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Computer noob, need help!.
Hey guys im not exactly what you would call 'tech savy' , I have a custom built pc which i have had since about 2007 i think, i am noticing that new mmo's and fps games are becoming a bit to much to handle for the standard i would like to play at!.
I am in college and haven't really got the budget to go blowing thousands of pounds on a new rig so i was thinking of just upgrading it.
This is what i was thinking of getting:
Hard Drive
RAM:
Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5C 4GB 800MHz C5 DDR2 Memory Kit
Video card :
I dont know weather to change my cpu, need a bit of advice weather to or not , the one i am currently using is :
AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core processor 5200+ 2.61 GHZ
If i am going to update this, i will update it to :
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor
Now i need your advice on weather i will need a new motherboard for this hardware because as i said, i just play the computers in all honesty i dont really know what goes on inside haha.
The current motherboard i have is :
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M2N-E SLI 1.XX
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS M2N-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 0701 03/02/2007
I just copied that from belarc , not sure what info you need.
I would greatly appreciate your advice, im sorry if i havent listed any information you need but if i haven't just say and ill post it asap!, cheers in advance guys 
Soul.
Comments
EDIT: Scratch that, pretty sure AM3 works in AM2 sockets.
Also are you from UK? If you are I'd recommend using Overclockers.co.uk. Amazing site for components with great prices and forums with very helpful people.
You got any idea how much you'd be willing to pay for an upgrade?
Non-computer advice: whether not weather.
Computer advice:
The hard drive will have little effect on performance but more space is always handy.
The CPU you want to buy is not compatible with the motherboard's CPU socket/connection. You will need to replace the MB as well.
The video card will likely use much more power than your current one. That would mean the power supply will also need replacing.
You're now talking about replacing the power supply, the motherboard. the CPU, the hard drive, the video card, and adding RAM memory.
You might as well build a new system.
Your issue will be the motherboard - you need a new one. Your PC is 4 years old. Time for a whole new one. You don't need to blow thousands of pounds to get one either. In the USA you can get an upgradeable gaming PC for way under $1000US so figure add a bit for the horrid exchange rate and VAT and you should be able to get a gaming rig over there for still under 1000GBP.
Ahem.. I might be missing something but i believe that is a new computer?
Bah thought that would be the case, im only looking to spend around £400 , i thought it would work out cheaper if i bought the parts instead of a whole new rig, any advice on what i could change and what to ,if i just wanted to upgrade to have a medium range gaming pc within my budget.
Thanks for the quick replies btw guys!
Wrong OP - you need a new motherboard, something you didn't list. I'm going to put it simply. Your current motherboard & PSU will not handle any upgrades. You simply do not upgrade a 4 year old PC. You said you're a noob now take our advice please. Someone link an "Ibuypower" or "Newegg" equivalent to the UK.
Thank you for the advice guys, i shall just put the money aside and just save then, tittybojangles.
A new computer would also include the operating system and a removable media drive. With a 4 year old system he probably also only has a 32 bit version of an OS. Adding more than 4 GB of RAM means he will need to upgrade to a 64 bit OS, i.e. a new system.
Also since the OP knows he isn't technically savvy that usually means he bought a manufactured system that more than likely has the operating system in a recovery partition on the hard drive instead of a CD/DVD. Adding a hard drive is easy. Replacing a hard drive in a manufactured system will mean he has to have enough know-how to transfer that recovery partition to the new hard drive.
It won't be as simple as you seem to think, which is what the others here have attempted to explain.
There is no easy solution for your problem. The only realistic solution is to build a new PC. Even if you managed to upgrade a few specific components on your old system, you will be plagued by bottlenecking issues and a loss of performance as a result. Eventually leading you to just build a new system anyway.
You basically have two options:
(1) Build a new system.
or
(2) Continue to use your current system.
You will not be able to upgrade a nearly 5 year old system to any real extent, and you absolutely will not get anywhere near a medium range system in terms of performance if you try. I seriously suggest scrapping the entire idea and considering a full rebuild when you have the cash and time available.
It would be useful to know what else you have in your system. One way to show your system specs is to post your DxDiag file here. Also find out what case and power supply you have, and post those here.
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2/M2NE/#CPUS
Asus says that your motherboard can take that processor, but you'll have to make some changes to make it work. 125 W would be pushing it on that motherboard, though, and you might want to try a cheaper, lower power processor like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886
Don't get that video card, as it's rather overpriced for what you get. You can readily get the same level of performance for much cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102941
That comes with two free games, too.
Still, what your options are will depend on what case you have and what power supply. Whether they're sensible options depends on what you're upgrading from. Upgrading from a GeForce 8400 GS will net you a much bigger performance jump than upgrading from a GeForce 8800 GTX.
Hmm i might just use this then to build myself a new rig, what you guys think?
Motherboard
ASUS M4A88TD-M USB3 AMD 880G Motherboard
($110)
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor
($120)
RAM
Corsair 4GB DDR3 RAM
($18)
Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
($120)
Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 1TB
($55)
DVD Burner
ASUS DRW-24B1ST DVD Burner
($21)
Case
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Mid Tower Case
($37)
Power Supply
Cooler Master GX Series 650W
($90)
TOTAL COST: $623 (USD) = 383.389 GBP
Also Windows 7 home edition 64 bit.
1) If you're paying $100+ for a motherboard, try a Socket AM3+ one. That way, if you're in the same situation a few years from now of wanting to upgrade your processor, you'll have more viable options.
2) You need two memory modules for a two channel memory controller. If you only have one, then it will kind of work, but leaving a memory channel vacant will cut memory bandwidth by half and cripple the processor.
3) The video card is still very overpriced for what you get. If you want to buy from Tiger Direct, then try either of these:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=602046&CatId=7005
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=726760&CatId=7005
4) If you can't afford a good SSD, then a WD Caviar Black is at least less slow than most other hard drives:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7288041&CatId=2459
5) You'll probably want more than one case fan if you're trying to build a gaming system, especially with an internal exhaust video card.
6) The power supply is a piece of junk. Since you seem to like rebates, you can get something vastly better for considerably cheaper:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=125450&CatId=5432
Thanks for the help mate, will take it all in when purchasing the parts
so it's a safe bet you are looking for sources in the UK?
anyway. the best way to start the question is to find out what your existing rig is. try to post the components of your existing machine then we can help you with what you need
I like small PCs so I'll recomend a Shuttle XPC, you could always go for a mini-ITX like Silverstone SUGO series or Lian-Li but with Shuttle it's alot less hassle, all the cables and PSU come pre-fitted and with CPU cooler, it's quite a nice little machine, only Intel ones atm that's worth mentioning. These small PCs got all the power most people need, the only thing they lack is expandability like SLI or Crossfire, but I've never had a need for that myself.
Prices are from Newegg but something similar should be at your favorite UK site:
Barebone case:
Shuttle SH67H3 Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 (LGA1155) Intel Socket H2(LGA1155) Intel H67
HIS H677F1GD Radeon HD 6770 1GB
Patriot Signature 4GB 240-Pin DDR3
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
Total at $639.96
I'd recomend 2 of the RAM modules, it support up to 16GB, a single slot graphics card is also possible if you don't need dual slot power, then you can have something else in the free PCIe slot.
You can take the disk and DVD drive from the old PC tough I'd highly recomend an SSD, the Vertex 2 120 is quite ok for OS drive, it will make your PC appear alot snappier and faster. It's got room for 2 disks and 1 DVD drive. Also get the SH67H7 version if you can, looks alot better than the H3 IMO but Newegg didn't have it in stock.
That's the wrong way to go entirely. Shuttle says that the case can't handle more than 95 W for a processor. What happens when you put 95 W for a processor and 108 W for a video card both in the case at once with next to no airflow? Things overheat, and that's bad.
But that's if you even can put the video card in. It's likely that it won't physically fit. Even if it does, the power supply likely won't be able to handle it. The power supply might be a piece of junk to begin with, and 300 W power supplies usually don't come with the PCI-E power connector(s) that you'll need to power a gaming video card. It's also a custom form factor, so that you won't be able to replace it by something else that will work.
The case might be perfectly good for what it's designed for. The problem is that it's designed for using Intel integrated graphics and not a discrete video card. That's useless for gaming purposes, and would likely be a hefty downgrade from what the original poster has now.
If you want a gaming system in a small form factor, then try SIlverstone's SG07. There are compromises made there to fit the form factor, too, however, so you'll end up paying more for a system not as nice as what you could get in a more typical mid tower case, in exchange for the smaller form factor.
SSDs are nice, but they just don't fit the budget, unless you're willing to give up something else, such as a video card that can run games.
The 95W TDP CPU just needs to be the same or lower amount as supported by the motherboard, so not a problem with that, the airflow is good despite it's size.
I'm pretty sure the PSU can handle it, I've run Shuttle XPCs before and the PSUs are usually of high quality wich can handle more than your random 300W PSU. Shuttle states "The PCIe-x16 slot of the SH67H3 also accommodates large dual-slot graphics cards" Shuttle even sell them themselves with HD6870, so it does have space and the extra power plugg, which also shows in the pictures. Further there are much feedback on Newegg where many people give their successfull builds with various high end cards.
Further proof of concept here
So in conclusion it's perfectly viable as gaming machine. My last Shuttle lasted for years, even endured several shipments though the postal service. The OP stated that he doesn't know much about the hardware so a Shuttle brings minimal assembly compared to the other ITX cases, the SUGO cases are difficult to shoe horn.
eh NVM
"The 95W TDP CPU just needs to be the same or lower amount as supported by the motherboard,"
My mistake. You're probably right about that.
"the airflow is good despite it's size."
Color me skeptical. You don't get airflow without fans. I see a power supply fan, a processor fan, and that's it. A high power, internal exhaust video card is not going to end well. An external exhaust card wouldn't work, either, as the intake fan for the video card would be obstructed by the case.
"I've run Shuttle XPCs before and the PSUs are usually of high quality wich can handle more than your random 300W PSU."
What you suggest would be more wattage than I'd be comfortable in drawing from even a 300 W power supply that is known to be high quality. If the Shuttle power supply is so good, then where are the independent reviews of it? Companies that sell good quality power supplies send them to independent review sites to test them out and verify that they're good.
"Shuttle even sell them themselves with HD6870"
First, your link there doesn't work.
Furthermore, 95 W processor and 151 W video card from a 300 W power supply is not safe. Two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors on a 300 W power supply is unheard of; none of the ones on New Egg even have one. It's a pretty safe bet that what Shuttle isn't using a 300 W power supply if they're shipping a Radeon HD 6870 with it.
"Further there are much feedback on Newegg where many people give their successfull builds with various high end cards."
A computer search finds exactly two New Egg reviews that mention either GeForce or Radeon at all. One of those two explicitly said that he had to replace the power supply.
"Further proof of concept here"
I didn't see any power supply testing on that review. "We messed with it for a day and it didn't explode" isn't the same thing properly testing a power supply to see if it's any good.
Compare that to the Silverstone SG07:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163169
That has the video card heat basically on its own separate air circuit. You get an external exhaust video card, it draws air directly from outside of the case, blows the air through the card, and expels the air right back out of the case.
It also has a huge 180 mm case fan. With little heat leaking from the video card, that one case fan offers a lot more airflow to do a lot less work than the fans in the Shuttle case.
It also has a 600 W power supply, which is appropriate to a gaming system. It's from a reputable power supply vendor. And they even sent that exact model to a reputable review site to put it through the paces and see how it worked.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/SilverStone-Sugo-SG07-Review/1064
But this is all missing the point. There's no sense in going for a small form factor case unless you explicitly need a small form factor. Most people don't.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163182
thats about as small as you want to go for a gaming box. anything smaller, you are just asking for a much reduced operating life of the machine. power supplies arent ideal, airflow is not ideal, in fact, nothing is ideal when you go smaller then that.