gaming I call upon the PC master race...

[Gigapony 650]

...to please help me upgrade my PC!

 

I'm not a full-on PC gamer (or much more than a casual gamer at anything else, really), but there are quite a few games I'd really quite like to play on PC, as well as some software, than I simply cannot run, and the time's come to upgrade my PC's hardware.

 

I honestly don't know a lot almost anything about computers, but I reckon my PC is pretty fairly set up, my biggest problem is a lack of proper graphics equipment. I've been told by my more technologically-inclined mates that all I need is a better graphics card (and possibly a beefier power supply to help run it) and I should be golden.

 

Problem is I have no idea what's good and what isn't, so I was hoping someone here could drop some knowledge on my noob head and give some recommendations?

 

All I'm trying to accomplish is to be able to play most of today's games at full or close to full settings and get good frame rates. Specifically, I'd like to be able to play games like Flight Simulator X, Starcraft 2, and Skyrim at their full potential (or at least reasonably close to it).

 

My current specs are as follows (please let me know if more information is required):

 

- 2.20 GHz Pentium dual-core CPU

- 5 GB RAM

- 512 MB Asus EAH4350 graphics card

 

Apologies for my absolute idiocy when it comes to computers, and thanks in advance for any recommendations!

[Quilava 1,290]

Well, well, you definitely do need an upgrade if you want be playing on higher end graphics settings .

 

As for processor, the more commonly used CPU's would have to be the i5-3570k 3.4GHz (~220 on Newegg) or the i7-3770k 3.5GHz (~320 on Newegg), both of which, are quad core processors.. Though they aren't all that "new" in terms of technological age, they are both quite popular choices and really good CPUs.

 

You may also want to upgrade your RAM. I'd say going up to 8GB will be more than enough, though, due to that fact that RAM is quite relatively cheap, you can even go to 16GB if you wish. Also, check what kind of channeling your board has. If it's dual channel then, if you were going to get 8GB of TOTAL RAM, you would want to get 4GBx2 to take advantage of this type of channeling.

 

For you GPU,

I'd say go for 4x-SLI GeForce GTX Titans, they are only a little over $1K, so 4 of them wouldn't really be all that much.

In all seriousness (I only know the models for GTX's so I can't offer any recommendations for Radeon-type cards), I use a Gigabyte GTX 670 2GB and can run Skyrim with Ultra detail and no frame issues. The 600 series of GeForce GTX should be able to play all current PC games with little/no issue at all with graphics. 

 

May also help to know exactly what type of motherboard you have.

[Gigapony 650]

Uh oh, didn't know I'd have to consider upgrading the CPU, that complicates things a bit (I'd hoped to keep it as inexpensive as possible as money's tight). Not really sure about the motherboard, this computer's a bit of a hodgepodge of different parts (a mate built it for me a while back). I pulled up this system information, not sure what on here (if any) is useful info though:

 

OS Name  -  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
System Manufacturer  -  HP-Pavilion
System Model  -  KJ379AA-ABA a6400f
System Type  -  x64-based PC
Processor  -  Intel® Pentium® Dual  CPU  E2200  @ 2.20GHz, 2200 MHz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)  -  5.00 GB
Total Physical Memory  -  5.00 GB
Available Physical Memory  -  2.85 GB
Total Virtual Memory  -  12.5 GB
Available Virtual Memory  -  9.97 GB

[DusK 1,264]

Honestly, with those specs, it's probably time to shell out and get a whole new rig. You're probably not going to find a good CPU for your socket type (sounds like you're running an E2200, which is LGA775). Your "more technologically-inclined mates" are wrong; a 2.2GHz dual-core processor won't handle modern gaming very well, and you're gonna see some bottlenecking with any graphics card more powerful than what you already have.

 

You can play nearly all games running maxed out on a sub-$1k system, it's just a matter of shopping around. Typically, you want a quad-core CPU that breaks 3GHz, one of the better video cards from ATI's 4000 series/nVidia's 400 series or higher with at least 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM, and at least 4GB of DDR3 RAM (which you have, but moving up to 8GB definitely wouldn't hurt).

 

If you really can't see yourself scraping up enough dough to get yourself a new rig entirely, the QX9650 is the best processor for your socket type (if I'm right and your socket type is LGA775).

 

For video cards, keep in mind that more games recently are starting to embrace DX11 features, so good DX11 support is definitely recommended, which means you'll be looking at ATI's 6000 series or at least nVidia's 500 series cards for that, though you might be able to get away with going with ATI 5000-series or nVidia 400-series as long as the DX11 stuff you're trying to run isn't over the top or poorly optimized (looking at you, Metro 2033 and Arkham City). I run a GTX 480 and have no issue running any well-optimized game in DX11 mode. I wouldn't recommend going any lower than that, though, but much higher is recommended (I'm actually looking to upgrade next year myself).

Edited July 18, 2013 by DusK

[long gone 8,929]

I have a laptop and probably can't give much advice towards desktop upgrades since I don't have a modern one (only functional desktop I have was built in... 2001), so... as much as I'd like to join in, I'm just gonna say to read benchmarks and things like that (remember, the bigger the bars are the better), check power and space requirements (this is the easiest part) and make sure that you really want the parts. This is something that can easily cost $500 or more, so it's a pretty hefty investment. Make sure it's absolutely worth it before you buy.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Daring

[not_a_name 53]

A decent gaming computer will probably cost about $400 - $700. 

You probably want a CPU of about 3.1GHz and about 10 GB of RAM. Depending on prices I would recommend a 1TB hard drive. I would recommend Win7 x64 if possible. ( I have Win8 Its ok, but i would prefer Win7)

Although, you don't need all of this (depending on the games) As my system runs 2.9GHz with 6 GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, Win8. I run Minecraft, Black Ops II, and more!

 

Edit: I have a mini desk top so it only has on-board graphic, no extra GPU's Installed. I can't tell you too much on GPU's because of that, but you don't need one for some games. 

 

Hope this helps

~dyaviator

Edited July 18, 2013 by dyaviator

[Gigapony 650]

Ouch, looks like this won't be as painless an upgrade as I'd hoped!

 

Buying all that gear, or an entirely new PC, is probably going to cost more than I'm comfortable with, so it looks like I might have to make do with what I have for now. Still, I appreciate the advice and suggestions, and will be looking back to this thread when the time comes and I can finally upgrade.

 

Cheers, all!

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Well, upgrading you're CPU would do wonders, that's slow even for a buy-it-off-the-shelf-at-Wal-Mart PC. From what I looked up, you're card is going to have to go to, looks like even stuff as old as COD4 gives it problems(and even the newer Intel HD Graphics integrated GPUs can do a decent job on that from what I've seen)

 

The RAM may need replaced as well depending on what kind it is.

 

Ya, I'm with the others. You may be better off just getting a new system. Even a lot of stock-off-the-shelf things would do you better.

 

Although, you don't need all of this (depending on the games) As my system runs 2.9GHz with 6 GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, Win8. I run Minecraft, Black Ops II, and more!

 

 

Hope this helps

~dyaviator

 

Then maybe you can tell me how to get the cut-scenes on Black Ops to stop skipping, and the game to stop locking up when I try and change the settings? I know it's not a hardware problem because it's getting a "playable" FPS on the menu screen(with is a fully rendered game environment). Someone wants me to test it and see how it runs on this model of PC. 

Edited July 18, 2013 by Shoboni

[not_a_name 53]

Well, upgrading you're CPU would do wonders, that's slow even for a buy-it-off-the-shelf-at-Wal-Mart PC. From what I looked up, you're card is going to have to go to, looks like even stuff as old as COD4 gives it problems(and even the newer Intel HD Graphics integrated GPUs can do a decent job on that from what I've seen)

 

The RAM may need replaced as well depending on what kind it is.

 

Ya, I'm with the others. You may be better off just getting a new system. Even a lot of stock-off-the-shelf things would do you better.

 

Then maybe you can tell me how to get the cut-scenes on Black Ops to stop skipping, and the game to stop locking up when I try and change the settings? I know it's not a hardware problem because it's getting a "playable" FPS on the menu screen(with is a fully rendered game environment). Someone wants me to test it and see how it runs on this model of PC. 

To tell you the truth (sorry) but I have never experienced those problems on it. The only one i have is that to load onto multiplayer it takes like 30 sec. to load =/