£250 Budget - What changes should I make to my PC?

[Nick Smith]

Hello.

I've started to get back into gaming recently, and am looking to upgrade my computer, just to beef it up a little bit. But, I haven't even opened my PC case in around a year, so I have no idea as to what's what with computers at the moment.

My PC is as shown in 'My System', except the graphics card is now a Radeon 3650, as opposed to a nVidia 7600GT.

I'll have around £250 to spend, which could be pushed up to ~£300 if needs be.


Any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Nick

[Robscure]

Hello.

I've started to get back into gaming recently, and am looking to upgrade my computer, just to beef it up a little bit. But, I haven't even opened my PC case in around a year, so I have no idea as to what's what with computers at the moment.

My PC is as shown in 'My System', except the graphics card is now a Radeon 3650, as opposed to a nVidia 7600GT.

I'll have around £250 to spend, which could be pushed up to ~£300 if needs be.


Any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Nick

We'll need to know what processor you have.

Pentium 4? Core 2 Duo?

Do you know your motherboard? Do you know your RAM? What type of PC is it? Is it a Dell, for example?

Tell us as much info as you can. Search google if you don't know how to find something.

[Nick Smith]

My PC is as shown in 'My System', except the graphics card is now a Radeon 3650, as opposed to a nVidia 7600GT.

But:

Intel Core2Duo E6300
Gigabyte DS3
2GB Corsair RAM PC6400
Corsair HX520
ATI Radeon 3650
320GB Seagate Barracuda
Antec 900
XP 32bit

[Hawker1986]

Depending what resolution you game at I would say E8400 CPU + 4850 graphics card for 1680x1050 (1600x1200) or less, and E5200 CPU + 4870 for 1920x1200 or more. Either way it should work out at about £250. (looking at your system I would imagine its the first option, so go for E8400 + an ati 4850, that will let you play anything maxed out on a 19" monitor)

Hawker

[Robscure]

But:

Intel Core2Duo E6300
Gigabyte DS3
2GB Corsair RAM PC6400
Corsair HX520
ATI Radeon 3650
320GB Seagate Barracuda
Antec 900
XP 32bit

lol sorry I'm tired, I'm not used to this forum's interface yet, I forgot there's a feature like that ...

You processor is prime for gaming, maybe overclock it if you can... There's plenty of guides on here for that.

2gb ram is minimum, but since you're on XP you won't benefit from 4, you'll only get about 3.7 from it, because xp has a cap.

Your video card will impact performance the most. Since you have £250 to spend, you are in luck!

[post removed]

EVGA has an awesome record, I love that brand, and the 260 is the second (next to the 280) best single GPU in the world. The 4870 isn't as good, only the 4870x2 matches it, but that's two gpu's put together, and plus ATI sucks at the moment, they run very hot and very loud... So I definitely recommend going with nVidia... this is based off of all of the reviews and professional tests that I've read on the subject, as well as the opinions of many other people...

[EDIT: I just realized that card is 192 core not 216, sorry... For the same price you can get this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB...xDL-DVI-I-HDTV which is almost as good as the 280's.]

So, for £250 you can get one of the best GPU's in the world, and that will raise your performance a LOT...

The core 2 duo's are good for gaming, they aren't obsolete yet, and won't be for a while. There's really no need to upgrade it...

See what other's say, but I think they'll also recommend upgrading your GPU.

[Nick Smith]

Thanks for that guys.

I'm still undecided however, and am going to wait for some other opinions before i make a decision.

[Robscure]

Thanks for that guys.

I'm still undecided however, and am going to wait for some other opinions before i make a decision.

Well you have an E6xxx, and people recommend upgrading to E5xxx for gaming.

You're already above the mark as far as the consensus is concerned.

People also recommend low graphics cards such as the 8800's...

You should play a game and see what your performance is like, it may already be enough for you, but if it isn't, it's either due to your RAM or your GPU, because those play the largest factor in gaming performance. CPU really isn't a huge deal as long as it's a Duo +.

[edit:I just realized that card is 192 core not 216, sorry... For the same price you can get this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB...xDL-DVI-I-HDTV which is almost as good as the 280's.]

This is the same exact card that I'm getting.

Read the review here

Sorry about that I'm very tired I'm going to stop posting now lol

[Nick Smith]

Well you have an E6xxx, and people recommend upgrading to E5xxx for gaming.

You're already above the mark as far as the consensus is concerned.

People also recommend low graphics cards such as the 8800's...

You should play a game and see what your performance is like, it may already be enough for you, but if it isn't, it's either due to your RAM or your GPU, because those play the largest factor in gaming performance. CPU really isn't a huge deal as long as it's a Duo +.

[edit:I just realized that card is 192 core not 216, sorry... For the same price you can get this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB...xDL-DVI-I-HDTV which is almost as good as the 280's.]

This is the same exact card that I'm getting.

Read the review here

Sorry about that I'm very tired I'm going to stop posting now lol

No worries!

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

[Hawker1986]

Or you can buy this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...VI-I-HDTV-HDCP save yourself £70 and get very nearly the same performance as the review robscure linked to shows, and I would bet that on a 19" monitor you would see no difference at all between the two since the review above was run at 1920x1200 which is much more graphics card intensive.

Hawker

[Robscure]

Or you can buy this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...VI-I-HDTV-HDCP save yourself £70 and get very nearly the same performance as the review robscure linked to shows, and I would bet that on a 19" monitor you would see no difference at all between the two since the review above was run at 1920x1200 which is much more graphics card intensive.

Hawker

Yeah these top-end graphics cards are amazingly powerful, people use them for 1900+ res at max settings, on a 19 inch with say 1200 res you can get amazing performance. Nice one Hawker

[Nick Smith]

Thanks again to both of you!

[MSIC]

Just for a change of ideas... £250 could buy you
a) a PS3.
b) a decent monitor.
c) an Xbox360 plus a load of games

[Robscure]

Just for a change of ideas... £250 could buy you
a) a PS3.
b) a decent monitor.
c) an Xbox360 plus a load of games

Console gaming SUCKS so bad in my opinion. I want to sell my Xbox 360 + I think about 7 games...

Am I allowed to advertise that on here? lol

I hate console gaming, personally. But that's just me, obviously millions of people enjoy it.

I think my internet connection just sucks on the games that I would like to play on 360...

[Dreaming]

Robscure - when you get more posts you can!

Also to the OP - you seem to have a fairly rounded system. Mine isn't too disimiliar and I've got the e6300 at 3 ghz 100% prime95 stable with 1.36v, so its not producing too much heat yet also 3ghz is enough CPU grunt for any game.

If you were pushed, upgrade the GPU, but the 3650 isn't a bad graphics card and I'm skeptical whether you will see a real world improvement.

I'd spend the money on a bigger monitor, where you will definately see a real world improvement

[Robscure]

Robscure - when you get more posts you can!

Also to the OP - you seem to have a fairly rounded system. Mine isn't too disimiliar and I've got the e6300 at 3 ghz 100% prime95 stable with 1.36v, so its not producing too much heat yet also 3ghz is enough CPU grunt for any game.

If you were pushed, upgrade the GPU, but the 3650 isn't a bad graphics card and I'm skeptical whether you will see a real world improvement.

I'd spend the money on a bigger monitor, where you will definately see a real world improvement

Don't listen to him!!! lol

Bigger monitor??? 22" is perfect for gaming, as long as you don't go above that... If you do, you'll rely on better gpu , etc, to produce better quality, etc, and it won't be as smooth gameplay... Unless you're just in it for the eye candy!!

[jackvdbuk]

2gb ram is minimum, but since you're on XP you won't benefit from 4, you'll only get about 3.7 from it, because xp has a cap.

just to save any future confusion for yourself, its 32 bit not the OS that is the problem.

look for a 2nd hand dell 2407wfp, lovely monitor
or even a 2409 (tn) for a cheap price, 24 inch is the nicest thing ever to have


tbh, if your not feeling the strain save the money for something else.. im still happy with my 8800gts 512 and even though it doesnt play some games fully maxed, lowering the settings a notch is fine with me.