WHAT SHOULD I UPGRADE? - Hardware & Software

So I just recently bought Gmod for Steam and I cant really enjoy it with the setup I have now. I will provide my specs but before I do, the main thing to keep in consideration here is the lack of money I have, so please make sure to keep any suggestions cheap yet better than what I have. SYSTEM INFO- Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Processor: AMD E-300 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (2 CPUs), ~1.3GHz Memory: 3072MB RAM Available OS Memory: 2662MB RAM DirectX Version: DirectX 11 DISPLAY DEVICES- Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics Display Memory: 1452 MB Dedicated Memory: 376 MB Shared Memory: 1075 MB If I am missing anything important go ahead and let me know and I will add it. Thank you!

Is this a laptop?

[QUOTE=wingless;38836373]Is this a laptop?[/QUOTE] An E-300 APU? Count on it.

Is it a laptop? If so, there's nothing to upgrade. If it's a desktop, the answer isn't any better. The CPU is slow and the GPU is pretty bad too, though I assume you know this. There isn't really any single thing you can upgrade because everything is holding you back, except for maybe the RAM.

its a desktop. I'm willing to do what I have to make this pc better.

Well, the APU is soldered onto the motherboard, and you pretty much have to change the CPU, so you need to buy a new motherboard, a new CPU, and a new GPU. Oh and since the PSU was picked for the old parts, it's basically going to explode with those parts, so you need a new power supply too. So, you basically need to build a new computer. Go ahead and punch the fucking idiot that bought that PC. APUs belong in notebooks, not desktops.

Unless it's a very small computer, that is. In that case it would actually make it just as un-upgradable as a laptop.

[QUOTE=nikomo;38838103] APUs belong in notebooks, not desktops.[/QUOTE] They're perfectly usable for media and office PCs, and the desktop ones are even good for some lightweight gaming. This particular model is a laptop part though, so I'm not sure what it's doing in a desktop.

you could overclock the cpu. iv seen people with the e-300 at 2+ ghz [editline]18th December 2012[/editline] and a ssd

Does your PC use an AMD socket on your motherboard? You can get an AMD A8-3850 and get decent gaming performance out of it alone. EDIT: Then again your CPU might be permanently soldered.

[QUOTE=butered_toast;38876780]you could overclock the cpu. iv seen people with the e-300 at 2+ ghz [editline]18th December 2012[/editline] and a ssd[/QUOTE] I've got an A6-3400m overclocked in my laptop by a whole GHz. Negligible increase in temperature, night and day difference in speed.

On the subject of soldered APU's and such, do they use the same pin arrangement as socketed chips, meaning you could just unsolder it and replace it with something else? I'm kind of tired atm so this could be massive content.

[QUOTE=Chubbs;38879277]On the subject of soldered APU's and such, do they use the same pin arrangement as socketed chips, meaning you could just unsolder it and replace it with something else? I'm kind of tired atm so this could be massive content.[/QUOTE] The Bobcat APU uses a BGA package with 413 pins. If you can source an E-450, you could theoretically desolder the E-300 APU and resolder the E-450. Though without the required tools (BGA rework station, specific solder mask for the CPU and other solder equipment) it's extremely difficult to pull off without the chance of bricking the entire machine. You can desolder/solder BGA chips with a heat gun, but it's a very delicate process and requires lots of time and skill to pull off. The difference between the E-300 and E-450 isn't really worth the risk and expense. The E-450 is only 350 MHz faster per core and 8 MHz faster on the IGP, with turbo boost support up to 600 MHz. It also has support for DDR3-1333 instead of the E-300s DDR3-1066, but the bandwidth improvement isn't going to benefit anything other than the IGP.