Question Out of the game a long time and need help

[goatfarmer]

Hi all. I have been out of the loop on gaming and PC's since 2008 when i built my current desktop to play Everquest. LOL. I was going to buy a laptop, and get a docking station for my office and get rid of the old dekstop, but have decided it may be more economical to but a tablet and upgrade the desktop.

I currently have an old 22" monitor with DVI-D connection only. I also have a 32" 720P TV with HDMI connection.

I DO NOT game anymore. This desktop will only be used for internet use, Excel/Word/Powerpoint, and to multitask on the monitor and TV(i.e. watch TV and surf the net simultaneously).

The current(old) desktop is an ancient E8400 dual core overclocked to 3.2GHZ with 4GB DDR2 memory and an ATX motherboard I also have a SATAII 500GB 7200RPM hard drive. The video card is an Invidia 8800GT.

I plan on keeping the case, the Corsair 550W power supply, and the old hard drive for storage.

Given what i need this desktop for, I am guessing i can upgrade just the CPU/Motherboard/Memory. I also want to get an SSD drive(around 50GB or so). If necessary, i need a cheap video card.

Looking for recommendations to keep this as cheap as possible and have it suffice for my needs for at least 5 years.

 

[goatfarmer]

Thank you for all the advice and recommendations. I opted for the following:

Q9400 CPU
8gb DDR2-6400 Corsair XMS2 RAM
Crucial MX500 500gb SATA SSD Hard Drive

Think I got it all for $90. Plus, will sell my old memory and hopefully recoup $10-15

 

[goatfarmer]

I have my current E8400 overclocked to 3.6GHz with an aftermarket cooler(air) on my motherboard. I know a lot depends on what processor you get, but what should I be able to get the Q9400 overclocked to?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Not sure. Probably just below that.

 

[goatfarmer]

I am hoping even if i can only get the Q9400 to 3.2GHz, it will run better being a quad core than the E8400 at 3.6GHz given what I use the computer for. I am thinking the SSD will make the biggest difference though. Using task manager in Windows 10, it appears that when my system struggles, the HDD is running at 100% continuously.

Sort of excited to tinker with it and put everything together and see how it does!

 

[goatfarmer]

Got everything and just installed it and made a fresh Windows 10 install. Running all stock at the moment and it is a noticeable difference!

 

[goatfarmer]

Overclocked the Q9400 to 3.00GHz tonight. Ran Prime95 and max CPU core temps(C) were 55/47/51/52.

CPU-Z showed voltage as 1.248. I have motherboard voltage set at 1.2875.

Might try for FSB of 400 tomorrow for an overclock of 3.20GHz and see what voltage is and then reduce.

Don't want to push CPU or Motherboard too much.