To start off, this is a computer I'm trying to get gaming-ready for my little brother. I just recently upgraded my old Inspiron 530s to a new i3-2100/6850 build. He's currently gaming on an AMD turion 1.6GHz dual core laptop with Radeon HD 4200m graphics. I just got a new screen for my computer, so he'll be adopting a 1440x900 screen.
The old computer has a 1.6GHz e2140 paired with a Radeon 1330x GPU and 3gb DDR2. I'm wondering what should be a higher priority for upgrading the old computer. Getting a new graphics card (5570/5670) or getting a new CPU. I stumbled upon this thread where the poster was upgrading a 530 aswell (to an E5200). My motherboard is also a G33M02, so I think that limits me towards getting a quad core CPU.
My other limitation right now is a 250w PSU, but I believe that should be able to handle a 65w-85w CPU and a ~100w GPU Nicely.
Basically I would like to max or get close to maxing TF2@1440x900
Yet another option could be to get a new/used motherboard that supports overclocking and try to get the e2140 to ~2.8GHz or something.
If I upgrade the CPU, I'll upgrade the GPU later. If I upgrade the GPU, I'll upgrade the CPU later. Though if an e5200 is good, I could probably get a GPU sooner.
Any help is appreciated!
The old computer has a 1.6GHz e2140 paired with a Radeon 1330x GPU and 3gb DDR2. I'm wondering what should be a higher priority for upgrading the old computer. Getting a new graphics card (5570/5670) or getting a new CPU. I stumbled upon this thread where the poster was upgrading a 530 aswell (to an E5200). My motherboard is also a G33M02, so I think that limits me towards getting a quad core CPU.
My other limitation right now is a 250w PSU, but I believe that should be able to handle a 65w-85w CPU and a ~100w GPU Nicely.
Basically I would like to max or get close to maxing TF2@1440x900
Yet another option could be to get a new/used motherboard that supports overclocking and try to get the e2140 to ~2.8GHz or something.
If I upgrade the CPU, I'll upgrade the GPU later. If I upgrade the GPU, I'll upgrade the CPU later. Though if an e5200 is good, I could probably get a GPU sooner.
Any help is appreciated!