Computer upgrade help/suggestions please.

[tikigod317]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice to help me upgrade my old and faithful Gateway 7026 (I know it's dated lol).

I eventually plan on building a new gaming PC but can't afford it at the moment so i've been trying to upgrade my current PC.

Does anyone know if a Radeon HD 5870 is compatible with my Gateway 7026?.. I know my current PSU is insufficient so I plan on buying a 600w+ PSU, but i'm not even 100% sure if that graphics card would fit my in PC.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was how my friend has the same graphics card as me, yet his games look better and run smoother. I'm assuming it has something to do with his CPU vs mine?... my motherboard can't even use I3/5/7 so I don't even know what I can upgrade from my q9300 processor.

Sorry for long post.. thanks in advance!

 

[Dhampire01]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice to help me upgrade my old and faithful Gateway 7026 (I know it's dated lol).

I eventually plan on building a new gaming PC but can't afford it at the moment so i've been trying to upgrade my current PC.

Does anyone know if a Radeon HD 5870 is compatible with my Gateway 7026?.. I know my current PSU is insufficient so I plan on buying a 600w+ PSU, but i'm not even 100% sure if that graphics card would fit my in PC.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was how my friend has the same graphics card as me, yet his games look better and run smoother. I'm assuming it has something to do with his CPU vs mine?... my motherboard can't even use I3/5/7 so I don't even know what I can upgrade from my q9300 processor.

Sorry for long post.. thanks in advance!

Your friend has better performance because he is playing in lower resolution.You have good CPU no problem.Gateway is just the model.Of course it's compatible if you have big enough case.Also better buy a 500 or 550W PSU you don't need such an expensive one.If you are playing video games the graphics card for you is the 7750.

You think your pc is old?My pc is bought in 2004 second hand and still plays black ops 2 high settings and bf3 medium.Upgraded anyways.Intel core 2 duo e8400 3.00ghz, GeForce 9800gt, 2gb ddr2 ram,720p monitor

 

[tikigod317]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice to help me upgrade my old and faithful Gateway 7026 (I know it's dated lol).

I eventually plan on building a new gaming PC but can't afford it at the moment so i've been trying to upgrade my current PC.

Does anyone know if a Radeon HD 5870 is compatible with my Gateway 7026?.. I know my current PSU is insufficient so I plan on buying a 600w+ PSU, but i'm not even 100% sure if that graphics card would fit my in PC.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was how my friend has the same graphics card as me, yet his games look better and run smoother. I'm assuming it has something to do with his CPU vs mine?... my motherboard can't even use I3/5/7 so I don't even know what I can upgrade from my q9300 processor.

Sorry for long post.. thanks in advance!

Your friend has better performance because he is playing in lower resolution.You have good CPU no problem.Gateway is just the model.Of course it's compatible if you have big enough case.Also better buy a 500 or 550W PSU you don't need such an expensive one.If you are playing video games the graphics card for you is the 7750.

You think your pc is old?My pc is bought in 2004 second hand and still plays black ops 2 high settings and bf3 medium.Upgraded anyways.Intel core 2 duo e8400 3.00ghz, GeForce 9800gt, 2gb ddr2 ram,720p monitor

Thanks a lot.. is your CPU considered better than mine?.. I noticed it has 3.00ghz so I figured it could be better than my 2.5ghz. As far as the graphics card, my buddy is upgrading from his HD 5870 to something better, and offered to hook me up with his old one which is better than my HD 6670.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Well they're typically 11" (280mm) so measure from the back of your case and see where that takes you. Remember to account for a little extra space for the PCI-E power connectors if the ports are on the back of the card (I think they are, can't remember though).

EDIT: They're on top, though you'll still want a little clearance for airflow.

 

[jessterman21]

It may be too long for that case... Measure the clearance inside, make sure no cables are in the way - and you'll need two slots of (thickness) space.

Should also be able to pop a 500w ATX PSU in there to replace whatever weak sauce HP used...

Your CPU is still viable for games - check out this Tom's review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-wolfdale-yorkfield-comparison,3487-20.html

 

[Dhampire01]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any advice to help me upgrade my old and faithful Gateway 7026 (I know it's dated lol).

I eventually plan on building a new gaming PC but can't afford it at the moment so i've been trying to upgrade my current PC.

Does anyone know if a Radeon HD 5870 is compatible with my Gateway 7026?.. I know my current PSU is insufficient so I plan on buying a 600w+ PSU, but i'm not even 100% sure if that graphics card would fit my in PC.

Another thing that kind of bothered me was how my friend has the same graphics card as me, yet his games look better and run smoother. I'm assuming it has something to do with his CPU vs mine?... my motherboard can't even use I3/5/7 so I don't even know what I can upgrade from my q9300 processor.

Sorry for long post.. thanks in advance!

Your friend has better performance because he is playing in lower resolution.You have good CPU no problem.Gateway is just the model.Of course it's compatible if you have big enough case.Also better buy a 500 or 550W PSU you don't need such an expensive one.If you are playing video games the graphics card for you is the 7750.

You think your pc is old?My pc is bought in 2004 second hand and still plays black ops 2 high settings and bf3 medium.Upgraded anyways.Intel core 2 duo e8400 3.00ghz, GeForce 9800gt, 2gb ddr2 ram,720p monitor

Thanks a lot.. is your CPU considered better than mine?.. I noticed it has 3.00ghz so I figured it could be better than my 2.5ghz. As far as the graphics card, my buddy is upgrading from his HD 5870 to something better, and offered to hook me up with his old one which is better than my HD 6670.

It is considered as it has 3.00ghz and yours has 2.5ghz and cant play some games but if you overclock it with a decent 20 dollar cooler it will be much better as it has 4 cores.As I said try to find a 7750 its about 70 dollars (same price).I would keep away from older generation GPUs

 

[jessterman21]

It is considered as it has 3.00ghz and yours has 2.5ghz and cant play some games but if you overclock it with a decent 20 dollar cooler it will be much better as it has 4 cores.As I said try to find a 7750 its about 70 dollars (same price).I would keep away from older generation GPUs

2.5GHz QUAD CORE, though. It's already better-suited to today's games.

Why get a GPU that's only half as powerful as an HD 5870? The older card would be a better choice than a weak newer card.

If you're buying new, I would get a GTX 660 or 650Ti BOOST 2GB if you can't spend more than $175. Both are better than the HD 5870 and will play new games substantially better.

 

[sam_p_lay]

2.5GHz QUAD CORE, though. It's already better-suited to today's games.

Why get a GPU that's only half as powerful as an HD 5870? The older card would be a better choice than a weak newer card.

If you're buying new, I would get a GTX 660 or 650Ti BOOST 2GB if you can't spend more than $175. Both are better than the HD 5870 and will play new games substantially better.

+1 to all of that. Only reason I didn't point out the quad cores was that Dhampire already acknowledged it. But worth repeating - the extra two cores deliver more benefit than 0.5GHz clock speed.

 

[Dhampire01]

2.5GHz QUAD CORE, though. It's already better-suited to today's games.

Why get a GPU that's only half as powerful as an HD 5870? The older card would be a better choice than a weak newer card.

If you're buying new, I would get a GTX 660 or 650Ti BOOST 2GB if you can't spend more than $175. Both are better than the HD 5870 and will play new games substantially better.

+1 to all of that. Only reason I didn't point out the quad cores was that Dhampire already acknowledged it. But worth repeating - the extra two cores deliver more benefit than 0.5GHz clock speed.

I'm just saying that he wont be able to play some games for example black ops 2 because they need cpus with speed higher that 2.6

 

[jessterman21]

2.5GHz QUAD CORE, though. It's already better-suited to today's games.

Why get a GPU that's only half as powerful as an HD 5870? The older card would be a better choice than a weak newer card.

If you're buying new, I would get a GTX 660 or 650Ti BOOST 2GB if you can't spend more than $175. Both are better than the HD 5870 and will play new games substantially better.

+1 to all of that. Only reason I didn't point out the quad cores was that Dhampire already acknowledged it. But worth repeating - the extra two cores deliver more benefit than 0.5GHz clock speed.

I'm just saying that he wont be able to play some games for example black ops 2 because they need cpus with speed higher that 2.6

Lol, really? That game has a clock-speed cutoff? So if I underclock my i3, the game will tell me "incompatible CPU detected" or something?