From a first look, it appears the Phenom you linked is even older than your current cpu. It runs hotter and slower than what you currently have.
Hmm…continuing to look. It looks like my motherboard uses the AM3 socket, which is mostly obsolete at this point. I can find a few CPUs that fit there, e.g., this AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz Quad-Core, but I can’t tell if it’s worth the $66 upgrade. DOes anyone have a better understanding than me?
That CPU is about 50% faster.
Hmm…50% sounds pretty good, although I’m not sure if that’s sufficient to justify it. AFAICT, that chip came out in 2011, so I’d be upgrading with five-year-old technology. Still, it’d let me play some more modern games, so it might be worth it.
Thanks!
I somewhat recently started piece-meal upgrading my cheapo desktop I bought in 2013. ($420, free shipping.)
The first thing I bought was a second hard drive (1 TB) so that my original hard drive (500 GB) would just be C:\Windows, C:\Program Files and C:\Games. All my documents, music, videos, etc… are now safely removed from my OS, and also much easier to back up. I am now more readily prepared to upgrade the C: drive to a SSD, but I’m holding off on that for a bit.
Anyway, I’m only really posting to say that when I started looking into upgrading my computer, I realized almost immediately that the thing most in need of upgrading was the power supply. Before even thinking about upgrading your video card, research what power supply you have and what you’ll need for your desired video card upgrade.
My original PSU was a bottom of the barrel 300W (pretty typical for cheapo desktops) and from what I researched, you can only really expect 3-4 years out of those. So when I added the second hard drive, I also upgraded the PSU to a SeaSonic S12II 520W based on feedback on the NewEgg forums. They say figure it’ll hold up (assuming I don’t go crazy with a high end video card) for maybe 7-10 years.
And finally, my old cheapo PSU had a fan aimed out the back of the case, but the new one aims out the bottom. Since my desktop sits on carpeting, I then immediately ordered this computer stand to get it raised off the floor. I was concerned that it would be big or bulky, but it ended up being absolutely perfect.
For my next upgrade I’m thinking a BluRay burner, specifically this one. I have no pressing need for it, so I’m just checking weekly to see if it goes on sale. I figure give it at least until Black Friday. I really just want it for longterm backup, but in the meantime I make do fine with flash drives.
My video card is essentially the NVIDIA version of yours in terms of capability (NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 vs Radeon HD 5550) but my gaming has taken a turn for yesteryear, so the last thing I need is more video power.
I just last week finished writing a “Game Manager” for both running my games and having easy access to all the supporting shortcuts relevant for each game.
How old do my gaming tastes run? Very, very old. I think the newest game on there is over a decade old, with the oldest being almost 25 years old. Oofa.
Bump again!
I’m looking more closely at video cards, and I realized that my motherboard supports PCI express 2.0, but not 3.0. I’m having trouble finding recent video cards that aren’t 3.0. Is this a sign I need to upgrade the motherboard?
Too late to edit: just read something else saying that 3.0 is backward compatible, so I think I’m safe.
You’re fine. I’m using a relatively modern video card (3.0) in a relatively obsolete motherboard (2.0) without any issues.
If you have or can save the money, the new generation of “affordable” cards are the best value by far in the $200-$250 range. The Nvidia 1060 ($250) is a jump better than the AMD RX480 ($200) but the 480 is still leagues better than anything you could have bought for $200 six weeks ago. I realize that if you just don’t have $200, you just don’t have it but it’s something to consider when looking to pay $125-$150 for a card; the jump you’ll get by going to this new generation is huge.
Interesting…the cash I have might be enough to go barely to $200, but not upgrade my CPU (which is also so old that it can’t play XCOM2, for example). Decisions decisions…
I very much doubt your CPU is too old.
When I checked systemrequirementslab.com, the CPU and the videocard were the two components tagged inadequate.
I’m not an expert of any sort, but I have a suspicion that you might go further getting a refurbished computer on eBay or such than you would in buying upgrade components. Not sure of this, again, but I would look into that before shelling out any $$