Upgrading Garbage PC Worth IT?

[Celer462]

Guys. i have a really lame computer.

my computer plays skyrim on all low's ,

-textures (very high)

640x480 res

with avrg 20 fps and stuttering

 

EMACHINEST5212

processor:

Intel Pentium D 805 / 2.66 GHz

 

GPU:

Geforce 8400 GS pcie

 

ram.

1.5

 

And a BAD power Supply.

 

Will Upgrading to 2 gigs of ram(max memory pc can hold), getting a Geforce GT440

and getting a new powersupply allow me to play skyrim on Medium/high settings with graphics mods on lower resolutions(1024x768)?

[dragonslayer2k12]

Do not upgrade that old computer! Check your local pc store for a refurbished core2duo with 2gigs ram and you could always move your old hard drive to that other computer.

[bben46]

I don't see much there worth salvaging. Emachines were known for using the cheapest components they could get. They were intended for general office use and for people who do nothing but facebook - and for parents to buy for a kid who was asking for a computer.

 

Your #1 bottleneck is going to be the CPU, followed by a 2G max ram. then the video card. My guess is that Power Supply is a 350 watt, as that was about the max for EMachines. I seriously doubt you will be able to upgrade to playing at medium with that CPU.

 

I am not a fan of any of the name brand PCs and much prefer to build my own. But even then you are looking at quite a bit of money for a computer that will play Skyrim just decently and with medium settings. For high settings you can plan on doubling what you spend for one that can handle medium.

[helloguy1232]

Wow.

 

That computer isn't even salvageable, 2GB RAM is nothing.

 

How do you even run it now anyways, I have 4GB RAM with a similar level graphics card and can barely even run it on low/medium settings.

 

Maybe upgrade AND change textures to very low?

Edited August 16, 2012 by helloguy1232

[Celestros]

Look at a new computer. If you are looking for a brand to start your search, look to the ones with quality and longevity. There's a graph floating around on Google if you can find it that shows the 3 and 5 year malfunction rate of the top brands.

 

I personally use a Sager laptop. Since I'm moving frequently don't have a vehicle, the portability was necessary. Sager is the top tier for gaming laptops, along with Asus. The market opens much wider if you want a desktop however, and I can't really provide the same expertise other than to shop brands carefully.

[dragonslayer2k12]

From what I have experienced emachines power supply had no surge protection at all. So when the computer got a surge from the power company or a storm it would kill the cpu, motherboard, hard drive, dvd drive, and even the keyboard and mouse! That company really wanted people to buy more stuff more often. Best thing to do is find a cheap core2duo and pop in a gtx550ti video card. You can get 4gb or even 8gb of ram for just $40 or less depending on where you live in the world. With a setup like that you could run on medium settings but you would have to do a lot of tweaking and checking. At least you could run it that way for a good price and beats greedbox graphics any day.