Cheaper to Upgrade or buy new pc

[charlie476476]

I currently have

Processor AMD Phenom™ 8450 Processor, 64-bit Triple Core Processor
•Each core operates at 2.10 GHz
•2 MB shared L3 cache
•3600 MHz HT 3.0 system bus

Chipset AMD RS780 consisting of:
•Northbridge: RS780
•Southbridge: SB700

Memory •Installed: 4096 MB DDR2 667 MHz (PC-5300) dual channel SDRAM (two 2048 MB modules)
•Expandable to: 8 GB (4 DIMM slots)

Hard Drive 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA II hard drive
Support for up to two hard drives
Optical Drive 18X DVD ±R/RW super multi format drive featuring Labelflash™ technology (up to 8.5 GB)
Supports Labelflash on disc printing (requires Labelflash media)
Media Card Reader 15-in-1 high speed digital media manager with Smart Copy button supporting the following:
•Compact Flash™ (CF) I, II
•IBM Microdrive™ (MD)
•SmartMedia™ Card (SMC)
•Memory Stick™ (MS)
•Memory Stick Duo™ (MS Duo)
•Memory Stick PRO™ (MS PRO)
•Memory Stick PRO Duo™ (MS PRO Duo)
•Secure Digital™ (SD)
•Mini Secure Digital (MiniSD)
•Multi Media Card (MMC)
•RS Multi Media Card (RS-MMC) (need adapter)
•Multi Media Plus Card (MMC Plus)
•Multi Media Mobile Card (MMC Mobile)
•xD-Picture Card™ (xD)

Video Integrated ATI® Radeon™ HD 3200 graphics
Up to 256 MB shared video memory
Audio Integrated 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio
Network Support Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps Marvell 8071 / 8075 Ethernet LAN
Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem
Power Supply 300 watt
Add-in Card Slots •One PCI Express ×16 (graphics interface)
•One PCI Express ×1
•Two PCI conventional

External Connectors •One PS/2 keyboard port
•One PS/2 mouse port
•One VGA monitor port
•One HDMI port
•Six USB ports (four rear, two front)
•One IEEE 1394a ports (rear)
•One RJ-45 Ethernet LAN port
•Eight audio jacks (six rear, two front)

Drive Bays •Two external 5.25-inch
•One external 3.5-inch (with a docking bay for optional Gateway 2.5-inch removable USB hard drive)
•Two internal 3.5-inch (hard drive)

Physical Dimensions
(H × W × D) 15.6 × 7.2 × 16.1 inches
Weight (Unpackaged) Minimum 23.4 lbs. (varies with configuration)

What all would have to be replaced to handle 5 boxing without any problems.
I would prefer to just upgrade my pc unless it would be cheaper and better to just buy the following
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Factory-Refurbished+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/1177091.p?id=1218230517298&skuId=1177091

thanks

[Harrypott]

I'm not that familiar with AMD cpu's... but you could upgrade the video card, RAM and make sure you have a 64bit OS to handle the extra RAM... and it would probably be able to handle 5x boxing... but not that well... with Cat coming out the money would probably be better spent towards the i7 system..

[alcattle]

I would just upgrade the Graphic card. Get a good one as you can move it to the next machine. If you feel comfortable you could overclock the CPU. 2.1 is preety slow.
See how the new card works, that does a lot of the work.
Also get a monitor that show RAM and CPU usage. That will show where the bottleneck is.

[charlie476476]

My biggest concerns is if i did replace the video and add 4 gigs of ram. I feel the processor couldnt handle it. I would guess the last thing if all that didnt work would be to replace the mothrboard/cpu with perhaps a AMD Phenom™ II 955 Black. Also with the memory being 667mhz how does that compare to 1066 and 1133? From what I read its almost no difference? Just wondering if I get a new cpu/motherboard. If those 2 sticks of ram will work along with adding 2 or if i need for new sticks. Thanks again I have limited knowledge on pc tech so all advice helps

Do you think $500 would be enough to upgrade this pc without having any issues in Cat running 5? or better start shopping for a new gaming pc :)

thanks

[alcattle]

The model of the motherboard would help. DDR2-667 is almost as fast as a stock motherboard goes, only overclockers would use that fast RAM.

[charlie476476]

i think http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006272R/4006272Rsp2.shtml
Motherboard Systemboard with AMD® 780G Chipset sorry wish i could be more help need to expand my knowledge for pcs for sure

[alcattle]

ok the MB will only take 667/800 RAM. The case only takes a MicroATX MB which is a slight pain. I would get RAM and go with that. Not sure any "Good GPU" would fit.

[charlie476476]

Thanks for the replies. After toying around with upgrading or buying the new gateway I can still save a few hundred bucks upgrading. Im 100% set on upgrading what I was gonna do was. Is the 5750 overkill on graphics for 5 boxing? or will i notice a difference over the 5570?

First upgrade Asus - ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express Graphics Card $139.99
2 gig ram $49.99
Stuck on which power supply i need? Any help for this noob. Some say 20+4 pin others say 24 pin. I have no idea but I was looking between a 500-650 PSU. Higher the better cause if the current processor cant hang im gonna replace it.
Roughly $250 upgrade

If the above doesnt work with the CPU i would be getting
Phenom II X4 955 $145.99
M4A785-M Socket AM3/AM2+/AM2 785G mATX Motherboard $74.99
Windows 7 $100
Roughly $320 upgrade

Just need help on the power supply as far as what pin and type do I need. Thanks again
I was planning on getting everything but graphics from http://www.microcenter.com since we have a local store here in houston

[DLoweinc]

The low points of the system to me (for lag free multiboxing, except in Dalaran) are: video card, system RAM, hard disks, processor.

honestly though, I 5boxed on a system that was worse than that and it was playable for me. I had a dual core 2ghz machine with 3.5GB of usable RAM (win xp) and a 256MB video card.

Can your processor 5 box? yes as long as you can assign clients to a certain core
can the video card 5 box? yes but probably only on low resolutions with little or no graphic settings and limited "view distance"
can the hard drives? yes but a cheap SSD would really help out (at least 32GB but 64 or larger would be better)
can your RAM handle it? yes but it's going to be rough as it will probably have to write to the page file which will slow things down.

your upgrade path is all determined by your budget. I would spend money on a video card first and RAM (provided you can use a 64bit operating system to take advantage of "more than 4GB) then an SSD and cpu.

just my 2 cents

[charlie476476]

Thanks for the input. I would be very happy if i I could get away with the CPU I have and just add a video card and add some ram since I have 64 bit OS. Leaving CPU for last if needed. How do I assign clients to a certain core. Also about upgrading PSU. I see some are 24 and otheres are 20+4. Can you tell me what the difference is

[DLoweinc]

the CPU / motherboard will determine if you need a 20pin or 20+4pin

If you get a powersupply that has 20+4 pin you should be covered either way.

The motherboard you listed has this posted in it's "specs":
One 24-Pin power connector with full ridge
One 4-Pin power connector

This would mean you need a 24pin and an additional 4 pin
Most higher end powersupplies will have the connectors you need.

FYI I recently bought a "budget" power supply, 600w for $30 and it didn't have the 4pin power connector so I used an adapter off of the 12v rail and it ended up melting that cable because the power draw was too high.

Since this experience I've realized it's better to spend a bit more on a power supply that is of higher quality (I use newegg.com for reviews and you could lookup your CPU to see what kind of power supply people are using with it).

hope that helps ya out