I am frustrated with the poor performance of my computer in many games, and would like to upgrade something. I have a feeling that my GT620 is holding me back, but don't really know much about hardware. Here are my specs: Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5500 @ 2.8GHz PNY CS1111 240GB SSD ASUS Nvidia GeForce GT620 2GB 8GB DDR3 SDRAM Is it my graphics hardware holding me back? If so, what should I upgrade to? I have a small form factor case which limits my options in terms of huge graphics cards. Please tell me if I am wrong and it is another component slowing me down. I would prefer to spend as little cash as possible, but can go up to about $80-100. Thanks!
The gpu you have there is very low end sir but the biggest problem of your config is your cpu wich is a 5 years old low end one with only 2 cores. You should really upgrade that cpu before even thinking of upgrading your gpu.
GT 620 - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+620 GT 740 - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+740 GTX 750 Ti - http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+750+Ti Purchase GT 740 - http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce...ie=UTF8&qid=1446592072&sr=8-3&keywords=gt+740 GTX 750 Ti - http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-NVIDIA-...TF8&qid=1446592141&sr=1-9&keywords=gtx+750+ti would strongly recommend getting a 750 Ti since it was designed to be a budget friendly 1080p gaming graphics card, as the X40, X30, X20 series (like the one you have) and the such are low power small form factor cards in general Zotac has cards that are 20 dollars cheaper than other manufactorers which is odd but the cards' I/O are limited however to display port, a yellow display port (?, maybe just a 2nd one in their logo color) and mini hdmi port for the gtx 750 ti and a full hdmi port for the 740 disclaimer: I only recommend Nvidia GPUs because i dont know enough about the Radeon series of cards especially at this price range, which i wouldnt believe youd get that much more performance anyway Edit: Also, being an extremelly valid idea to upgrade your graphics card 5 times over in performance, it is also a valid idea to upgrade the CPU since 2 core CPUs without hyper threading are dead in the water with most applications today alongside the idea of being able to multitask even in the slightest. 2 cores also dont stand up well in demanding games either
You should get a new motherboard + cpu I think. That Pentium in combination with the GPU is bottlenecking. I myself have a Dell Optiplex 990 which is SFF as well. It's equipped with an i5 2400, and a low profile ASUS R7 240 GPU. Not too powerful, but it'll handle basic games. It's connected to my tv (not for serious gaming), so I don't need a massive GPU.
Unfortunately this is clearly a replace rather than upgrade situation. As Magic_Sowap pointed out, your CPU is not going to cut it. For most games it's important to balance budget computers more towards a powerful GPU than CPU. BeamNG is the outlier here: CPU comes first for this game to run smoothly. I know from experience that the game runs smoothly (40-60fps with an appropriate GPU) on as little as an Intel i5-2500. You may be able to get good results with slightly less CPU, but I haven't tried. I doubt that you could go a lot lower and still get great results. The i5-2500 should be almost exactly three times as fast as your current CPU, reference this comparison of similar CPUs. You're severely limited on doing any real CPU upgrades due to the fact that you're on Socket 775 (super-duper-outdated now) - my advice is avoid investing any more money in your current system. I won't pass judgement on SFF, but making that choice severely limits your options - particularly on a budget. Since you've already got an SSD and DDR3 RAM, it might make sense to pickup a used computer. In fact, please consider that Intel's HD 4000 and up integrated graphics are possibly more powerful than your current graphics card! http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2451&cmp[]=2&cmp[]=1429 A used computer with an Ivy Bridge CPU which included HD 4000 would automatically be an improvement over your GT620... If I had to make a move and couldn't throw a lot of cash at the problem right away I'd definitely consider a new CPU/motherboard first. That might settle the matter by itself and looks to be necessary in any case before a GPU upgrade.
You'll need a new CPU to get anything close to decent performance. Also a new board. You can keep RAM and storage drives. $100 is also not going to get you much in terms of GPU power. $150 can get you a 750Ti which is a pretty good entry-level gaming GPU. For CPU and board, you could get a Pentium G3258 and Z97 board, pretty decent gaming setup for about $150. So total $300 for G3258 + Z97 + 750Ti.
Thanks for all the advice guys. I assume that for a CPU + Motherboard upgrade I would also need a new case considering that right now everything is in a Lenovo ThinkCentre M70e SFF case. Maybe I should go for a upgrade to a better Socket 775 processor? http://www.amazon.com/Intel-E8400-3...&ie=UTF8&qid=1446695970&sr=1-3&keywords=Q8400 Would this be a good upgrade? Would it even work with my system? I apologize again for my miserable lack of hardware knowledge.
I don't think that's a good idea. See my post above. The specific CPU you are asking about (C2D E8400) might provide a 20% improvement when what you need is an improvement in the range of 100% to 200% or more. My earlier comparison against the i5-2500 was an improvement of >240%. If you aren't good at percentages, we're talking about 1.0x on your current CPU, 1.2x on your proposed 'upgrade' and 3.4x on what I know to work and think is a reasonable minimum for playing the game smoothly. Note that while I keep comparing against the i5-2500, that CPU is actually several generations old now! The good news (for you, in this case) is that each generation since then has failed to be a big leap, so older CPUs like the i5-2500 are only 10-30% slower than the latest CPUs in most applications. That makes them a sweetspot for budget folks. I'm basing the above comparisons on the multithreaded benchmarks. This may not always be gospel for BeamNG but certainly apply to stuff like the Jump Derby scenario, which crushes many fast setups into <20fps - http://www.beamng.com/threads/industrial-site-jump-derby.16472/ Realistically I think it's safe to assume that your Lenovo ThinkCentre M70e SFF can't donate a PSU to run new equipment either. It won't fit nicely in a bigger chassis, is probably too low wattage, and may have proprietary connectors (or it may not). It's also difficult to estimate exactly what s775 CPUs will and won't cause trouble w/ your Lenovo motherboard/PSU combo - not that it matters because they are all bad by today's standards. That's why I suggested looking at used PCs. Lenovo, Dell, HP workstations with i5-2400 / i5-2500 CPUs are in the low $200 pricerange. A good deal on one with limited RAM/HDD could get you under $200 for sure, probably as low as $180 or so. Note that you'll have to move over your GPU as well with the i5-2500 (which has a weak integrated GPU). That'll require some fudging with the GPU bracket - you can do it with pliers if you are desperate. Also note that HP's offerings in this range such as the Z210 and 8200 Elite have proprietary power supplies. Some might consider this to be an issue, I do not (in this budget scenario). They are good PSUs and already have 1x PCI-E power connector installed for a GPU. If you get a 'big' card later and need a second connector you can use a StarTech SATPCIEXADAP. Take a look at this for example, it's $180 shipped with a better GPU, the i5-2500 CPU, and can take your 8GB of RAM and SSD as well: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z210-Gaming-i5-2500-GTS-450-1GB-Windows-7-4Gb-ram-320-gb-hd-/281846567420
I really have to agree with torsion's proposition! He has the same arguments I was going to use and did even more research than I would have done. The ebay link he provided is a really solid price to performance proposition and I think you should go for it because it is a full size case with a full size power supply, allowing for future upgrades to be easier! Hope you have enough information.
Looks great to me, but don't think I'm gonna make any decisions in the next two hours. If I was to purchase a used PC the main features I am looking for are the i5-2500 and a better GPU? How about swapping my RAM and SSD over? Will it be as easy as pop out the old HDD and RAM and throw mine in or is it going to be a more involved process? Again, thanks for all the advice. EDIT: Could I put my RAM, SSD and GPU in this? Price seems too good to be true. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-OptiPl...562353?hash=item2a5b7d4371:g:khUAAOSwT5tWO51e
RE: your edit - that looks fine (I'm not immediately familiar with what's in the listing), but note that it costs almost exactly the same amount as the listing I linked to - yet lacks the faster GPU. If anything is too good to be true it would be the listing I linked to. Your link appears to be a typical "good deal" on one of these things, so don't feel pressured to buy it right now. There is a constant stream of these. In your shoes I'd concentrate on sellers who are able to picture the item better - this listing contains only generic photos, not even a single photo of an OptiPlex 790 from playitagainpc's own inventory... as an off-lease clearinghouse or whatever they are liable to be confused about tower/slimline/sff/etc and I'd rather see pics. As far as moving the SSD.. no, not that easy. If someone else handled your SSD for you the first time you had it installed you'll be in the same boat here. Just sticking it in there is a bad idea. The RAM is easy, it just clicks into place and will work. You may even be able to utilize both the included 4GB and your additional 8GB for 12GB total. As far as what you're looking for, there are several factors. For starters I try to stick to the "workstation" lines due to the better board-level components that are often utilized (capacitors, resistors, mosfets, etc) which improve lifespan sometimes. That's HP Z-series, Dell Optiplex and Precision, and Lenovo Thinkstation. CPU - while the i5-2500 is a real winner, it's not the final word. As long as we're talking about desktop parts (not laptop parts) everything in the i5 and i7 line is on the table starting with the second generation and moving up. The key here is that the i5-2500 is plentiful in business workstations, so it commands only a very minimal premium over slower chips. For the right price, an i5-2300 could be an acceptable choice. An i5-3570 will typically cost you much more than the i5-2500 but only performs maybe 10% faster. The same thing goes for 4th and 5th generation CPUs - they are slightly faster in each generation, but the used cost goes up by a lot more than the performance! Fullsize chassis - you want a fullsize PC of course. Motherboard with at least one PCI-E 16x slot for the graphics card - typically this will be a given for your fullsize business class desktop. Motherboard has 4x RAM slots - typically this will be a given for your fullsize business class desktop. This helps keep RAM upgrades cheap, but it's really a minor factor. PSU - typically I'd want 300+ watts if I was going to stick with the stock PSU. Contrary to popular belief and even manufacturer's warnings, 300-400W will run most enthusiast PCs, even with a big GPU. In the case of the HP models I mentioned above, you're stuck with the stock PSU - it's proprietary. Since it's a good PSU, that's not a big deal. With the Dell, while it probably does not have a proprietary PSU you may need to upgrade the PSU in the future to support a 'big' graphics card - that's another $30-$100. I'm certainly not guaranteeing that any used PC is going to last you a lifetime. To get you through for a couple of years while absolutely stomping new PCs costing hundreds of dollars more though...
Again I agree with torsion. What he says is logical and true and so forth. If you find something online please do check with anyone who has the knowledge before making your purchase, but so far the links posted are okay to use your RAM and SSD with it. The SSD story is mostly to do with Windows being a b**** about hardware and not wanting to run an existing installation on new different hardware... Try it and you'll either get problems running Windows or just bootloop with Bluescreens... Sometimes it does work for whatever reason, like OEM installs (that whine about CD key when the motherboard gets changed) and other specific images that can be created for the specific purpose of swapping hardware frequently but the normal consumer windows installation does not do that. In short if you still haven't decided, you can go for the link you found and place your RAM in it, you can also put your SSD in it but be sure to make a backup before you do and resinstall your copy of windows on the SSD once using the new hardware!
First of all i would advise purchasing a used intel core 2 quad q6600 and overclocking it to 3ghz but for the graphics card i have found the perfect one. It is the gigabyte low profile nvidia gtx 750 ti and i can guarantee that it works with your pc and it is the best that can work with your setup. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-N...324733&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+750+ti+low+profile As for the cpu, just look for it on ebay and you will find some cheap ones
you will need to get used parts for a small budget, a good used gpu is the EVGA GTX 570 I have one and it does good in benchmarks (Crysis 3 1080p high settings 55 fps check the benchmarks on youtube) your cpu is another story you will need a different board for a better cpu because of the different cpu socket, I have a Intel core I5 750 quite good for it's age I got mine for 40 dollars CAD at a used parts store. (a better budget is required)
Old Nvidia cards tend to get unsupported after a time, but I have no idea after how long. So just take this as a warning.
I cannot recommend you overpay for a used GPU when AMD's R7 370 is only $150. Neither can I recommend upgrading to something so old, unless you can get it nearly free. You can get an H110 motherboard, an i3-6100, and an 8GB kit of DDR4 ram for less than $200. It will run BeamNG fairly well, as well as most other games. (All prices USD. Joke: For CAD, multiply by a couple billion)
that card is 200 dollars CAD and some people have only 100 dollars CAD for a used gpu and I have a 570 and it runs games like crysis 3 at 1080p medium settings 55 FPS there are tons of benchmarks for the GTX 570 on youtube
