Cost effective PC to replace an old Q9550 system?

sastusbulbas · 13 Dec 2014 at 19:10

Hi all, not been keeping up to date with PC stuff.

I was wondering what sort of low cost system could be built to replace the system below, it is struggling to keep up with some of my son's games, WoT as an example just keeps switching to desktop and getting him warnings.

It is also feeling rather slow these days, updates and malaware/antvirus checks just seem to take too long.

A new case is also on the cards, unless it's a MicroATX as I have a spare TJ08B.
I would guess the cooler, PSU and hard drives can be re-used.

The old system.
Gigabyte EP4-DSP3 P45 motherboard.
Intel Q9550 CPU.
BeQuiet Dark Rock Advanced CPU cooler.
Corsair XMS2-8500 8GB (4x2) 1066MHz DDR2
Sapphire HD4870 1gb Toxic graphics card.
Samsung F3 500 and 1tb hard drives.
BeQuiet PurePower modular 630w psu.
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit OS.
Gigabyte GZ-X1 case.

Rroff · 13 Dec 2014 at 19:15

While not in the same league as the top end i7s any more the Q9550 is still pretty capable for general gaming though I'd imagine that the GPU is getting a bit long in the tooth now and likewise the HDDs.

I'd have thought a clean install of Windows (Maybe upgrading to 8 as it tends to run a bit better on older hardware with modern multi-threaded programs) and an SSD for the OS drive would go a long way. Getting a newer GPU with a bit more VRAM would probably get it back upto speed for gaming.

stulid · 13 Dec 2014 at 19:17

^
That.

Those two items (you get free delivery so multiple orders wont hurt) first, see what difference they make.

Then if you are not satisfied then swap the cpu/board/ram.

Rroff · 13 Dec 2014 at 19:19

De-dusting/making sure all the cooling is working properly maybe wouldn't go amiss either.

Juicy_vessel · 14 Dec 2014 at 09:17

I would look at a cheap Radeon 280 to replace the 4870

Those Pentium G3258 seem to be a hot seller...?

Doogles · 14 Dec 2014 at 09:46

SSD and GPU upgrade with a reinstall of windows 7 would be the best bet, all this can be done for about £200 quite easily. Good deal on the R9 290 atm, not much can beat it at that price but your PSU might struggle so might be better going for a R9 280.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-166-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-035-CR&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=1427

joeyjojo · 14 Dec 2014 at 10:02

I'd second Doogles. Move the OS and games over to a SSD, and get a GPU upgrade. WoT has always been a famously CPU heavy game but I understand they've improved this over the years with multithreading and more server-side load, so I'd try the Q9550 first and carry the new components over to a new build if needed down the road.

GPU benchmarks: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18508204

You could even give him your 7950 and get a little xmas present for yourself?

welldone · 14 Dec 2014 at 12:35

joeyjojo said:
I'd second Doogles. Move the OS and games over to a SSD, and get a GPU upgrade. WoT has always been a famously CPU heavy game but I understand they've improved this over the years with multithreading and more server-side load, so I'd try the Q9550 first and carry the new components over to a new build if needed down the road.

GPU benchmarks: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18508204

You could even give him your 7950 and get a little xmas present for yourself?

thanks for your advice sir

Rroff · 14 Dec 2014 at 12:51

Juicy_vessel said:
I would look at a cheap Radeon 280 to replace the 4870

Those Pentium G3258 seem to be a hot seller...?

280 would be a good shout but couldn't recommend going from a quad core q9550 to a dual core Pentium even though it would beat it in single thread performance.