Gaming Computer comparison

[Mr. Shrimpz]

I have a question for all of the tech savvy guys out there. So I have recently decided to purchase a new gaming computer from iBuypower. My old computer is an xps 410 with 1 gb of ram, an Intel (R) Pentium (R) D CPU 2.8ghz and an ATI Radeon HD 4350 - 1GB video card.

If I was to buy a AMD Athlon II DDR2 upgraded with an AMD Phenom™ II X2 550 Black Edition Dual-Core CPU, 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module and a ATI Radeon HD 4650 – 1GB would there be a noticable difference in the way my computer handles games (I.E. Dawn of war 2 and Dragon age: Origins)?

AMD athlon link: iBUYPOWER Computer :: AMD Athlon II DDR2 Configurator
I'm getting this completely funded by my own money and have a price range of about 400-600, but if the need requires me to go for about 650-700 I can spare enough money to do so

 

[glenskey]

yes, there would be a HUGE difference with the extra ram and the phenom, it would definitely be worth the upgrade, i'd say go for it

if it was me, i'd be willing to fork out a few extra bucks for a better graphics card like the nvidia Geforce 240 1GB, get a better sound card(sound blaster xfi extreme audio) and upgrade the cpu fan to the "AVC silent AMD cpu fan..".
and that comes out at $610

hope i've helped!

 

[Hefemeister]

On a budget I would stick with onboard sound and save that cash. You can always upgrade that later if you are not happy with the sound quality from the onboard.

Any thoughts about building your own as you could get some better components for the same price. With that said ibuypower is one of the better prebuilt companies.

 

[Mr. Shrimpz]

I have never built a computer and for that reason I'm shying away from it just because making sure everything is compatible and the thought that I could screw it up are risks I would rather not take

 

[aliasaid]

You'd get a much better gaming PC if you upgraded your current computer. More info on your motherboard, ram, and PSU, and we could see what you could do. I'm guessing you have a socket 775, which is still upgradeable... so that i believe is the best way to go. And for $500-600 you could have a killer gaming rig.

 

[Mr. Shrimpz]

Well I'll put down more info then, but I don't know what's particularly useful so it might be a bit overkill on info though so...

Motherboard
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model 0WG855
Serial Number ..CN70821689000D.

North Bridge Intel P965/G965 Revision C1
South Bridge Intel 82801HH (ICH8DH) Revision C1

CPU Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz
Cpu Socket Socket 775 LGA

System Slots 6 PCI

Memory Summary
Maximum Capacity 1024 MBytes
Memory Slots 4
Error Correction Single-bit ECC



CPU
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / 2 Cores / 2 Logical Processors / 64 bits
CPU Full Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz
CPU Name Intel Pentium D 820
CPU Code Name SmithField
Platform Name Socket 775 LGA
Revision B0
Technology 90 nm
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, ET64, XD
Original Clock 2800 MHz
Original System Clock 200 MHz
Original Multiplier 14.0
CPU Clock 2793 MHz
System Clock 199.5 MHz
FSB 798.0 MHz
Core 0 Speed 2793.1 MHz
Core 0 Multiplier 14.0
Core 1 Speed 2793.1 MHz
Core 1 Multiplier 14.0
L1 Data Cache 2 x 16 KBytes
L1 Trace Cache 2 x 12 Kuops
L2 Cache 2 x 1024 KBytes

and my RAM is Samsung, DDR2 (pc2- 5300) 333 mhz (DDR2 667) supported frequencies 200 mhz, 266.7 mhz, 333.3 mhz
and my psu wattage is 375

 

[aliasaid]

I've given your situation a lot of thought.. and i conclude that its probably not such a good idea to upgrade. Those parts are a tad TOO old. Sorry for wasting your time, lol.

Try buildin your own!