Better Parts/New Computer.

[Mooseman9]

I have been getting a lot of games recently from the Steam Holiday Sale. I have noticed that with the more recent games, my computer is generally crappy at running them, and I would like to know what I should upgrade, or if I should just get a new computer altogether.

Specs: ACER Aspire X3400G

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 255 dual-core processor

Memory/RAM: 4 GB

Graphics Card: NVIDIA Geforce 9200

What I think is that my graphics card is shit, and I should replace it with a new, better one. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

If it is the graphics card, I don't want it to be too expensive. Anywhere up to 300-350$ is my price range.

[Cheap Shot]

If gaming is your goal you'd want a new processor too. Newer Intel i5. You'd probably end up just getting a new one. RAM might transfer though. RAM is cheap now though so you could get 8 gigs of something probably faster.

[Niavmai]

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

You're welcome.

[mohrad]

800$ paid for:

- Intel i5 3570k (4x 3,4GHz, 22nm, 6MB cache)

- Asus P8Z77-V LX (LX means it doesn't have wifi and other useless *for me* stuff)

- 8GB Ram Kingston Lifetime warranty series 1600Mhz (Goodram has, too, lifetime warranty and is a bit cheaper afaik)

- Gigabyte Windforce HD6870 1GB DDR5 (good, quiet triple fan cooling)

That's from on top of my head, some info might be off by a bit.

Overall it's not the BEAST gaming rig, but i am getting 85FPS at highest graphical settings of tittles like Battlefield 3 (v-sync lock, 1280x1024 4:3 85Hz display).

Edit: If you do get i5 3570k BOX, you can throw away it's fan at once. It's loud as a vacuum cleaner sucking off a pile of lead gravel...

[Cheap Shot]

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/vsFi

My rig. Bought it cheap on black friday and built it with Icewolfs help. Didn't get the overclock versions because I wasn't confident enough to try OC but it's just as cheap to do so.

[Mooseman9]

Niavmai, thanks for the link. It helps to categorize parts like that, as I have absolutely no idea as to the inner workings of a computer.

Cheap Shot, your rig is decently priced, but building it would be another problem...I should probably google that or something.

Anyways, I saved a link form Xylord that I saw on an earlier thread. He said it was good, and the price isn't high at all. Being a laptop also works for me too, I'd like to be able to move around with my stuff.

Link: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=209945U&category_id=AC523278A4F13F27A84F5F5622D1AC7A#.UOQvC3eDmSo

[Xylord]

Aww man, I'm blushing so hard right now, giving advice without saying anything and such. Btw Cheap, this is one lovely video card you have there, this "Ti" is giving me a boner absolutely beautiful.

Also Moose, Lenovo laptops are good, this one in particular, but as our other friends said, you might get almost as good results updating some of your computer's hardware. Niavmai link is very interesting, but... It was made by 4channers! The trolling risk is dangerously high. Hehe, just kidding. So as others said, upgrade your processor to an Intel i5, get this RAM to about 8 GB (It is amazingly cheap right now; a real... CHEAP SHOT.) and you will see a noticeable amelioration. As for the video card, it is indeed pretty aged. When looking at the possibilities, this site is pretty fudging amazing to make your choice. NVIDIA is generally a good choice, but check the other possibilities all the same.

[Cheap Shot]

That lappy seems pretty good if you dont want to mess about with building.

Another thing to keep in mind. That chart lists x2 cards in the higher ends. Just ignore SLI. Not worth paying for two cards that will just be outclassed by a single card down the line.

[Mooseman9]

Alright, thanks for the links/information. I used the chart and newegg to find out the price of the i5 3570K, and the GTX 670. They both add up to about $600. The laptop is about $1150 now.

Hmm, this is a tough choice. I could get good parts and build my own computer for probably around 500-900 dollars, pay 600 for parts that would upgrade my computer, or get the prebuilt laptop for 1150.

EDIT: If I remove the monitor and mouse from Cheap's build, that is a fairly moderate price...I think I might go for that.

[Cheap Shot]

Yeah I splurged on the monitor, and got the mouse cheap. My build is really really solid and probably the sweet spot on value vs money. If you can find it just as cheap get the better EVA version of my video card instead of Zotac. Can't beat the constant zotac sales though. My build isn't geared for overclocking so if you want to do that you'll want to swap out a few of the parts. I can show you which ones to swap for what but only if you're intested in overclocking.

[Mooseman9]

The EVA version is $60 less than the Zotac. I'll use that then.

[Cheap Shot]

The EVA version is $60 less than the Zotac. I'll use that then.

Is it the same card? Link it. If it's not the Ti then it's not the same.

[Mooseman9]

Oh, forgot the Ti. It's actually $25 less than the Zotac.

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/evga-video-card-02gp43660kr

[Cheap Shot]

Oh, forgot the Ti. It's actually $25 less than the Zotac.

Link: http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/evga-video-card-02gp43660kr

Cool. Go for that one then. The 670 is nice but too expensive still. I got the Zotac 660 Ti rather then teh EVA because it was on crazy sale during black Friday. 160$ + a copy of Borderlands 2. Sweet deal.

[Torezu]

I used the chart and newegg to find out the price of the i5 3570K, and the GTX 670. They both add up to about $600. The laptop is about $1150 now.

Your problem here is that switching from AMD to Intel processor means you need a new main board as well, which will run you in the $60 (really cheap) to $100-120 range (reasonable quality).

[Hushful]

Your problem here is that switching from AMD to Intel processor means you need a new main board as well, which will run you in the $60 (really cheap) to $100-120 range (reasonable quality).

And if you switch the motherboard you will also need to make sure your RAM will fit the sockets or you may have to replace that as well.

[Cheap Shot]

My case there is very good as well. Comes with three near silent fans and good cable management.

[Mooseman9]

UPDATE: So I can now spend up to $2000 on a new desktop/laptop.

What I really want the most is to be able to play some of the more recent games (TES:Skyrim, GTA4, SR3) on a relatively high, or at the very least mid-level of graphics. I tried making a good build on PC-Partpicker, but I don't know who's what or where's how. So if anyone has any builds they want to share, prebuilt or not, I will gladly accept them.

Note for Storage: I would like for the storage space to be at least 1 TB.

[dragonshardz]

$2k, you say? Give me a few minutes - I presume you already have OS/monitor/peripherals?

OK, so right now this build is just shy of $1750 USD. I based off a slightly more expensive build of mine that clocks in at, right now, slightly over $2k due to the usage of some almost wastefully awesome stuff.

The case is a full tower, so it's huge, but it's got a built-in SSD tray and all sorts of nice features (watercooling grommets, space for server-size boards, enough slots for 4xSLI/Xfire setups, etc). Plus it looks sick as FUCK.

[Mooseman9]

$2k, you say? Give me a few minutes - I presume you already have OS/monitor/peripherals?

OK, so right now this build is just shy of $1750 USD. I based off a slightly more expensive build of mine that clocks in at, right now, slightly over $2k due to the usage of some almost wastefully awesome stuff.

The case is a full tower, so it's huge, but it's got a built-in SSD tray and all sorts of nice features (watercooling grommets, space for server-size boards, enough slots for 4xSLI/Xfire setups, etc). Plus it looks sick as FUCK.

I do have a good OS, and a sorta old monitor (2006 maybe?). It's not the fancy widescreen ones you see today, it's more of a square.

Anyways, I replaced the video card with a Zotac GTX 660 Ti, and brought the total down to about $1470

[dragonshardz]

If that's the case, I'd spend the money to buy a new monitor so you get the full benefits of it. The 660 Ti is a fine choice, though not what I'd choose with a $2k budget.

[Cheap Shot]

I do have a good OS, and a sorta old monitor (2006 maybe?). It's not the fancy widescreen ones you see today, it's more of a square.

Anyways, I replaced the video card with a Zotac GTX 660 Ti, and brought the total down to about $1470

Sorry to rip apart your build Dragonshardz but I wanna help Mooseman out. Do not use that build. It is a silly build. It is not at all cost effective and you can get better parts for less. If you are spending that much money right now and it's not because your video card is off the charts stupid good then you are doing something wrong. I spent less then that and my build is just as good for gaming (maybe better?) and my price includes a huge fucking monitor and gaming mouse. Hell, my build is still cheaper even after all the Black Friday sales are long over. You don't need to start with 16 gigs of ram since you will probably only need 8 and can always decide you want more later. You can also get good ram cheaper then that, way cheaper if it's on sale. (don't bother getting ram with big heat sinks or dumb shit attached, it'll just get in the way of your cpu's heatsink and fan usually). Case sounds alright from reviews but you probably wont ever need a Full Tower, especially not with that build. Full tower is for people who want to quad SLI with their watercooling rigs and also park a car in there. You can also never turn the LEDs off on that thing which, I donno, LEDs are cool but being able to turn them off is cool too. That SSD has had buggy firmware issues they claim they've fixed but people still report having shitty issues. It's cheaper and a decent drive but you'd take a little gamble. If you're going to take a gamble then you should bet on a samsung 840 pro. I say gamble because it's new so is still market untested but it's previous model was solid and it's a much better bet then the M4 right now (which has already failed the market test once).

I suggest the Intel 520 if you want a safe bet and are willing to spend a bit more. Intel SSD's are super reliable and I have one.

That 1TB drive is more money then you need to spend. You can save $20 there easily. I can't say much about the powersupply other then there are a few "trusted" brands it's a good idea to stick with. Seasonic is my favourite and the most recommended generally. Here is the one you want. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088. That one is super good and will last you... and still manages to be $20 bucks cheaper by being $50 off on newegg right now.

You should be able to step down safely to a little less wattage if you miss that sale and want to save money. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119 <-this is the one in my build.

He also doesn't need an i7. i7's offer no significant benefit to gaming beyond the i5.

Pretty much take my build exactly, and upgrade the parts you want to since your budget it higher. http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/vsFi

Just ignore the mouse and monitor. If you find you want more then that build can offer (there isn't much this build can't offer right now) then upgrade the 660 Ti to a 670. That should be a fun upgrade. If you still want to spend money? Upgrade the 120GB SSD to a 240GB SSD. That's it. Don't do anything else. Maybe if you want a flashier case. I have no recommendations case wise beyond what I own however.

One note of preference. My case and board are Micro-ATX because there is no reason for them not to be. The only "significant" thing I'm giving up for making my build compact is SLI support. I have no reason to use SLI (two video cards at once) because it is cheaper to just buy 1 good card and then upgrade it later. Two 660's SLI right now will be outclassed by a single card in a few years. I will just buy that card then.

TLDR

So to recap: My build

Optional upgrades:

- EVA GeForce 670 <- The only proper reason to waste money . EVA cards are better then Zotac. I got Zotac because it was heavily on sale and still really good. You also get a free copy of borderlands 2 right now. I sold mine to knock $35 off the cost of my card but you could also, I guess, play it?

- Samsung 840 Pro SSD. 128 or 256. Probably won't have any issues.

- Intel 520 SSD. 240GB upgrade from 120. Market tested and reliable.

If you don't mind spending the cash, I'd reccomend a 240ishGB over a 120ish. My 120 is filling up FASSSSTTT.

- SeaSonic 650W psu if it's still on sale when you go to buy it. 50 dollars off is a very nice deal. Good if you want to feel more comfortable upgrading in the future.

- Shop around for different 1TB harddrives. It doesn't really matter much and you may find one cheaper then mine, so get whatever doesn't have shit reviews.

- If you want a flashy gaming case go for it but I have no idea what is good or not. My case is compact and has the best reviews. If you want you can always...uhh...put LED's in it and shit. There aren't many flashy Micro-ATX cases. Fractal also does a midsize version of this case that you can buy a replacement side panel for with a clear viewing window. I'm hoping they make it for the Micro case soon because I'm an idiot and hate money apparently. You can almost always use a Micro motherboard in a midsize case without issue. It doesn't really matter but I like my computer to take up less room.

I don't know what monitor you have but it'll probably do until you want to upgrade. My monitor is nice but I splurged. If you upgrade to the 670, you might consider playing using a flatscreen TV or three identical screens in a wrap around. When I upgrade my card down the line I think I'll be trying the latter.

So I ended up putting in like 2 hours to help you, that was dumb of me!! Get a really good computer and then add me on steam.

[Mooseman9]

Pretty much take my build exactly, and upgrade the parts you want to since your budget it higher. http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/vsFi

Just ignore the mouse and monitor. If you find you want more then that build can offer (there isn't much this build can't offer right now) then upgrade the 660 Ti to a 670. That should be a fun upgrade.

Alright Cheap, your build seems to be the best and it isn't too expensive. I'll probably be getting it then.

TLDR

Optional upgrades:

- EVA GeForce 670 <- The only proper reason to waste money . EVA cards are better then Zotac. I got Zotac because it was heavily on sale and still really good. You also get a free copy of borderlands 2 right now. I sold mine to knock $35 off the cost of my card but you could also, I guess, play it?

I used your build and replaced the card with this. It's about a hundred more, but you say the Zotac's still pretty good so I'll settle on that. I already have Borderland 2 but I can give it to a friend. The more the merrier.

I don't know what monitor you have but it'll probably do until you want to upgrade. My monitor is nice but I splurged. If you upgrade to the 670, you might consider playing using a flatscreen TV or three identical screens in a wrap around.

Eh, I like my monitor but I would like to get a newer model. I'll probably just use the same monitor you have there.

When I upgrade my card down the line I think I'll be trying the latter.

Cool.

So I ended up putting in like 2 hours to help you, that was dumb of me!! Get a really good computer and then add me on steam.

Haha, thanks Cheap Shot. You've helped me out once again, and I'll probably be getting this build, unless I can find a laptop that performs about the same(doubt it).

Also, I'm assuming your Steam name is Cheap Shot. Am I correct?

[Cheap Shot]

SACheapshot. Force me to install some of my many many games.

[Mooseman9]

I shall!

EDIT: First off Cheap Shot, you need to install and play Amnesia right now.