Advice on PC Gaming

[RayW]

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all had a good couple of days.

 

Over the last year or so I've strayed away from my consoles and been using my PC for the majority of my gaming, thanks to Steam. So, I've decided to upgrade my PC to make it more powerful so that I can play new, high end releases with (hopefully) very little issue.

 

I've penciled into my 'to buy' list two 4GB RAM sticks, giving me 8Gb total, and a GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card (or better). I already have 1.5TB hard drive for storage too. Now, looking through the high end steam games, this should be adequate for what I want it for, but I need some advice concerning my motherboard and processor.

 

The computer I am going to upgrade has a Foxconn motherboard (for the life of me I can't remember what model number) and a Intel Core Duo 2 processor chip. Will these be powerful enough to run games like Skyrim and Arkham Origins? I know the processor chip may be at least 7 years old, so I'm assuming not. If not, what motherboard and processor chip would you recommend? Also, is it fairly straightforward to change a motherboard? Never had to do it before.

 

Ideally I'd rather not buy a whole new PC, as I can get the parts fairly cheaply through eBay (from what I have looked at) and other such markets, also I actually want to do it all myself.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

[mitsukaikira]

More than adequate. I run an old Black edition X2 550 Athlon with an Evga Geforce 460 GTX and Skyrim is awesome turned all the way up with the high def addon.

[RayW]

A friend is actually upgrading from a GTX 670 to a GTX 770 at the end of January, so he is going to sell me the GTX 670, so I've no need to worry about the graphics card now. With 8GB of RAM in the computer, that'll be perfect. So, should I not worry too much about the motherboard then? I have been looking at eBay, and have added these two items to my 'watch list':

• ASUS P7P55D EVO
  
• Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3
  

Both of these are more powerful than my current set up, but I'm still unsure if I should upgrade.

[milamber]

I'd get the Gigabyte motherboard and match it up with a quad core i7 CPU. Just make sure it matches the motherboard socket. Also make sure the RAM is supported by the motherboard. Along with the 670 you should be able to play most games with decent graphics. What power supply do you have?

[Stennick]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just outright buy a used gaming cpu rather than trying to upgrade piece by piece?

[moon_lit_tears]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Stennick" data-cite="Stennick" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Wouldn't it be cheaper to just outright buy a used gaming cpu rather than trying to upgrade piece by piece?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Then you run the risk of having to upgrade the used PC.</p>

[RayW]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="milamber" data-cite="milamber" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'd get the Gigabyte motherboard and match it up with a quad core i7 CPU. Just make sure it matches the motherboard socket. Also make sure the RAM is supported by the motherboard. Along with the 670 you should be able to play most games with decent graphics. What power supply do you have?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Well because the motherboards I am looking at are ATX form factor I'm going to have to buy a new tower, and the one I have looked at comes with a 750W PSU.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Stennick" data-cite="Stennick" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Wouldn't it be cheaper to just outright buy a used gaming cpu rather than trying to upgrade piece by piece?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It may do, but I'd like to build this all myself. I'm a 'stay at home dad' now, and I get pretty bored. This gives me something to do other than watch my nine month old daughter sleeping.</p>

[Stennick]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="moon_lit_tears" data-cite="moon_lit_tears" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Then you run the risk of having to upgrade the used PC.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> He's already making what is essentially a used PC by buying parts that are less than absolute cutting edge. So what is the difference in running the risk of upgrading a used PC or one with the exact same if not even less current parts that you built? </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>It may do, but I'd like to build this all myself. I'm a 'stay at home dad' now, and I get pretty bored. This gives me something to do other than watch my nine month old daughter sleeping.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Now I can understand and appreciate that. However just keep it in your back pocket that you may be able to buy a used gaming pc and then take the money saved and purchase upgrades on THAT pc. </p><p> </p><p> Good luck with both the PC and the baby girl! <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[RayW]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Stennick" data-cite="Stennick" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Now I can understand and appreciate that. However just keep it in your back pocket that you may be able to buy a used gaming pc and then take the money saved and purchase upgrades on THAT pc. <p> </p><p> Good luck with both the PC and the baby girl! <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I never really thought about buying a used PC and then just fitting it with what I'd need on top. I may look into that.</p><p> </p><p> And thanks. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[bigtplaystew]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="RayW" data-cite="RayW" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37341" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I never really thought about buying a used PC and then just fitting it with what I'd need on top. I may look into that.<p> </p><p> And thanks. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> At that rate you're essentially buying a case, and you can probably get a bare case cheaper than a used PC but whatever. If you can get someone dumb enough to sell you a PC with parts you'd keep for cheap enough it might be worth it.</p>

[RayW]

At that rate you're essentially buying a case, and you can probably get a bare case cheaper than a used PC but whatever. If you can get someone dumb enough to sell you a PC with parts you'd keep for cheap enough it might be worth it.

 

What I've actually decided to do is go slow with this project, so I can spread the cost over time. I am goings o buy everything brand new (except the Gtx660 GFX card since I know I'm buying that from a friend and it's only 6 months old). I'm going to buy brand new motherboard, processor, etc everything but spread the cost over several months.

[Blackman]

I have the same gfx card as you, TS, and it still works well as it is atm. I only play Skyrim anyway. I get some CTD's, but that's probably due to my mod setup (even after tuning it for a lot of hours <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> ). The rest of my games are not gfx-dependant, like greydog games and CKII.