Upgrade Pre 2009 HTPC with Graphics card and CPU ? or waste of time ?

[Boneybob]

Hello OC members

My Medion QEM HTPC has been sitting idle under the TV for many years powered off , I wanted to see what was possible with upgrades for the PC,so that my son can play only Fortnite on it and start to learn how to use a PC.

After many hours of reading I am not much wiser.

OS I will be upgrading to windows 10 pro from Windows 8

Mother Board: mATX
MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-7324 REV:1...

BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD W7324MLN 2.0I 01/05/2007

CPU
Processor 1.87 gigahertz Intel Core 2 6300

Ram
3 GB ( max 4)

The manual says the mother board supports

Intel® Pentium 4/ Celeron D Prescott LGA775 processors up to 945W
(Prescott, Cedar Mill, Presler, Conroe and Smithfield) in LGA775 package.

Chipset
† Intel® 945G chipset
- Supports FSB 533/ 800/1066MHz.
- Supports PCI Express x16 graphics interface.

So does it make sense to Upgrade the CPU if so what ones can be recommended and why ? after reading through the forums past posts is overclocking a better option ? Something I have not done for many years

What was/is the best PCI Express x16 Graphics card for the PC ...low profile ? passive and active cooling ( I do not know how much space or what cooling inside yet )

SSD are they compatible with old PC´s

I need a push in the right direction to find out if this is a realistic project or is this simply a waste of time ? as mentioned It will be used for playing Fortnite and education

Thanks for reading

Boneybob

 

[EsaT]

There isn't any even remotely modern CPU you could fit into it.
Pentium 4s were dumpster fire hot garbage when new and that Conroe Core 2 is badly outdated.

 

[LuckyBenski]

Even if you could get a decent Core2 chip in there (I doubt compatibility of later Core2
chips anyway), you'd likely be limited for space and power in terms of graphics. I tried to build a gaming PC out of a SFF office PC and it was just pain at every turn. Paying over the odds for less performance because low profile graphics cards were always less common so in demand.

Once I moved to normal PC cases I had a wealth of choice, new and old, cheap and pricy. You can likely build something better from third-hand parts than trying to upgrade that machine well.

 

[Tetras]

You'd be better off buying a 4350G, 4650G or 5600G pre-build than trying to upgrade that. It's just way too old.