Imrovement for gaming

[awsome1997]

Hi, what can I do to my pc to improve its gaming capabilities?

I have this specs :

CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 OC'ed at 2.8 GHz
GPU: 7300gs
RAM: 1GB Kingston DDR2
MOBO: ASRock 945GCM-S
PSU: POWERLOGIC ATX-500W
HDD: 500GB HITACHI 7200RPM

I am planning to buy HD 7850 but I think it will not perform in its best because maybe my cpu and ram will bottleneck it. Please suggest another option to improve my gaming, instead of buying HD 7850 itself. I'm short on budget because I'm still a high school student. For now, I have $244 saved budget.....

TNX

 

[lehtv]

The minimum CPU I'd recommend for a 7850 is a modern Pentium G2120 which is almost twice as fast as your OC'd E2180. On G2120, games that are optimized for four or more threads will probably be bottlenecked. For your CPU I'd recommend a card about half the speed of a 7850: HD7750. It is still a huge upgrade over your 7300GS.

However, that would only use up less than half of your saved up budget. If possible, keep saving until you have about $350 - enough for a 7850 1GB, i3-3220, B75 motherboard and some RAM.

I'd look into replacing that PSU as well. I've never heard of Powerlogic, it seems like a noname brand which are usually crap quality. A new good quality 400W+ unit can be had for $20 AR right now: Corsair CX430.

What's your monitor resolution?

 

[loki993]

RAM RAM RAM RAM. 1 gig? Are you running win 7? If you are you arent running it very well. That's your bottleneck. Get that video card lehtv suggested and some more ram and I bet you'll be shocked at the extra performance you get and that's system wide, not just in gaming. Literally everything will be faster and noticeably so.

Problem is DDR2 is expensive and old.

Heres the problem though, even then your still pretty outdated. You will probably be ok for a while but eventually that processor may run out of steam. The suggestion of just waiting until you get more money for a proper upgrade may be the best bet as you pretty much need everything.

This is of course taking into consideration that your playing the newest games and at high settings. If you play older games, less graphics intensive ones, or on lower settings then you can get away with slower stuff. However I doubt you'd be in here asking about it if you weren't already having trouble with something.

 

[max347]

I agree, doing a complete system upgrade would be nice. However you can do pretty well with the budget you have if you are not prepared to save/spend more.


Buy the corsair power supply mentioned above, then look into getting some ram. Personally, I'd check the forums (maybe post a Want To Buy ad) first. You could also look on ebay or the amazon warehouse deals page for good deals. Going from 1GB to 2GB is good, however I would strongly recommend trying to get 4GB. Open your tower and see how many ram slots you have.

From there, you can add a video card to see some improvement in gaming.

Some possibilities-
$20 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139026
$45 Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231207
$100 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202011


I also want to point out that you can get an e8400 on ebay for $20-30. If you plan to keep your box for the next 2 years, its probably worth it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-CORE-...APL-/181044944618?pt=CPUs&hash=item2a271e9eea

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...sor-/130825062726?pt=CPUs&hash=item1e75c80946

 

[Face2Face]

Man I remember the good old e2180 days. I think I had 3 or 4 of them. I remember reading an article back in the day testing a e2180 running at 3.2Ghz and it was equal to a e6750 at stock clocks for gaming.

I agree with all of these posts and their recommendations. Maybe you could grab a Cooler Master TX3 and get that e2180 to overclock some more? Or troll Craigslist for some used parts.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I agree with max347. Upgrade the CPU to an e8400 (be sure it comes with a Heatsink) or similar (LGA775 socket), PSU, RAM, and GPU.

Another option for RAM is simply adding one stick @ 2GB for $24 for a total of 3GB, unless your current RAM is 2 x 512MB, in which case you would have 2.5GB. Either way, it's a significant improvement over your current 1GB.

 

[max347]

Someone actually has a 2x2gb ddr2 kit on the forums now for $35 shipped obo. just a heads up

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Someone actually has a 2x2gb ddr2 kit on the forums now for $35 shipped obo. just a heads up

Can new users even see the FS/T forums until 15 posts, or so?

 

[max347]

Oh good call, oh well

 

[skipsneeky2]

His motherboard only has two ram slots anyways supporting up to 4gb,it does support quad cores if the cpu support list is to be believed.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/945GCM-S/


A used q9550 core 2 quad and a used gtx460 would fit the bill,with a 4gb kit of memory and it would be a very respectable light gaming rig.

 

[awsome1997]

Hi, my resolution is 1024X768 I guess I should spend up my money in HD 7770 and 2x2GBddr2 RAM, btw http://www.cdrking.com/?mod=products&type=view&sid=2597&main=149 is it okay to buy this cpu cooler to oc my cpu? thank you guys for your replies XD it did help me to decide what to do with my box and money =D

 

[aaksheytalwar]

A e2180 can't use anything more than a 6670 or 5750. Anything more is a waste. So a 7750 is already too powerful and a waste for that CPU. And anything below 4 gb and you might as well not upgrade.

IMO
Get 4 gb ddr2 800
Without CPU upgrade, oc to 3+ ghz and get a 7750 or 6670
With CPU upgrade 9550 or 9450 and 7770

 

[Fx1]

How can u even game with 1gb Ram with an OS

 

[Fx1]

Personally if i was you id buy an Xbox. it might be cheaper and easier.

Unless you got some cash to spend

 

[skipsneeky2]

The Op could also get perhaps a budget fm2 motherboard,get a 5800k and 8gb ram for that $244 then later on slap in a 6670 to mix with the apu,or go bigger.

The onboard gpu on the 5800k is gonna be years ahead of that 7300le,i had the 6200le back in 2006 and it sucked royally but did get me playing BF2 where the ati rape 128 did not.

If i recall the 7300le was worst off then the 6200le and intel onboard hd2000 is 3x as fast as the 6200le in my testing and in some games the 5800ks apu is much faster then even hd4000,its the best way to go with his budget.

 

[loki993]

How can u even game with 1gb Ram with an OS

Im assuming hes running XP, otherwise I cant imagine how he does much of anything with 1gig. Heck after SP3 XP even runs like crap on 1gig.

 

[DominionSeraph]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wIZu

The Op could also get perhaps a budget fm2 motherboard,get a 5800k and 8gb ram for that $244 then later on slap in a 6670 to mix with the apu,or go bigger.

The onboard gpu on the 5800k is gonna be years ahead of that 7300le

The problem is, at $120 for the processor, he'd be overpaying for the CPU portion just to get the onboard graphics, when his current CPU can handle a 9600GT/8800GT level card which is faster than the onboard of the 5800k and can be had used for $35-45.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Replacing mobo, CPU, and RAM will give a nice boost, but will also require a new OS (Win 7 64bit preferred). Replacing CPU and adding RAM and new GPU will not require a new OS. Don't forget to factor the cost of the OS when suggesting mobo replacement.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Replacing mobo, CPU, and RAM will give a nice boost, but will also require a new OS (Win 7 64bit preferred). Replacing CPU and adding RAM and new GPU will not require a new OS. Don't forget to factor the cost of the OS when suggesting mobo replacement.

Only OEM licences are tied to the mobo, and that particular EULA clause might not even be legally enforceable (never mind as a practical matter). XP will activate without a problem.

 

[Fx1]

Replacing mobo, CPU, and RAM will give a nice boost, but will also require a new OS (Win 7 64bit preferred). Replacing CPU and adding RAM and new GPU will not require a new OS. Don't forget to factor the cost of the OS when suggesting mobo replacement.

Just call MS and tell em ur mobo was faulty and they give u a code it activates

 

[skipsneeky2]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wIZu



The problem is, at $120 for the processor, he'd be overpaying for the CPU portion just to get the onboard graphics, when his current CPU can handle a 9600GT/8800GT level card which is faster than the onboard of the 5800k and can be had used for $35-45.

Years ago ,the 8800gt was a awesome card when matched with a killer core 2 duo and if the Op wants to slap in a e6750/e8400 and a 9800gt and upgrade his ram and play some older games,then yup that would make the most sense.

Only way to really win some full upgrades in his case is finding a old used x4 955/965be mobo/cpu/ram combo or a core i3 combo for under $165 and slapping in a used gtx460.

 

[Shinjo]

PCI-E Gen 3 can't contribute too much performance. It's just a marketing hype.
550Ti with a lower pricing even performs better than HD7770.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-8.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500283
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125409

 

[DominionSeraph]

550Ti with a lower pricing even performs better than HD7770.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-8.html

Except in, you know, pretty much every other benchmark except Crysis 2.

550 Ti is a 5770/6770 level card, and that can be had for $70.

 

[awsome1997]

I'm using windows 7 os, what is the cheapest 4 core cpu in lga775 mobo?

 

[skipsneeky2]

I'm using windows 7 os, what is the cheapest 4 core cpu in lga775 mobo?

Having checked their cpu support list on your motherboard,the cheapest is the q9550,idk if this is a error on their part as i would think the q6600 would be supported as well but it isn't listed,but then again on the main page for the board it exclaims quad cores aren't supported.

Someone else who has had experience with a similar board or this brand perhaps can guarantee or confirm its compatibility.