What do i need to upgrade my pc

[smee82]

I want to upgrade my pc as its a few yrs old and has trouble playing games
however im not very computer savvy
my specs are from what i can tell using belarc advisor.
if u need any other info i can give it to u if u can tell me where to find it
on my pc.
thank you all for any help in advance.

2.60 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. M52L-S3

Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. M52L-S3
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. F6 03/20/2008


250.06 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity


NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT [Display adapter]

Thankyou again

 

[Sunius]

You forgot to tell us your budget and country you were from. We could also use a list of games you'd like to play.

Lastly, we'll also need info about your power supply and case size. To find about power supply unit, you'll need to open up the case and take a look at the sticker. Brand and model would be nice, but photo of the sticker would be even better.

To find out case size - just take a ruler and measure it.

 

[smee82]

i currently live in china but im from australia as for my budget $500 or $600 is about what i can afford at the moment but a lot of the parts i can get for for cost price or at a discount.

the games i like playing are total war skyrim assassins creed ect.

my case is just a generic Chinese case by the name of golden field the is a sticker in the case on the power supply unit that says 220v, 4A 50 hz
the size is 43x43x19

i realize i will probably need to buy a new case with a decent coolant system

thanx

 

[Sunius]

What is your case size? Also, that's input of the power supply info, not output. I'm interested in the output.

Anyway, if you case is standard size, I see little reason to upgrade it right now.

I can suggest two options:

Option 1: Powerful CPU, less powerful graphics card: it will increase system longevity by eliminating the need to upgrade the CPU for 4-5 years. If you ever run out of oomph, just put more powerful graphics card in and you're ready.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($235.00 @ Mwave Australia)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($36.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($145.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.20 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card ($129.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $667.20
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-27 04:05 EST+1000)


Option 2: Less powerful CPU, more powerful graphics card: it will be most powerful for today, and the graphics card will last you a bit longer (my guess - 1 year longer than option 1). However, by the time you upgrade the graphics card, you'll probably need to upgrade the CPU and motherboard as well so you could play latest games without problems.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($77.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.20 @ Mwave Australia)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($255.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Power Supply: Corsair 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Total: $643.20
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-27 04:10 EST+1000)

 

[smee82]

sorry everything written on the power unit is in Chinese without any English translations so i have no idea what the output is at the moment.

Ive also been having trouble keeping the temp down ive cleaned out the inside of my case already is there anything else i can do for this

thanx

 

[Sunius]

What level of temperature are you talking about? Is it processor or graphics card that's too hot?

 

[smee82]

when i check the temp it says 60 to 70 Celsius im guessing its the processor as my pc shuts itself down however it only happen when playing games now that ive cleaned out the inside and removed 1 of the side panels

 

[Sunius]

70°C isn't hot at all, it shouldn't shut off because of temperature. Are you upgrading because it's shutting down and not because you want better performance? If so, you shouldn't upgrade your PC and instead try finding your problem first.

 

[HEXiT]

70 is the thermal limit of that cpu. not every cpu will go to 100 thats only been the norm for intel parts since the first i5/i7 and even then some of them didnt go past 80.

sounds to me like he has an amd 4800x2 or a 5200x2 both of which thermally throttle at 65'c and shut off at 70. as for upgrades your best off getting a gtx 250 and a 550w decent psu... any more than that and your wasting your money...
on that system.

really you want a whole new build as your motherboard wont upgrade by much. your gfx is poultry and doesnt meet minimum requirments for most new games
infact the only things salvageable from your current build is the hdd if its sata 2 and the case. everything else is to old for gaming.
you have 600 aus dollars that works out at 625 us dollars that will get you a decent entry level build... look at toms hardware home page and you will see a link at the top for this months entry level build. yours will be slightly better than that. if you spend the same (shipping costs will likely cost a little more to china or if you buy local you may be able to go slightly better over all.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-pc-overclocking-pc-building,review-32506.html heres the link if you cant find it...

lastly forget the psu thats in your current machine. its made in china by a no name manufacturer and is a fire hazzard. dont put it in your new build unless you want to kill it within a week.
buy a well branded psu only... yes it may cost 70bux but you will know it will be safe and you can be assured if it does pop it wont take the rest of the pc with it.

 

[Sunius]

I'm pretty sure he can salvage the case too.

 

[smee82]

I want to upgrade cause i know my pc will barely play new games not because of the temp problem.

however im looking for a way to cool it down until i upgrade or get a new build which im guessing wont be for around a
month as i wont to make sure i can get my moneys worth as i dont really know anything about pcs and this will be the first time i dont just buy 1 of the shelves which seems to be a good way of being ripped off in china.

Thanx

 

[Sunius]

Well, for $600 you would get around 4 times less powerful PC than I listed components for :lol:

Anyway, I'd suggest reapplying thermal paste under CPU heatsink.

 

[smee82]

other then what u already recomended what else would i need if i was to do a completely new build

 

[Sunius]

Case, hard drive and Windows. Though, you could reuse those parts from your current PC.

 

[HEXiT]

after looking at the range of cases goldenfield produce i would say its probably the reason for your cooling issues. most of them only have a side fan and back fan others dont even have that but rely on the psu fan to vent the case...
http://www.internetct.co.uk/marsredatxpccomputercasepianoblack-p-1123.html something like this would be a good option and at under 40bux it will give good basic air flow. the front has 1 120mm fan and the sides and back can host 2 80mmfans which although not a lot will give a constant flow of cool air through the case.
you can increase the air flow by installing high cfm variable speed fans so its quiet at idle but sounds like a jet when in use.
preferably though you would be better spending a little more and getting something with at least 1 120mm top fan and 1 120mm back fan as this is the best minimum configuration for pulling air through a case.