Need help with hardware upgrades, wondering how well it'll run games

XSonicBlaster

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
11
0
1,510
I'm going to upgrade my XP PC from a
Intel Pentium 4 Dual-Core 3.20 GHz
1 GB RAM
integrated graphics

to a:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40 GHz
4 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GTX 660

I need to know how well the second machine will run games. I don't run many triple-A games, just low-end games. I occasionally play games like Batman Arkham, but not often.
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Much, much better than the Pentium 4, that's for sure.

Realistically though, it's still not up to much. To give you a bit of an idea, you'd just about get playable FPS on Batman: Arkham with the lowest possible settings, assuming you're not planning on a monitor greater than 1080p!

The Q6600 is a quad core, which is good - but it's dated at this point (9.5 years old). Older titles should be fine, 4+ years old, or extremely low requirements. Newer games, and certainly AAA games will struggle to run at an acceptable level.

4GB RAM is the absolute minimum for gaming today, but given the kinds of games you intend to play, it should be fine.
 

XSonicBlaster

Commendable
Jul 24, 2016
11
0
1,510


I don't plan on big games, as I have a PS4 for big titles and exclusives. I just want this PC for games I can't typically get on consoles, which usually don't require heavy systems to run.

I can get a stronger processor than that, as my CPU socket is LGA 775, but I'm on a cheap budget, so it's about the best I can do.

Thanks for the help.