Cheap but reasonable upgrades

[mike279]

Hello,
Im looking to upgrade to a half decent gaming capable rig but need help in choosing parts.
my budget is pretty limited at the moment, say £100- maybe £150 :s , im willing to get used parts and such.
currently i have an amd phenom x4 9500,3gb ram,ati radeon 9500gt, windows vista.
any help or suggestions appreciated
thanks guys

 

[CrazyLatvian]

At this budget best upgrade would be an SSD for your OS and basic programms, and of course adding RAM (only if you are running 64-bit system, because 32-bit systems can not use more than ~ 3.5Gb RAM).

Or new GPU is Your way to go, if You are aiming to recources using games.

To give You more precise advise, You must tell what OS are You running and what games do You want to play.

 

[hitesh12]

Does your mobo support am3 proccy ?

At this budget best upgrade would be an SSD for your OS and basic programms, and of course adding RAM (only if you are running 64-bit system, because 32-bit systems can not use more than ~ 3.5Gb RAM).

Or new GPU is Your way to go, if You are aiming to recources using games.

To give You more precise advise, You must tell what OS are You running and what games do You want to play.

I don't think buying an SSD at this budget is a good idea. His primary purpose is gaming.
In any case, this budget is adequate for decent gaming

 

[mike279]

im pretty sure its vista 32bit so no more ram although i might upgrade to win 7/8 at some point anyway.
and im not looking for it to be ultra amazing at playing everything at high (obviously ) just passable and playable is fine for my needs.
If i were to say im looking at building a homemade games console, would that make sence, something to get me by for a year or two.

 

[hitesh12]

Which games are you going to play ?
At what resolution ?
Also you have not answered my previous question ?
Does your mobo support AM3 proccy ?
Your processor is too weak to play on high settings smoothly.

 

[mike279]

Which games are you going to play ?
At what resolution ?
Also you have not answered my previous question ?
Does your mobo support AM3 proccy ?
Your processor is too weak to play on high settings smoothly.

sorry, no i dnt think it is am3 - the phenom is am2+ but cant see it on speccy anywhere.
i have it hooked up to a hd lcd tv so res will be 720p or 1080p max
games will be a mixture of things but like i said im not worried if i cant have all high settings

 

[swifty_morgan]

if you slap lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. save your money and add to it.

 

[MC_K7]

Upgrading the CPU would help. First generation of Phenom was not really fast. Upgrading to Phenom-II would help avoid potential CPU bottlenecks during games. There were some AM2+ and AM3 Phenom-II versions. Make sure you get the AM2+ version. I don't think it's available anymore but you can get a good deal from second hand or refurb, check on ebay or something. I would look for the "Phenom-II X4 940", I think it was the most powerful one they made for AM2+ sockets. Also make sure the socket on your mobo supports 125W CPUs and flash the BIOS before upgrading.

The second component I would look to upgrade is the video card. If you have a weak PSU, check for something like the 6670 or 7750 these cards don't require PCI-E power connectors. If your budget allows it look for the 7770 it's a really good performer for the price. You can also look for used cards from older generations, you can get great deals sometimes from second hand.

 

[mike279]

what about the apu's from amd. are they any good?