Upgrading old PC

[nan0pwnag3]

Okay... so I've had my computer for over 6 years now, and I've noticed it's starting to fall under the pressure of some programs and games.

The only things I've upgraded during the time I've had with my computer are:
- The RAM, going from 2gb to 8gb (4x2gb)
- The Graphics Card (because the old one over-heated)
- And obviously the external components (headphones, mice, keyboards, monitors, etc)

My current specs are (from dxdiag):
- Windows 7 Pro (64-bit)
- BIOS: Award Modular BIOS x6.00PG
- Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2 CPU's), ~3.0GHz
- Memory: 8192MB RAM (DDR2)
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
- Not sure what model my motherboard is besides its Gigabyte
*UPDATE*
My motherboard is: Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3
Other information supplied by CPU-Z:
Chipset: AMD, 770
Southbridge: ATI, SB600
LPCIO: ITE IT8718

So I have a Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard, and it has an LCD screen where I set it to display the CPU and RAM load. And I have noticed that when running certain programs/games and doing things like multitasking, loading things, etc., that the CPU goes to 100% load and everything slows down dramatically. So should I upgrade the processor? Or is my system too old and I should just buy a new computer? Or what other parts would I have to upgrade? Or do you have any other suggestions of things I can do (besides telling me I should cut-down on how many things I run and what games I play, I usually play games on low-medium anyway)

Thank you for your time,
Scott

 

[bungz]

The 6000+ is a dual core, so will be limiting your games pretty badly.

Please download something like CPU-Z and go to the motherboard tab, it will tell us the motherboard model.

I suspect however from the era your 6000+ CPU comes from it may be a bit old and limited, best hope will be a quad core phenom of some description but cant say for sure till you pdate with a motherboard model number.

Other than that, yep new system time really!

 

[nan0pwnag3]

The 6000+ is a dual core, so will be limiting your games pretty badly.

Please download something like CPU-Z and go to the motherboard tab, it will tell us the motherboard model.

I suspect however from the era your 6000+ CPU comes from it may be a bit old and limited, best hope will be a quad core phenom of some description but cant say for sure till you pdate with a motherboard model number.

Other than that, yep new system time really!

I updated the motherboard section just now!

 

[bungz]

The motherboard only supports upto first generation quad core Phenoms, which are a bit pants really so wouldn't recommend you swap your cpu out for one of those.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2722#

Sadly a new motherboard and cpu will likely be the best bet.

Just checked there is a Rev 2.0 of your board which supports 2nd generation Phenom CPU's. If you read CPU Z motherboard page it will tell you the bios number, post that here and we can see if it is a Rev 1 or a Rev 2 you have.

 

[nan0pwnag3]

The motherboard only supports upto first generation quad core Phenoms, which are a bit pants really so wouldn't recommend you swap your cpu out for one of those.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2722#

Sadly a new motherboard and cpu will likely be the best bet.

Would the motherboard and the CPU the only things you recommend me upgrade? Or do you think a whole system upgrade would be better?

 

[bungz]

Depends really. If you have a rev 2.0 board then you have some ok CPU's to upgrade to.

If its a Rev 1 there isn't much you can do.

Depends how much money you want to throw at it really. The GPU is reasonable and would work in another system.

 

[nan0pwnag3]

Depends really. If you have a rev 2.0 board then you have some ok CPU's to upgrade to.

If its a Rev 1 there isn't much you can do.

Depends how much money you want to throw at it really. The GPU is reasonable and would work in another system.

Well in CPU-Z, next to the motherboard model, there is: x.x, next to "chipset" it has: Rev. 00, and next to "southbridge" it has: Rev. 00 again... is that the right place to look for the number? Under BIOS it says: Brand: Award Software International Inc., Version: F8f, Date: 12/15/2009.

 

[bungz]

That indicates it is a Rev 1 board

 

[nan0pwnag3]

That indicates it is a Rev 1 board

Oww... Oh well. Looks like I'll have to start saving up.

Thank you so much for your help!