Don't know what to upgrade on my computer

[xcarlittosx]

i didnt know where to post this, I'm sorry if i posted it in the wrong section 😛


Ive been having a pavillion a4310f for a while now, and im quite happy with it, i bought a graphics card which made gaming more acceptable since i dont play graphic-intense games... but ive noticed that my computer lags ALOT when i have pandora/ventrilo/tibia(game)/msn open.(cpu usage 90-100%) so i dont really know what to upgrade on my computer..

Here are my specs
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: AY014AA-ABA a4310f
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 250 Processor (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4096MB RAM

The Graphics card i installed is the amd radeon hd6670 1GB DDR5 PCI-Exp

is it time to get a new computer? or should i upgrade my processor? add more ram?
It would be awesome if y'all could also give me ideas of what processor/computer to get ^^

 

[sam_p_lay]

Processor is far more lacking than the RAM, but you'd want a new motherboard with it, adding to the cost. What kind of money are you looking at putting on it?

 

[xcarlittosx]

probably around 300-400, willing to spend a little extra ^^

 

[sam_p_lay]

Dollars? Pounds, euros?

 

[xcarlittosx]

Dollars

 

[kingnoobe]

The cpu, ram, and probably the psu also. Now what you can get for your budget depends on what you want. Intel/amd. With that budge those 3 things would be my priority after that you can add other things if you feel you want to.

 

[xcarlittosx]

Well im not wanting the best, i just want my pc to run smoother and be able to multitask without a problem

 

[sam_p_lay]

A Core i3 should work well for you then and not be too expensive. Would require a new motherboard, but no need to spend loads there.

 

[xcarlittosx]

would you suggest any? ^^

 

[sam_p_lay]

To be honest, for your needs I think you'd be OK with any modern chipset board (H77, B75 or Z77). Z77 is mainly for the overclocking (which you couldn't do with an i3 anyway), though it's generally not a lot more in price anyway. Maybe something like the ASRock H77 Pro4. For the CPU, an i3 2100, 2105, 2120, 2125, 2130, 3220, 3225 or 3240. Basically any non-T models (the T models are slow low-power editions). Those are listed in order from slowest to fastest, but you'd have a hard time telling the difference in speed. They're all pretty closely priced too... I'd just grab whatever you find a good price on.

 

[xcarlittosx]

haha alrighty then! But i wont have a problem changing from AMD to Intel right? as long as i change the motherboard?
I'm kind of a newbie at this, trying to learn!

 

[sam_p_lay]

Yeah no problem at all. Of course you will want a fresh install of Windows though for a new motherboard with new chipset drivers. It's not required, but definitely recommended.

 

[xcarlittosx]

Would i need a new windows 7 disk or could i use my recovery disk i have for this computer?

 

[sam_p_lay]

You could probably get away with using the recovery disk, though I wouldn't. It'll probably install all the drivers to get you fully set up, but then you'd obviously be set up with the wrong drivers. If the disc looks like it's from Microsoft then it should be fine, but if it's from your computer manufacturer, it's probably not gonna be any better than your existing Windows installation.

 

[xcarlittosx]

Best answer selected by xcarlittosx.