Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Pretty straight-forwards. My current computer is a bit long in the tooth. I want to upgrade it starting with its motherboard. Currently I have a factory-made Dell Inspiron 620 with a processor that's a i5-2320. If that doesn't help I can provide more info upon request. In a nutshell, I'm looking for a good motherboard that can last me at least another 5 or so years and can function well for playing games that, HOPEFULLY, will cost less than 400 bucks. As for my graphics card I have a Nvidia 520. I'm fairly certain it will need an upgrade at some point, but that's gonna take some time to get the cash, but for now a good graphics card suggestion would be much appreciated. I simply have no idea what to look for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaia Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) I was about to say you can't really upgrade your motherboard without upgrading your CPU but remembered that the i5-2320 is LGA 1155. If you're looking for a good budget motherboard that will cover most of your needs (which honestly, is really easy to hit as I do not believe that you're going to be running SLI or anything?), you can find a great number of them (just make sure it has an LGA 1155 socket), but I'd recommend the Asrock Z77 Extreme 4. If you're looking for a decent GPU, the EVGA 760 SC is one that's lasted me for a good while that's well worth the price and it'll only run you about $220. You could opt for a 660 ti but I'm not even sure if those are in production anymore. Edited November 15, 2014 by Gaia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 What is LGA? And I'm kind of hoping for something that can run Skyrim on some pretty decent settings as well as last for some time. How long do you think those motherboards will last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naughx Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) What is LGA? CPU socket. If it doesn't match your CPU it won't fit in your motherboard. Edited November 15, 2014 by Naughx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Oh. Important question. Since my machine uses Windows 7 will I need to buy a whole new copy or something? Or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celice Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 If you're looking for a decent GPU, the EVGA 760 SC is one that's lasted me for a good while that's well worth the price and it'll only run you about $220. at that price point, one may want to consider buying AMD for better price:performance ratio. Their prices are dropping pretty low. a R9 290 is $250 after rebate right now, and there are many comparable and lower prices, too. http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales I also have an ASRock Z77 thing, works fine. Without increasing voltage and with an aftermarket air cooler, I got 4.2GHz stable on my i5-3570K, which was nice. Can go higher with voltage tweaking. You definitely don't need that mobo though if you want some basic gaming going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaia Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) at that price point, one may want to consider buying AMD for better price:performance ratio. Their prices are dropping pretty low. a R9 290 is $250 after rebate right now, and there are many comparable and lower prices, too. oh shit really? God I need to start paying more attention to the current prices. As for the Z77, yeah it's definitely not necessary, but I still think it's nice to have the extra room to overclock, thrown in some more PCI cards, etc. Edited November 15, 2014 by Gaia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Just make sure you get something with the correct sockets. The last thing you want is to find you can't actually put stuff together. Still, if it's been a while, you might want to consider doing a total upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 How much might a total upgrade cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) HI I DO COMPUTERS there is basically no point to upgrading just the motherboard in a computer unless your mobo completely shits the bed and you need a new one to even run. you'll not see a performance increase in pretty much anything you do aside from maybe boot-up time. a rough recommendation, knowing nothing, is to get a motherboard+cpu upgrade (potentially with ram, depends on the slot types) first and then upgrade the video card after. soooo it would be nice to see the first two pages of your dxdiag to get an idea of the full componentry you're working with and also for you to elaborate on what "running games" means - do you mean running the new total war at 60 FPS like butter or do you just mean keeping up fairly well with the times? if you mean the latter i might be able to slide you into something for ~$400 (pending on two things) but the former's a lot of cash. feel free to throw me on skype if you use it (monsterike) if you want faster responses EDIT: worth mentioning is that i had a motherboard in my computer for roughly eight years, replaced every other component in that thing and the mobo still held true. i still have it mounted in my bot machine, where it continues to run solidly. motherboards are pretty hardy pieces of kit. Edited November 15, 2014 by Integrity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Basically I'm looking to be able to play Skyrim, maybe not at 'max' settings, but at something better than low/minimum that's also gonna last me a few more years. ATM I basically have to run Civ BE at minimum settings to keep problems from arising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 excellent i like your specificity in such a case provide me with the first two pages of your dxdiag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 What is my dxdiag and how do I access it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 go to start -> run or start -> all programs -> accessories -> run or hold windows and hit R type dxdiag into that box, let it do its thing. first page is system, second is display it's a pretty good readout of the relevant specs/models in your computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excellen Browning Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) I fully agree with Integ. But also something that needs knowing is what format motherboards tour PC case can support. (if you want to keep the case, that is) It just won't do to buy an ATX board only to find out it doesn't fit. EDIT: considering you want to build one yourself I recommend getting a case anyway. Edited November 15, 2014 by Gyarados Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) if he supplies the dxdiag it'll have the mobo part number, and the mobo part number will let us know both what socket type and what form factor it is :P EDIT: i guess we know the socket type already though Edited November 15, 2014 by Integrity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Page 1 Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) System Manufacturer: Dell Inc. System Model: Inspiron 620 BIOS: BIOS Date: 01/27/11 10:59:30 Ver 04.06.04 Processor: Intel® Core i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz Memory: 6144MB RAM Page file: 2150MB used, 10100MB avalible DirectX Version: DirectX 11 Page 2 Device Name: NIVIDIA GeForce GT 520 Manufacturer: NVIDIA Chip Type: GeForce GT 520 (Ranch Flavored) DAC Type: Intergrated RAMDAC Approx. Total Memory 4046 MB Current Display Mode: 1024 X 768 (32 bit) (60Hz) Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor Drivers: Main Driver: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2 Version: 9.18.13.4448 Date: 10/16/2014 11:54:03 AM WHQL Logo'd: Yes DDI Version: 11 Driver Model: WDDM 1.1 DirectX Features DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled. Whew. All hand-typed to boot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 you coulda either taken pictures or used an option to print it to a text file lol looking into stuff presently but jesus christ intel processors are expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excellen Browning Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Yup. They are. The silly thing is some AMD processors have been sold for years now and they're still viable processors these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) yeah i mean shit i've been using this guy for a while now (recommended him to two other sf members, in fact) and his intel equivalent is pushing $400 after a lot of digging it seems the mobo form factor your case supports is Micro ATX which is a little weird but not unbearable. this guy seems to be a decent micro ATX motherboard with the right chip type in it and to boot you can port your RAM straight over to it. total for the two is about $160, leaving you a good two hundred dollars to check out video cards in case you need a new cpu fan, i don't know if yours would fit this one or not. EDIT: i can't find any info about the power supply in your computer, do you know it off the top of your head slash can you crack open the case and check? the wattage is often listed right there on the thing. Edited November 15, 2014 by Integrity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excellen Browning Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 The meat of it is the graphics card though. You know, the first thing you replace if all you want is to run more games. What kind of wattage is available on the power supply, and what slots are available on the motherboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) well, that depends a lot on the relative speeds of the two. where he is now, upgrading either is going to give him a boost and i think it's better to upgrade the cpu+mobo and then the gfx, or the whole thing in a package. my situation when i picked up the vishera i had a GTX 650 and a ...dual-core 3.2 ghz cpu lmao EDIT: in fact, looking at it, he could slide into a GTX 650 for about another hundred, presuming his PSU could handle it. Edited November 15, 2014 by Integrity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Since a sizable chunk is in chinese, here is the info as best I can tell. Model D300N D-00 REF. NO:DPS-300A B-65 A Rest in chinese INPUT 100-127V ~9A,200-240V~/4.5A 50-60Hz OUTPUT MAX POWER 300W +12VA ===/17A +12VB ===/9A +5V ===/13A +5Vaux ===/2A +3.3V ===/10A +12V ===/0.3A MAX. COMBINED POWER POWER ON +5V& +3.3V OUTPUT IS 90W +5V & +3.3V chinese 90W MAX COMBINED POWER ON +12VA &+12VB OUTPUT IS 216W +12VA&+12VAB That help? It's all gibberish to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 MAX POWER 300W eesh, any decent video card is going to require probably 500W with a CPU upgrade, you're going to be bottlenecked by this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy_One Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 So I need a new power supply as well? Great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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