I want to upgrade my PC and I need YOUR help

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

First things first: I am 15, so disposable income is at a low, also, I live in the UK, so no newegg.com except for specs please.

The problem; I have a sub-par(I hesistate to call) gaming rig for about 2 years now, the specs;

1366x768 Monitor(Don't know the name; I got a stock PC and just gradually upgraded my GPU)
Intel E5400 Dual Core 2.7ghz
MS 7366 Motherboard
ASUS nVidia Geforce GTX 550 Ti 1GB DDR5(Yes, I know it is a bottleneck)
FSP Group FSP400-60THN 400W ATX2.0 Power Supply - OEM
4GB(2x2gb) RAM(I dont know the name, sorry; I'm a noob at this)
320GB HDD

- I can't play a lot of new games without the framerate dropping to <30fps, which is a huge problem for me: The components I want to upgrade are:
-The CPU
-Motherboard
-Power Supply
-RAM
-(possibly a better monitor)

I have been looking over at SCAN.co.uk, but every time I've picked out a decent setup I find out that it isn't all that good and that I have to instead go with different components almost every time I pick out a setup.
Since I don't have a good enough grip with the market, I would like you, fellow Escapists to help me out in any way possible; I am sick of playing games like Blur, BF3 and Assassins Creed Revelations with <30fps.

Also my budget would probably be ~£250(or at a stretch ~£300)

ANY help would be appreciated

 

[xDarc]

Get yourself i2500k, z68 mobo, 1 SSD for OS/few games if you can swing it, and one of the mid range 28nm gfx cards or an old gtx 580 if you can find a deal.

I'm running a pretty similar set up with a 7790. 2500k is overclocked to 4.2 ghz. Can overclock the 7790 to get triple digits in skyrim on full settings when testing.

PS: if you don't have much bread just see about snagging a core2 quad if your mobo supports one. You will have to find on ebay because oem prices dont drop much. Do that and your gfx card and you will notice much improvement.

 

[xDarc]

Read the op in future.

Yeah I did. He complained frames drop below 30. 550 ti is biggest problem.

6th from bottom

Spoiler

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Read the op in future.

Yeah I did. He complained frames drop below 30. 550 ti is biggest problem.

6th from bottom

Spoiler

I know my GPU is just hitting "average" standards, but I'm okay with it so far; I will be considering upgrading it in the near future, but the cpu is a more immediate problem for me, as well as the RAM; I can barely multitask whilst playing Assassins Creed Revelations or even during installation.

For now, I'll wait for a good price drop with the gtx 560/580, since buying one now will severely strain my budget.
Also the futuremark results; 50 something fps(1280x1024) is not that bad considering I run most games at 1366x768.

 

[demolisher360]

My computer has almost the same specs as yours except I have the GTX450 but a quad core processor (3.6ghz) and I can run most of these games on high if not max settings at 50-60fps, so I would say that your processor is the biggest problem as most games suggest a quad core one. Also if you're going to upgrade your processor, you will need to get a new power supply and motherboard. Your RAM isn't too bad and isn't expensive to upgrade (you can get 8gb for £30).

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

My computer has almost the same specs as yours except I have the GTX450 but a quad core processor (3.6ghz) and I can run most of these games on high if not max settings at 50-60fps, so I would say that your processor is the biggest problem as most games suggest a quad core one. Also if you're going to upgrade your processor, you will need to get a new power supply and motherboard. Your RAM isn't too bad and isn't expensive to upgrade (you can get 8gb for £30).

Yeah, I know; I recognize that my CPU is the problem and that I will require a new PSU and MOBO in order to achieve my aims.
The RAM is mainly for multitasking; I can't do anything whilst a game is installing on my PC and I want that to change.

Thanks anyway, BTW is your GPU OC'd at all? And what is it's VRAM?

 

[Zipa]

Since you are on a budget OP when the time does come to switch out your mobo and processor I would go the route of AMD, they are in a lot of cases a lot lot cheaper than their Intel counterparts (mobo and processor ) and unless you are doing something really stupidly processor hungry (think graphics rendering ) you will not even notice the difference.

Plus with AMD motherboards you get better future proofing as the processor slots tend to last a lot lot longer than the intel ones. AM3 has been on the go since 2009 and has only recently been superseeded by AM3+ which is for bulldog architecture processors and even they will work on a lot of older AM3 boards with a bios upgrade.

Same deal for graphics card, though I myself am and have always been a nvidia fan it might be worth exploring the ATI radeon route, they tend to be cheaper in most ranges to nvidia with little performance difference if any that you will be able to see.

You could also go down the route of changing just the processor itself, any socket 775 intel processor would work.

It might not be as big of a gain as a new board and processor but it would be a improvement none the less and help with staying under budget.


https://www.google.co.uk/#q=socket+775+processor&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=hrSnT8b8JISg8QPPrMHQBA&ved=0CK8BEK0E&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=e575a38bf3c61575&biw=1920&bih=908

 

[devotedsniper]

If you swap the E5400 for a Q6600 (you can pick these up for £60 used and in perfect working order on ebay) you would have no need to change the motherboard as that CPU still runs any game out there on max, the RAM is fine if i'm honest i was running 3gb instead of my old usual 4GB for several months and was fine with any game. If you up the PSU to something alone the lines of 600-800watt (from a well known brand) and change the GPU for even a 560 you would have a fine Gaming rig.

Hell you could even go for a 460 768mb (1GB version better) and still play most games on high, it's what i'm using at the minute, it is the bottleneck of my system but at the moment i can still get high on pretty much everything so why upgrade.


Oh and as for websites, the two i use for parts is ebuyer and overclockers UK, then theres watercoolinguk and specialtech for all my cooling needs.

 

[demolisher360]

Its not overclocked and it has 1gb of vram and it runs most games fine. The fact that you cant multitask while installing might be to do with your hard drives read/write rate but don't hold me to that, although I would consider an upgrade any way because its surprising how fast you can fill a hard drive (ive filled half a TB in 2 months...)

 

[Cowabungaa]

With that computer I'd hold on a little longer, save up a bit more and buy a completely new rig. That's the best long-term investment you can make, constantly buying upgrade kits isn't a very economical solution.

I mean, you need to replace about 75% of your parts, most of them being the most expensive one. With a few extra months worth of saving you can just replace all of them.

 

[Heronblade]

Generally, once you start talking about replacing the CPU and motherboard, much less all the other components, it becomes both simpler and more economical to simply get a new machine. Build a new system from the ground up rather than trying to make sure everything new you replace will work with the old.

A few tips:

1.) When buying on a budget, AMD CPUs get you more power for your buck than Intel. Intel leads the pack when it comes to top of the line cutting edge tech, but last generation's products are a different story. Primary drawback with AMD is higher heat production, which ties in with #2.
2.) Don't cut yourself short on either the power supply or the cooling system. Go cheap with either one and you can easily lose every cent you put into the machine. In my personal experience, liquid cooling systems are worth every penny, both in terms of effectiveness, and in keeping the noise down.
3.) When considering CPUs, remember that not all programs exploit multiple processor cores efficiently. Try to keep the clock speed of individual CPU cores fairly high. (IE, if deciding between 6*2.0 ghz and 4*3.0 ghz at a similar price, go for the latter)

 

[VladG]

Since you are on a budget OP when the time does come to switch out your mobo and processor I would go the route of AMD, they are in a lot of cases a lot lot cheaper than their Intel counterparts (mobo and processor ) and unless you are doing something really stupidly processor hungry (think graphics rendering ) you will not even notice the difference.

Plus with AMD motherboards you get better future proofing as the processor slots tend to last a lot lot longer than the intel ones. AM3 has been on the go since 2009 and has only recently been superseeded by AM3+ which is for bulldog architecture processors and even they will work on a lot of older AM3 boards with a bios upgrade.

Even better you can still slap the newest AMD processor on 6-7 year old mobos with AM2 sockets (though you will get a performance penalty). AMD is awesome at backward compatibility and so futureproofing.

What you could buy to fit your budget is an Asrock 970 Extreme 3 mobo (Asrock is a brand owned by Asus, they make cheaper mobos with quality components and latest tech by removing all the fairly useless extras from the box) and an AMD Phenom II 960T.

This combo will give you enough power to play anything on max detail as long as your video card can keep up.

I'd say you can stick to your GTX 550 Ti for now, it's not that bad a card and should still give you good FPS in most games at high settings.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Phenom-Processor-Socket-Warranty/dp/B0056D5AMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336402151&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-970-EXTREME3-Extreme3-Motherboard/dp/B005POPRG8/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1336402225&sr=1-1

And you will need some new RAM modules since DDR2 won't work on that mobo. Luckily RAM is very cheap.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-HyperX-1600MHz-Memory-Module/dp/B0037TO5C0/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1336402289&sr=1-3

This whole thing costs under 230 pounds, and I'm sure you might even find the same components slightly cheaper if you look around a bit.

Unfortunately you will almost certainly need a new PSU aswell (though there is a chance your current psu can handle it)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-500W-PSU-COREXSTREAM-CERTIFIED/dp/B007Y68IJI/ref=sr_1_17?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1336402513&sr=1-17 another 40 pounds makes for a good reliable PSU that will cover your needs.

Also if you're lucky you can unlock the AMD 960T to a true hexa-core cpu simply by toggling on a BIOS option.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Snip

If you're looking for a mid range budget system go with an AMD processor. You sacrifice some performance, but you also don't pay for the intel name. I have a Phenom II 965 Black Edition 3.4gHz x4. It works great for me. It's abot $120ish in the US. Might have gone down in price, especially with the release of the Bulldozer line.

As far as a hard drive, I'd wait a bit. Prices are still recovering from pretty much all the HDD factories being flooded.

RAM, you can just keep an eye out for a sale, and grab some more for cheap. I was able to get some at Fry's from a daily deal, me and a friend split 16 gigs for $90, with a $30 rebate. So $30 for 8 gigs of Corsair RAM.

Mobo, just keep an eye out for what features you want and look at prices I guess.

 

[VladG]

With that computer I'd hold on a little longer, save up a bit more and buy a completely new rig. That's the best long-term investment you can make, constantly buying upgrade kits isn't a very economical solution.

I mean, you need to replace about 75% of your parts, most of them being the most expensive one. With a few extra months worth of saving you can just replace all of them.

What's the point? The video card is decent (strongest component there anyway) He can just change the mobo, cpu, ram and psu and it basically IS a new computer. He still uses his old case, monitor, etc but gets the performance boost he needs to play games without problems, and also gets a modern mobo that allows him to keep his system up to date.

 

[zumbledum]

As you are a fellow brit you might like to see

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

theres a special on this week for eg in gaming bundles for 250 includes all your looking for except the psu and monitor
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-085-OE&groupid=43&catid=2053&subcat=

i use these guys for all my pcs , they aren't the cheapest but they are good value, and they are helpful on the phone always been super fast and good quality for me.

novatech and aria are usually a bit cheaper can look there to.

 

[MercurySteam]

I'm running a pretty similar set up with a 7790.

Sorry mate but I'm gonna have to interject here. The HD7790 hasn't even gone into production yet.

 

[xDarc]

I'm running a pretty similar set up with a 7790.

Sorry mate but I'm gonna have to interject here. The HD7790 hasn't even gone into production yet.

7970. Fixed.