Help with upgrading PC Budget increase

[bumbisoft]

Not all members know all about computers. I'm one of them though I know my way around computers. I have an outdated Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS which can play most games on low settings. I have a dated PC otherwise too. What should I do, upgrade graphics card, CPU or RAM. Budget - 5000 Rs/80 Dollars/50 Pounds

Current -

RAM - 1.5 GB
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz
GPU - Nvida GeForce 8400 GS

I want to play modern games on medium settings. I have a tight budget. I can afford 1 upgrade only RAM, CPU or graphics card

 

[shubham466]

Upgrading only one component will not make your pc to handle all latest games, even on low setting.
As you've mentioned.. You've an outdated CPU & graphics card, it can't handle latest graphics. Also You'll need atleast 4 GB of RAM to achieve good performance.
I'd recommend you to upgrade your whole pc by increasing your budget to at least Rs. 10-15k

 

[bumbisoft]

All right. Another stupid question.
I have 1.5 GB of RAM, if I buy 4 GB RAM, will it become in total 4 GB or 5.5 GB?

 

[Samuels]

You currently would be having a stick each of 1 GB RAM and 512 MB RAM. Now, if you buy a new 4 GB RAM, you can have a maximum of 5 GB RAM (4GB+1GB in two slots) unless your motherboard has 3 RAM slots in which case you will be able to install 5.5 GB RAM.

 

[MattW]

I have 1.5 GB of RAM, if I buy 4 GB RAM, will it become in total 4 GB or 5.5 GB?

If you buy 4GB of RAM you will get 3.5GB of RAM because a processor that old couldn't do 64-bit Windows to take advantage of all the RAM. Neither will what I'm about to recommend, but RAM is not your biggest bottleneck and 4GB on a machine that old would just be pointless.

Download, install and run this and take a screenshot of each of the tabs. It will then help identify what specific parts you could upgrade with.

The old CPU suggests you will need the original DDR RAM and an AGP graphics card - which means you probably already have a top of the line machine in terms of direct upgrade paths.

Best case scenario, you have a PCI-E graphics card, and could then just grab a motherboard/cpu/ram combo off ebay (something like this for example), that would probably be the best performance boost. Pay half more again on top and you could add a graphics card like this or this.

The CPU is your biggest bottleneck, and while the example above is still slow compared to a major upgrade, it would be far better than a big upgrade of any one component.

 

[Ohm]

Here too required same help. Maybe the stupid question.

Current system -

RAM - 2 GB
GFX CARD - Intel 4000 HD Graphics
GFX MEMORY - 1360 MB Approximately.

Can't play a modern game like PES 14 due to lack of graphics card. I'm gonna buy new GFX and RAM. What should I do if my budget is 5K rupees (80$)? Don't want to miss DBC 14. So help required. Where and how should I spent my 5K rupees?

 

[MattW]

Current system -

Download, install and run this and take a screenshot of each of the tabs. It will then help identify what specific parts you could upgrade with.

You can't just buy any old RAM or Graphics card, we need the above information.

If you are specifically upgrading for DBC14 I would suggest waiting for them to release system requirements first.

I would broadly suggest throwing everything at a graphics card at that budget - RAM is just not a significant enough bottleneck.

 

[Umair7]

You guys live in India right ?? well i created my own system with 4 gb ram and 1 gb graphics card etc and the total price was around 15K so i would recommend you to wait and save some more money and then buy a better system

 

[MattW]

You guys live in India right ?? well i created my own system with 4 gb ram and 1 gb graphics card etc and the total price was around 15K so i would recommend you to wait and save some more money and then buy a better system

And if you saved up and spent 20k you might have been able to get a 2GB graphics card, 25k and got a faster CPU etc. Spend more money isn't a good answer - you can always spend more money.

The only bit where spend more is a valid point is if you're spending just under a point where you're close to the best part of a pricing curve - where spending a small amount more gets you a significant increase.

 

[Umair7]

20 K and 2 GB Card in Pakistan impossible

 

[MattW]

20 K and 2 GB Card in Pakistan impossible

That's not my point - I'm saying that if someone comes in with a budget to get the best value upgrade they can, telling them to double or triple that isn't answering the question and doesn't help.

 

[Abhas]

You wont be able to just upgrade the CPU. Your motherboard probably wouldn't support the newer generation CPUs and you'll have to replace that as well, and along with that, you'll also have to change your RAM, and still it wouldn't help, because the GPU would still be a bottleneck. By my estimate, this upgrade wouldn't fit your budget.
If you're using DDR ram, it will be more expensive than DDR2 or DDR3, and will not be future proof. If you plan to upgrade your CPU in the future, these will most likely be wasted.
If you're really interested to invest money into your system, I'd say, upgrade the graphics card so that when you decide to fully upgrade your system, you'll be able to retain that.

If you're only concerned about gaming performance, I would suggest that you try and get a console for the money (I have no idea which game supports what console, and how much they cost in the first place, but I'm sure you can get a decent deal on a second hand console if not new in the required budget), and leave the computer as it is. Upgrade it when you're ready to do a major overhaul.

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In a nutshell:
1. Upgrade CPU:
- also upgrade motherboard, RAM, possibly power supply
- expensive proposition
2. Upgrade RAM:
- If using older DDR ram, more expensive than newer sticks. It would fit the budget though
- Not future proof. If you upgrade your system in the future, you'll have to discard the RAMs you're currently using/you'll be adding.
3. Upgrade GPU:
- Future proof, you'll be able to use the GPU if you upgrade your computer later on, so money invested here won't be a total waste (unless it becomes outdated by then)
- Unfortunately, won't be much of a help in terms of performance. Yes, the quality might improve, but the responsiveness won't. CPU's the major bottleneck in your system.
- You might need a better power supply as well, depending on what you currently have.

 

[bumbisoft]

All right, an increase in budget - INR 12000

 

[bumbisoft]

I've found the following things -
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 7770 or Nvidia GTX 650
CPU - Intel Pentium G2120 or 2020
Please get suitable RAM. Is the GPU, CPU and your found RAM compatible with the mother board?
Here is the cpu-z tabs picture-