• Need advice on upgrading my PC
    17 replies, posted
When I bought this PC, I was really computer illiterate, I Still am a little, so bear with me please. I bought this pre-built PC mid 2008, and it's still going, but it doesn't play modern games so well anymore, I can barely run most modern games on medium with 25 FPS now. I was thinking about upgrading it, I've been told I should upgrade my GPU, and or my processor. Heres my specs: Processor: AMD Phenomenon 9850 Quad core processor. 2.5 GHz Graphics cards: 2 Ati HD radeon 3870's. Ram: 4Gig Harddrive: 300 gig. I've got 150$ too spend on this upgrade, so any advice is appreciated. And sorry if this is in the wrong section, I saw similar threads so I thought it as Ok.
Hm, only 25FPS? My old rig was: Dual-Core 2.1Ghz, Radeon 3850HD, 2Gb DDR2 RAM, and 150Gb Hardrive. and i got better FPS then you?
Most older games like fall out 3, mount and blade, and such run fine, most source games, including portal 2 run fine. But games like bad company 2, GTA IV( I know GTAIV runs like shit for everyone), games like those, don't run well. plus, it's about time I upgrade it I think, unless someone has a suggestion that would help optimize my system.
Put the money into a new GPU. You can find some 6850s for around that price. The CPU is still pretty good and you don't really need more memory.
uhh have you installed the right drivers? also dust out your computer [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16848043429&cm_re=compressed_gas-_-48-043-429-_-Product[/url] also what is the power supply, and power setting in control panel
ok, for the power supply, took off the side of the case, it says "input: 100-240v Max: 1000w" It runs the same when my computers dusted off, and my drivers are installed properly, and if anyone else agrees with nr dick, I'll probably buy a new 6850.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;29855688]ok, for the power supply, took off the side of the case, it says "input: 100-240v Max: 1000w" It runs the same when my computers dusted off, and my drivers are installed properly, and if anyone else agrees with nr dick, I'll probably buy a new 6850.[/QUOTE] "Max 1000w" means the power supply will likely explode when it reaches that point. Prebuilts don't typically come with the best power supplies. If you could take a picture of the entire sticker, the "real" wattage will be on there somewhere.
I don't own a camera, so I looked up the model number, and this is it, I'm 99% sure it is: [url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geeks.com%2Fdetails.asp%3FInvtId%3DN1000P-00-R&rct=j&q=Newton%20power%20ltd%20N1000p-00&ei=55fQTd-_MKjc0QGTmqyvDg&usg=AFQjCNFR8BXaZInx8VSfmGwVQAjJrK9oTA&cad=rja[/url]
bump
i'm assuming that you have an alienware from that psu, are alienware pcs even upgradeable? it wouldn't suprise me if they have a really stupid case design that's too small for a new card since that's basically dell's signature for cases
[QUOTE=Cheesemonkey;29879956]i'm assuming that you have an alienware from that psu, are alienware pcs even upgradeable? it wouldn't suprise me if they have a really stupid case design that's too small for a new card since that's basically dell's signature for cases[/QUOTE] not quite sure, it looks like there would be enough room for a new card, but I've never installed or replaced new parts in a PC, so what do I know. could I take out all the parts I have and put them in a new case if they aren't replaceable? and yah, I'm disapointed in myself for buying an alienware, at the time I didn't know how much of a scam it was, but the PC runs, and it's lasted me 3 years now, so I'm no complaining. but I would like too upgrade it so I can run some of the higher end games coming out this year.
dell had an affinity for using proprietery motherboard layouts that are only different enough to not fit in a standard atx case. but since alienware is gaming i wouldn't think that they would use special motherboards. take a picture of the case's insides and it'll be obvious if you need to do anything
[img]http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo141/umx48/Insidecase.jpg?t=1305648991[/img] old camera phone quality, sorry if it's bad.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;29887612][img_thumb]http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo141/umx48/Insidecase.jpg?t=1305648991[/img_thumb] old camera phone quality, sorry if it's bad.[/QUOTE] whats with the pig picture mostly white? also yes the a standard ATX motherboard and that should be plenty of room for even the biggest of cards.
for some reason it didn't crop properly, but I guess I'll just get a new graphics card instead of a new processor, think there will be enough from for a 6870? and if I buy just one new ATI card, will it also work with the other 3870? or would I have to take both of them out?
You would probably have to take the 3870 out. Most new cards at your price range should kick the pants off those two 3870s.
It would work with it but the only real reason for it is to use more than 2 monitors and without crossfire you're not going to be playing on more than one, so its not really worth having the 2nd one in there anymore.
Ok, thanks guys!
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