Gaming PC - Get a new one or upgrade?

hoftwi

hoftwi

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,178
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all,

My husband has a desktop which he normally uses for internet and sometimes plays games, such as Total War, Far Cry, COD etc. It was working alright but lately it lags a lot and getting worse. Just wondering, whether we should get a new one or upgrade some hardware will do?

The PC he has at the moment:
AMD A8 6500
6gb Ram
Radeon R7 240
1TB hard drive
http://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c04341331

We don't want to spend much so any recommendations if upgrade? thanks
 
Do you defrag the hard drive on a regular basis? How much empty space do you have left on it?
 
If it was working ok previously i would investigate first why it is lagging just incase its a simple fix.
The A8 6500 is 3.5ghz quad core cpu so it still has the guts to play games.
If any hardware upgrade is to be carried out the first i would recommend is the RAM.
At 6gb RAM you are only running single channel so there is a potential bottle neck there.
Id recommend 2x4gb or 2x8gb if the board can take it and your OS is 64 bit. With matched pairs of ram sticks you will get dual channel which is faster than single channel.
After that i would look at the graphics card as that is pretty low end too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
stupar said:
If it was working ok previously i would investigate first why it is lagging just incase its a simple fix.
The A8 6500 is 3.5ghz quad core cpu so it still has the guts to play games.
If any hardware upgrade is to be carried out the first i would recommend is the RAM.
At 6gb RAM you are only running single channel so there is a potential bottle neck there.
Id recommend 2x4gb or 2x8gb if the board can take it and your OS is 64 bit. With matched pairs of ram sticks you will get dual channel which is faster than single channel.
After that i would look at the graphics card as that is pretty low end too.
Click to expand...

Thanks Stuart for the reply. When we first bought the PC, it wasn't intended to play games so the graphic card isn't too good. Sorry to be dumb, how do I investigate whether there are any issues of the pc? thanks
 
I'd upgrade the ram to say 16gb (ram is cheap) and add a SSD. Once cleaned up and operating system and key programs loaded onto SSD it should be much faster.
 
hoftwi said:
Thanks Stuart for the reply. When we first bought the PC, it wasn't intended to play games so the graphic card isn't too good. Sorry to be dumb, how do I investigate whether there are any issues of the pc? thanks
Click to expand...
Yeah the spec of the machine was never intended for serious games but at the same time there is plenty headroom to upgrade the machine.
Re investigating the machine just simple things like the defrag suggestion above etc.
Another good thing to do is download ccleaner and use it to clear up any rubbish that has built up e.g. temp files defunct registry entries etc.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
stupar said:
Yeah the spec of the machine was never intended for serious games but at the same time there is plenty headroom to upgrade the machine.
Re investigating the machine just simple things like the defrag suggestion above etc.
Another good thing to do is download ccleaner and use it to clear up any rubbish that has built up e.g. temp files defunct registry entries etc.
Click to expand...

I will try ccleaner and defragment now.
 
Wissel said:
That's a choice in ram. To be honest and reputable make that's at least 1600 speed will be fine. Are you going for an SSD as well? Will make all the difference (at least 240gb)
Click to expand...

I don't think I will get a SSD as I am not too keen on moving the OS. adding ram or possibly change the graphic card I think I can manage but more than that, will give me a headache:p.
 
hoftwi said:
I don't think I will get a SSD as I am not too keen on moving the OS. adding ram or possibly change the graphic card I think I can manage but more than that, will give me a headache:p.
Click to expand...
To be fair fittting and SSD is so simple (especially in a desktop).
Furthermore mirroring your existing OS and programs on to it is almost automated and pain free using available software.
Dont discount it just yet.
The thing to remember with an SSD is if you fit it and it doesnt work you just pop your old hard drive back in and voila!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
games normally only really need a good GPU to speed things up as they don't usually load on the RAM etc.

defrag i wouldnt really bother with, assuming youre on NTFS file system its fairly self managing.

anything notably happen around the time the sluggishness started?
 
Thanks Stuart again for the advice:) which software do you recommend to use for the new ssd and which graphic card if to upgrade?
neil_g said:
games normally only really need a good GPU to speed things up as they don't usually load on the RAM etc.

defrag i wouldnt really bother with, assuming youre on NTFS file system its fairly self managing.

anything notably happen around the time the sluggishness started?
Click to expand...

Thanks Neil for the reply. which graphic card do you recommend to upgrade to? to be honest, I don't think there is anything notably happened when the lag started.
 
LumixNoob said:
If you do upgrade the GPU, I would say this is a pretty good option at less than 100 quid, you need a six pin power cable on the psu though:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ICUGOP0/ref=psdc_430524031_t1_B00FL8H49Q

Comparison to your current gpu:

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R7-240-vs-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the reply. I was looking at this one as well!!! Sorry that I have too many questions, if I am going to buy this graphic card, do I just plug it in and install the driver, then it will work? what do you mean that I need a six pin power cable on the psu? does it mean I have to change the psu too?
 
hoftwi said:
thanks Mike for the reply. My bad, will look around and find the pc one then. thanks for reminding me:D
Click to expand...

If you look at the original link you posted, there is info. on the type of extra RAM you need.
 
hoftwi said:
Thanks again for the reply. I was looking at this one as well!!! Sorry that I have too many questions, if I am going to buy this graphic card, do I just plug it in and install the driver, then it will work? what do you mean that I need a six pin power cable on the psu? does it mean I have to change the psu too?
Click to expand...

A lot of GPUs need a power cable running directly from the power supply, much like your motherboard etc does (pic below):

http://images.shopmadeinchina.com/p...r-Cable-for-PCI-Express-Video_4357717.bak.jpg

Yours may already have one, but a lot of pre-built/shop bought desktop builds don't have very good PSUs, so depending on where you got your PC you could be out of luck. I believe you can get adapters but you may be better off with a new PSU if you can afford it.
 
hoftwi said:
It gets a little more complicated. Think I have to open up the pc to check on the psu. If I can fix husband's pc, he will b sooooo happy!!
Click to expand...

Yep, some serious brownie points if you pull that off ;)
 
No probs. I spent hours reading up on all this stuff before I built a low end gaming PC, so someone else may as well benefit from my late nights and stinging eyes lol.
 
You should be OK. I think buying the graphics card and then finding out you didn't have the 6 pin cable would have been your biggest setback. If you buy any RAM as well though, just double check it's the right kind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top