I want to upgrade my old PC

• 

  _Bruce_ on 03/11/2013 - 18:43

  What CPU do you have? How much memory? What type of HD? Do you have a budget?

• 

  minijumbuk on 03/11/2013 - 18:49

  I have a Intel Pentium R Dual Core CPU E5300 @ 2.6GHz

  4GB RAM, don't really need more HD space and my graphics card is not even worth mentioning. Budget around $250. Is it possible or should I just save money for a better pc when this one dies?

  • 

    scrimshaw on 03/11/2013 - 19:06

    +5

    Your system is not worth upgrading. Or rather, you can't really do much with only an LGA775 socket.

    The only thing you should buy is a graphics card, but the Core 2 Duo is gonna throttle the performance. So the best thing to do now is to hold off on upgrading.

• 

  p1 ama on 03/11/2013 - 20:58

  +1

  It's probably not worth upgrading on LGA775 any more. Though I've had a browse around through eBay and found this for you.

  http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-2-66-GHz-6M-133…

  It's a Q9400. They do overclock well though, so you can get that $125 Q9400 and overclock it a fair bit and it'll end up well beyond 3.0 GHz, like you can easily get 3.6 GHz with FSB overclocking.

  At those speeds, it won't really hold a candle to an i5, but it'll easily out hit an i3 on pretty much anything you throw at it.

  I wouldn't recommend dropping $125 for a processor on a dead socket though. Personally, I would just get a new system now rather than try and upgrade your old machine.

  Graphics card wise, it's okay to buy now because you can always move it over.

  What's your budget?

• 

  evol on 03/11/2013 - 21:26

  Save for a new one, no point in upgrading your old one as it's quite a few generations behind now.

• 

  minijumbuk on 03/11/2013 - 21:46

  hmm seems like consensus is to not upgrading on the existing socket… Thanks guys! Will go with your suggestions

  • 

    cpho on 03/11/2013 - 23:55

    I was in the same position as you a few months back. I had that same socket with a higher end CPU. Even if you got your hands on an older CPU (I can send you my old one if you want it), I highly doubt anything will make a significance difference because it's so old.
    It's worth upgrading the Mobo, CPU and RAM. Will set you back around $400 from MSY. Will likely last you over the next 2-3 years.

    $99 MSI H87M-E33
    $205 Intel i5-4440
    $89 8G Kit 1600 G.Skill-NT
    Total $393
    (Given everything else is compatiable [eg case will fit the Mobo, PSU can handle the new CPU, etc)

    Or, you can watch OzBargain, a couple times a week, a new computer deal will be posted for pretty good prices.

• 

  shannonn54 on 03/11/2013 - 23:53

  @OP
  Have in my cupboard a superceded new (never installed) 1155 pin mobo, brought for a project 12 months ago but went with a different mobo instead.

  it's an Asus P8Z68-M Pro details here (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8Z68M_PRO/)

  PM me if your interested in it for 60 dollars, plus you pay freight, that way you can afford a core i3 or i5 cpu
  new ddr 1333 ram is dirt cheap for 8 gb these days recycle your hdd video card etc and you could have the start of a decent system.

  up to you
  Cheers Shannon

• 

  Wallyt99 on 05/11/2013 - 20:21

  I upgraded to a q9550 on the same socket for $150. Performance is ok and with a good video card I can play most of the latest games. It still struggles on cpu intensive games or scenes within games. Saw a good boost from win 8 upgrade also.

  Not too unhappy - but I am only a very casual gamer now and not too fussed about graphics and such. You would doubtless be happier with a full upgrade - but you might also be happier with a PS4.

  If you can't afford the full upgrade then you could stretch a little more out of your setup.

• 

  minijumbuk on 06/11/2013 - 09:20

  I don't really want to get a PS4 because I have a PS3 and it is still very capable. I mean hardly any game maxes out the PS3 anyway and I like gaming with a keyboard and mouse more. Plus you can't play pc games