy).

I don't really want to spend a lot of money but I want to be able to play Diablo 3 at max, SC2 at max and Sim City. None of these games are really that demanding...

Im thinking about either upgrading my current build or building a new PC. Id prefer not to spend the $ on a new build.. but want to get thoughts as to how upgradeable my current set up is. Please note I currently play SC2 online at almost max settings without a hitch.

Current Build
MOBO: ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
PSU: Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready Power Supply
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80570E8400
RAM: 2 x G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ

I have a bunch of HDs, SATA and SSDs. Run windows 7.

Can I just Overclock my old but good Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz, add a bit more RAM and buy a new GFX card?

or.. should I go for a new build? If I go new, is there anything here I can re-use?. Its not that I dont have the money, its just I dont use it as much as I would. If I go for new im thinking I5 2500K and a decent GFX card.

Thanks for the help!

 

[James McKeane]

If you want max settings, then a new rig is the way to go. You can recycle the case, the HDDs, maybe the PSU (probably), and the OS.

If you want to cut cost further, keep the psu, downgrade the CPU to a SandyB Pentium (although you'll probably be risking performance degradation with ps/Illustrator) and a lesser motherboard to save 70 to 90ish bucks. maybe 100 if you're lucky.

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 650W ATX12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $442.82
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-16 15:00 EDT-0400)


Pentium/superbudget build:

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G850 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($85.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($22.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $343.21
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-16 15:05 EDT-0400)

****If you want to get crazy budget, get a good budget H61 mobo (you'll lose sli, OC, some expansion slots, sata 6g, and onboard raid). That would get it down to a solid 300 probably, maybe lower if you're lucky. Personally, i wouldn't venture below z68, but its completely up to you.****