[TakumiR]

Hi. I want to ask you, people, about if my PC will survive at least one year more to this upcoming new games.
I want to ask this because I have seen my computer slowly get old, and starting to fail with some games of the nowadays.

I currently have this:
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2.5GHz
Intel Desktop Motherboard DG31PR
Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT (1024 MB)
Windows Seven Service Pack 1 32-Bits
350 GB Hard Disk (100 GB currently available)
4 GB of RAM memory (which I know the computer will only use 3/3.15 GB)


My PC will have in November 4 years
The only thing I have changed of it since then is the Video card and the OS
It used to have a Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT (512 MB) and Windows XP Professional

After seeing this, I'd like to receive some advice on what I could change of it without having to spend so much money to run the last games on the market.
I'm happy about the fact that I can run TES V: Skyrim in High/Medium-customized quality with a good amount of FPS and other titles like Call Of Duty: Black OPS in -almost- maximum quality without too much FPS loss.

Thank you for reading, and I wish you all a good day/night.

[SyphonPayne]

Well the 9500GT is the main setback. Dual core is also on it's way out but I think the CPU could go longer than the GPU for sure.

[leik oh em jeez!]

QUOTE (SyphonPayne @ Tuesday, Jul 10 2012, 21:07)

Well the 9500GT is the main setback. Dual core is also on it's way out but I think the CPU could go longer than the GPU for sure.

This man knows what's up.

You'll want a new GPU to start with. That alone should give you a massive boost in performance. Not sure what kind of budget you had in mind, but on nearly any budget you can get something much better than a 9500GT. Starting out with a $30 budget you can usually get an 8800GT/9800GT second hand. They run cool, they're reliable, and at current prices they're arguably the best price/performance ratio you can get in a card. Or you could go all the way up to a GTX480 in the $185-225 range. Although I'm thinking anything more will be severely held back even after a CPU upgrade.

After that you'd want to upgrade your CPU. Preferably a 2.6Ghz or faster Core 2 Quad.
If you do choose a faster GPU, your CPU may likely still hold it back even after being upgraded, in which case you'd want to purchase an aftermarket cooler and try to overclock it a bit to maximize performance.

[TakumiR]

Let's say I have a budget of 500$.
With that I'm able to buy a GTX480 and a motherboard?
Due the fact that the GTX uses GDDR5 ports and not DDR2 ones I have to buy a new motherboard and see if I can keep the processor at least for a time until I have enough for another dual core processor. Or see if I can get a Intel Core i7 920.

I got the 9500 because is what I could find near here at a reasonably price without waiting too much. I HAD to buy it mainly because my old one got a problem of "image corrupting" and I didn't wanted to put the video card in the oven...

Thanks for the comments!

EDIT: Ok... seems that I will not need to buy another motherboard unless I plan to upgrade my 4gb RAM. My Pc is fully compatible with GDDR5 components. I didn't know that haha. And I'm able to buy a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550

This post has been edited by TakumiR on Wednesday, Jul 11 2012, 05:16

[yojo2]

Don't buy the Q9550, it's really overpriced. You'd be much better off saving some more money and getting an i5 (i5-3450 for example) + LGA1155 mobo + DDR3 mems.

[Wolf68k]

The Intel C2s are dead and not worth the money. Their prices are going up because their demand and supply are going down. You might can find a used or refurb'ed one for a lot less than trying to find a new one.
I don't care for eBay so I didn't bother looking there, but on Amazon a new one in the box is $380 while a used one starts at $245. For those prices you can get an i7 or i5 Sandy or Ivy Bridge and get much better performance. If you get someone to give it to you for $100 then ok if you really want to stick with that board and set up longer, but other wise forget it.

[leik oh em jeez!]

QUOTE

used one starts at $245

Woah, yeah. That's way too much. Last time I checked for used Q6600s, they were $110-130, and that was probably over a year ago. If you can find one fore $100 or so then I'd say go for it. But if it's going to cost you $250+ you'd be better off saving up for an i5 or i7 upgrade.

Either way, you'll want to upgrade your graphics card first and go from there. With the right card you may be happy with just a GPU upgrade.

[MIKON8ERISBACK]

You wanna make sure that you soon invest in DDR3 RAM and a new GPU. May I suggest an NVIDIA GTX 570 or 670? If your motherboard doesn't take DDR3 RAM, then it will soon be time to upgrade.

[unc13bud]

QUOTE

I'm happy about the fact that I can run TES V: Skyrim in High/Medium-customized quality with a good amount of FPS and other titles like Call Of Duty: Black OPS in -almost- maximum quality without too much FPS loss

then wait. if you are satisfied with the current performance of the current PC, i don't see a need to upgrade, especially when motherboard sockets - both amd and intel are so volatile and quick to be e-o-l.

[TakumiR]

Thank you everybody...
My PC is not compatible with DDR3 RAM, but I thought that I could stick to my 4 GB RAM for a while, until I saved some more money to fully upgrade. With the Quad Q9550 processor, I said "well, it's not a big change, but it will be enough for a while", but... Maybe I will keep the Core 2 Duo since it works well so far, and does not have big failures with programs. Maybe an occasional freeze every now and then, but is something I can tolerate unless it makes my gameplay and work, stressful.

The Nvidia GeForce 9500GT of mine... Yeah, that is something I will surely be changing soon to a GTX 480 maybe... If I can afford it, I will TRY a 570--- I have to check the performance of both video cards first though. My current video card seems to have some failures when it comes to run some games like Portal 2, Skyrim, Assassins Creed II and Black OPS... Tends to freeze completely the video playing and bugging the keyboard. That is a problem I never had with my 8500-. Also, there's a little thing that affects my GTA San Andreas gameplay with EnbSeries that I never experienced before with my 8500.
When I activate the "Bloom" option, the card drops the FPS to around 12. With my 8500, activating the Bloom did not have any effect in the FPS amount unless I activated the occlusion.

And yeah, I'm satisfied with how my PC currently manages to play those games (when they don't freeze). But it gets very problematic when you suddenly get a FPS drop from 24 FPS to only 8 just because the area uses a certain shader which the GPU can barely process~ That is the main reason of the why I will change it.
I'm aware too, that I will at some point have to replace almost everything, but I'm trying to make it slowly.

Anyways... Thank you very much!
I will check around and see if I can find a good motherboard fully compatible with Intel Core i5 at least, a new video card depending on what I think is better (Nvidia GTX 480, 570, 670).
(my motherboard seems to not be compatible with a newer model than the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550.)