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Old pc upgrade for niece question.
I have a I3 530 desktop with a fairly unused new psu and hd7770. Would it be worth putting an i7 860 and an evo 212 in for $100 for my niece to use. I tlaskwd about doing this a year or two ago and never did. But woyld it be worth it now? Think they could even lightly game on that also? They are most certainly cash strapped. They arent buying anything new and ill fork out for the cpu off of ebay. I assume an evo 212 will work on that socket. Lga1156 i think it is.
Comments
Edit. Sorry just wanted to say thank you.
If it's web browsing, social media, and homework, it's already plenty powerful enough.
I think, I would give the computer as-is, and then see what needs to be upgraded based on how they are using it. It doesn't do anyone any good, upgraded or not, just sitting on a shelf.
That I3 530 really is crappy. No hyper threading or anything. I think the later gen I3's are way better. Not even comparable to this I3? If they don't even want it I might set it up as a another station for someone to use. Here. I mean if it had a better GPU with that I7 860. It would be pretty dang decent even for modern games no?
Maybe it's a stupid idea. I've been pretty doped up since wed after surgery. I just know that 530 was painfully slow. If gains were good from it to that I7 and that I7 might be comparable to my I5 4670k. I'd be pretty happy about that upgrade for $100. CPU and cooler. Maybe it is a waste of money. I dunno.
Are you sure that I3 530 doesn't have hyperthreading. I think it has: http://ark.intel.com/products/46472/Intel-Core-i3-530-Processor-4M-Cache-2_93-GHz
Side note. My dam muscles are sore as shit from that muscle relaxer they give when they put you under. Just lifting my legs. My calves cramp up. Extremely painfull. Been under before but never felt this.
Because the Clarksdale Core i3 (what you have now) is actually newer than the Lynnfield Core i7 (what you're considering upgrading to), and they use the same processor socket, it's extremely unlikely that a motherboard that accepts the former won't work with the latter.
The HD 7700 was a fine card once but it is a worse stinker then the I3 CPU today. Sadly do a good GPU cost more then a $100 (you have to pay twice that too get something acceptabler) so my advice is to check around with people you know, it is not that unlikely that someone recently upgraded and have a better GFX card lying around. A CPU is rarer, people update their GFX card pretty often but when they change CPU they usually get a new computer altogether. Still, even one of the better $100 cards will perform better then a 7700.
Now, if she mainly is using it for social medias and such, then keep both the CPU and GFX card and get a SSD instead. They are cheap and boost that kind of performance far more for the price, even a pretty old computer feels fast when you boot and surf if it have an SSD.
I don't know that $100 will get you a GPU that is that much faster than a 7770 though. The $100 new card today is the R7 360 (rebadged 260 which was a respin of the 7790, which wasn't that much faster than a 7770), or a 750Ti (the first Maxwell release). Yes, they are faster cards, but I don't think it's the typical "twice as fast" metric for upgrading.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1130?vs=1079
You may be able to do better used though for a GPU.
My veterans affairs officer sat with me and we rebuilt my claim paperwork for an hour. Most never spend more than 15 minutes with me. So amazing. VA hospital rebuilt the mechanics in my ear last wed 6th. They actually gave me enough narcos and strong enough for the pain. Usually very stingy with pain meds since crack down on perscription drug abuse. Got new tools to put in a tool box in my jeep. In crase of break down while trailing or crawling. NICE TOOL SET! Va is gonna do some other stuff for me that i didnt expect them to do which will be life changing. For the better.
Hope everyone who gave input has had a week as amazing as mine. Not had one like this in a long time. Shit just went right this week.
Thank you everyone for the input. Saved me from blowing $100.