PC Upgrade

[iLikeToTestStuff]

So my PC is a few years old and i wanted to get into PC gaming, here is my specs.

 

AMD E1-2500 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 1.40 GHz

 

4Gb of RAM

 

64 Bit OS

 

Should i replace some parts or just buy new parts and build one myself? Thanks. :blush:

 

 

[Boombro]

You will need just 4 ram to be safe, but you will need new:

GPU, CPU, cooler, HDD or SDD, psu and a good case.

[LeddBate]

Yeah, Boombro is right. I'm afraid that (what little we know of) your current rig is a bit substandard for running today's games at even medium graphics detail.

 

Typically, you will see people "buy new / upgrade" in tick-tock cycles. That is, you buy (or assemble) a new rig. Then, two or three years down the road, you get a more powerful GPU, perhaps up the RAM amount and maybe even get a bigger and/or faster HDD (Whoops! Guess I just showed my age there. Everyone "knows" these days that an SSD is the way to go. HDDs are simply for bulk storage.) Then, two or three years later you get a new rig. (And, presumably, hand your old computer over to Aunt peg who is worried that she is going to blow up her current computer by playing too much Minesweeper.)

 

In the previous decade, I encouraged people to study up on putting together a rig and then order the parts from the various online retailers (Newegg, Tigerdirect, etc.) But nowadays I recommend that you buy a rig from one of the big-box stores (Best Buy, Tigerdirect, etc.) that is equipped closest to what you want and then see if you can swap in a few changes at their service desk (i.e. better GPU, more RAM, etc.) The reason why I advise going this route is that instead of individual warranties on each part, you get a basic service agreement on the whole rig (usually including the parts that you upgraded at the store) so that you can just bring in the whole rig to their service desk when something gets bollixed.

 

On a more specifically helpful note, here are the minimum recommended specs you should look for in a rig to run today's games at medium graphic settings or better and with a FPS of at least 45. (Note: I list the components below as if I were building a rig from separate parts, but this is simply to give you an idea of what to look for when you examine rigs at the various computer stores.)

 

MOBO: Should have USB 3. support as this has now become industry standard. It should have at least two lanes for video cards available in case you ever want to get a 2nd GPU as your "tick" upgrade. Whether you go AMD or Intel is up to you. Intel will (generally) offer you better performance (at a higher price, of course) while AMD's platforms can offer you some great "bang-for-your-buck" prices. Remember that choosing your motherboard locks you into whether you are going to use an AMD or Intel processor but NOT (usually) which video card(s) you want to use.

 

CPU: These days, 3.6GHz is the minimum you should get. 3.4GHz is (somewhat) acceptable, but expect your CPU to become your bottleneck. If you want to play it safe, consider replacing the default CPU air-cooler with a closed-loop water cooler -especially if you ever want to consider / risk overclocking.

 

RAM: 8GB is the standard these days. Lots of people (both users and the industry) argue a lot about how much a difference "faster" RAM makes, but some testing by the Maximum PC magazine techs surprisingly indicated that this is a much smaller factor than the AMOUNT of RAM you have. You can get by with 4GB, but expect THAT to become your data bottleneck in the very near future.

 

GPU: 4GB of GDDR5 memory buffer is now the recommended minimum. My current video card (Nvidia GTX 670) has only a 2GB buffer and I can tell you that I am starting to experience issues with running out of memory with newer games (and all the mods I love to slap on them.)

 

SSD: Solid state drive prices have now fallen to the point that they are a MUCH better choice than an the old hard drive tech. But, since many of us require bulk storage, I recommend getting a SSD in the 750GB range then getting a 2 or 3TB HDD for bulk storage. Put your OS, important programs and games on the SDD and store all your bulk files on the HDD.

 

Optical Drive: Unless you want to burn YouTube or personal videos to disc (so Aunt Peg can watch them on her old DVD player) -an optical drive really isn't needed these days. However, if you have a huge DVD collection that you would like to watch on your PC from time-to-time, then go ahead and get a nice CD/DVD/Blu-ray combo player/burner. Even the most elaborate ones won't run you much over $30. Seriously, you can almost get them free in a box of cereal.

 

PSU: Perhaps the most overlooked component in a PC build. Power supplies are very important if you want a stable rig. A bad PSU can cause you CTDs if the voltage is unstable. I once had a cheap one actually burnout on me (with a scary "POP" sound.) Luckily, it didn't send a surge through my components when it did, but it could have. Get yourself a PSU that is rated "80+" or better. Preferably with a "bronze" rating or better. Interestingly, one easy way to tell if a PSU is of quality build is to pick it up. A good PSU will be rather hefty while a cheap one will be light in weight. As to what wattage to get, simply look up what the components in your new (future) rig require, add them together and add on a good 200 watts minimum for operating head-room. Generally speaking, assuming average components (as described above) with your GPU being in the range of 150 to 200 watts or so (at peak power usage), I would recommend a minimum of a 550 watt PSU. 750 watts would be better if you're thinking of adding a 2nd GPU sometime later. Anything over 850 watts is overkill unless you're custom building a top-of-the-line rig. Note: Most PSUs have a "single" rail (that provides the voltage) as opposed to ones with multiple rails. There are no real world differences in which you use (unless you're custom building a very complicated rig) so just stick with the single rail models.

 

Extras:

1) Back in the old days (good grief, do I sound old or what?) I recommended getting a case that had a HDD "dock" built into the top of it. You could simply click a spare HDD into the dock and do a back-up of your data, then set the drive in a safe location for use if your rig ever went belly-up. Between cloud storage and VERY fast (and very spacious) USB sticks, this is no longer really needed. Instead, get a cloud account set up and do regular back-ups with both that and USB memory sticks.

 

2) Install extra fans in your case (unless you already have a plethora of them) as heat is a major enemy of your components. Removable dust shields in front of the fans are a major plus. On a related note: get a can of compressed air and periodically blow out the dust from the inside of your rig. Dust, pet hairs, etc. are the number one killer of PC components.

 

3) Secure your WiFi! If you have a WiFi modem connection (and use WiFi through your house) turn on the password and encryption. Otherwise, nearby homes might piggy-back on your WiFi. Do you really want to pay for your neighbors internet? Also, unencrypted WiFi is a security risk.

 

TL,DR: Go to big box store and grab a PC that is close in performance to what you want/need. Make sure that your primary drive is a SSD. Ask about component upgrades (more RAM, better GPU) and whether they will be covered by the rig's warranty if you buy / install them there at their store. Get a cloud account and back-up regularly. Secure your WiFi.

 

Hope this helps you.

Edited September 10, 2015 by LeddBate

[Griede]

just thought id post my rig here for reference sake, to give you another rig to compare to, though it is indeed substandard in some aspect by Leddbate's purposed specs, he is pretty accurate btw.

 

http://pastebin.com/YUNGE4F1

 

ive only had issues so far out or shadows of mordor, its very heavy on Vram, i can play the game now, but not on ultra, it wont even play cut-scenes above medium setting lol

 

the URLs are all to newegg.com which is a decent place to build custom or order addon/ replacement parts. as an added bonus newegg also does videos on alot of their products. people who are very computer hardware literate my find those videos to be very basic, but for the 'justaboveenduser-consumerknownothingaverageguy' they can be very useful in the fact that you actually get to SEE a product before you buy it. i have ordered from tigerdirect aswell in the past, but newegg is generally my main source.