What should I upgrade in my computer?

Question

I am looking to get a better gaming experience. Here are my current specs:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 GHz
Graphics: 1 GB Radeon 4870
RAM: 4 GB Corsair (I don't really want to go to 64-bit...)
Primary HDD: Seagate ST3160813AS 300 MB/s transfer rate 160 GB
Secondary HDD:Old IDE storage HDD 300GB (this one works fine for me)

What I'm mostly looking for is to be able to heighten the game settings and get a a better stable FPS. Right now, when I raise settings I get ~ 30 FPS which I'm fine with, but then there is latency between what I command like mouse movement and screen movement.

Also, when I record with FRAPS, my game FPS DIVES fast. It goes from like 60 FPS to something like 7 sometimes depending on what its recording and FRAPS settings.

I have about $500 max I'm willing to spend, but something like 300-400 would be more preferable.

When I go to pcpitstop, my worst area is the CPU, which was really good when I first got it, and RAM. What confuses me is that on newegg, the price for my current CPU really hasn't gone down much, and yet people are still giving it 5 stars when for $40 more you could get like i3 or i5. Also, when I go to win 7 performance test, my CPU us 6.4, my RAM is 6.4, my gaming graphics is 6.0, and my primary HDD is 5.9.

What should I do?

Answer 1

Uhhhh....for gaming, your system has no weaknesses.



You want a 3.0GHz or faster dual core processor (check)

You want 2GB or more of RAM (check)

You want a decent video card like a HD4770 or better (check)

Your hard drive won't affect gaming much, but I assume you are running the games off of the good one. (check)



You're getting 30-60FPS without FRAPS. To put that in perspective, current HD video is shot at 30FPS. So, you are already matching high-def video FPS, at worst.



I'm not saying you can't improve that. There is always room for improvement. :)



If I had your system and was interested in better framerates? Easy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102825R

(a 2nd one, for crossfire)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131377

That should be about 350 delivered. If it doesn't max out your framerates, nothing will.



If you go this route, make sure your current RAM is supported by the new motherboard.

Answer 2

You want better gaming? Then spend that money on a sweet GPU. You will get the highest benefit from upgrading your graphics card when it comes to wanting higher FPS. Ati or Nvidia either way you go 500 bucks is going to take you a LONG way. And you wont even have to spend all that money if you shop smart. Save a couple hundred and maybe if you want upgrade your cpu. Top priority with games though is definitely the GPU. Have fun shopping.

Answer 3

ur grafx is pretty ok, if ur not playin on a resolution higher than 1400x900 i wouldnt upgrade the graficcard.

especially on lower resolutions, the cpu "slowsdown" the gpu..



since intel is overpriced, i would check which asus board (around 100-150$) supports the memory u already have (ddr1 or 2??) and get a nice quadcore (amd phenom-II 955 BE around 150$).

or spend a bit more and get a board that supports ddr3 (100-180$) and get a corsair dualchannel kit of ddr3-1600 (110-150$)..

Answer 4

definite, improve to a minimum of 2Gb, the hot universal. flow to the dell internet web site and to ascertain what variety you want. might want to be everywhere from $20-40. this may critically advance your pcs performance. pcs are growing to be more less expensive, and also you should get a respectable twin middle processor for $500 and a minimum of 2Gb's of ram and an pretty roomy 200Gb hardcontinual. in case you prefer to make that leap. you likely won't be able to improve the images card in that workstation on account that PCI convey did not truly come on that many pcs lower back then, so in case you improve your total workstation and then improve the images card for a a ideas extra valuable workstation than the only you've excellent now.