Thinking of upgrading pre-built PC

[rarik0rn]

My PC is an HP Pavilion 500 series (500-332d) which is pretty low end.

My Current specs are:
Graphics Card: nvidia GeForce GT 630 (not originally there)
O.S. : Windows 8.1
Processor: Intel Core i3 4150 (2 Cores @ 3.5GHz)
Socket: 1150 LGA
Motherboard: HP 2AF7
Chipset: Haswell
Southbridge: H87
RAM : DDR3 4GB

Please Tell me what possible graphics cards and or processors i can fit into my motherboard and what kind can make it mid-range with a budget of 300-450$
Also, tell me if I have given sufficient information if not, I can still give some more.

 

[pierrerock]

When talking of mid range an i3 4150 is pretty good. i wouldn't change it as gaming performances will not be noticeable by getting an I5.

You could get a better Video card. The problem is that PSU in prebuilt computer do not have 6 pin cable. So the best card you can get is a 750 TI, which would allow you to play most game in 1080P at medium/high settings or any games at 720P ultra.

 

[spdragoo]

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04310448&DocLang=en&docLocale=en_US&jumpid=reg_r1002_usen_c-001_title_r0001

Highest you can go (due to the 84W limitation) is an i5-4670 (not the unlocked "K" version) or the i7-4790.

Will they provide some benefit? Yes...but the actual amount is going to vary. And while it's not exactly on the hierarchy chart (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html), the i3-4130T is probably nearly identical. It's pretty high up (2nd-tier), & since you can only go up to 1st tier it's not worth the upgrade (usually only worth it if you're going up 2 or more tiers).

A better upgrade, if possible, would be to upgrade your RAM. If you have the 64-bit version of Windows 8.1, you can either add a 2nd stick of 4GB DDR3-1600, or replace the current pair of sticks with dual 4GB sticks. If you only have 32-bit Windows, you can't go above 4GB...but again, if you only have 1 stick in, consider replacing it with dual 2GB sticks to take advantage of dual-channel mode.

As for GPUs...pierrerock is correct, your PSU is going to be very generic & most likely doesn't have 6-pin (let alone 8-pin) adapters. The GTX 750Ti is going to be the best "low-power" card that won't require a 6-/8-pin power plug; however, at 300W, your PSU is also right on the edge of what nVidia recommends for that card, & may not be quite up to snuff. However, you can get a decent 500W 80+ Bronze PSU for under $50, which would leave you enough budget to get an R9 280/290 or GTX 960...but going too much higher (i.e. GTX 970, R9 290X, etc.) would require a better PSU, which again cuts into your budget.