Upgrading an old Core2Quad rig?

[Master Skooter]

Hi

A friend has an old generic Asus micro PC and has asked if there's anyway of making it better.

I believe the board to be an Asus P5KPL-VM.

Looking at the specs it only supports 4GB memory, he's currently running 2x 2GB sticks.

CPU is an old Core2Quad, Q8200 @ 2.33 GHz.

Would it be worth buying a used GPU to improve gaming performance? He plays WoW.

I'm sure the (poor) CIT 600W PSU has PCIe power connectors.

I've given him a small SSD to improve things in that area.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ShivP]

I assume he has a GPU in there atm, what is it?

iirc WOW is quite CPU reliant, so it may be a better idea going for a mobo/CPU/RAM upgrade, though if the current GPU is poor then you could swap that out
I would also get rid of that PSU ASAP, probably waiting to blow

 

[Master Skooter]

Sorry Shivy thought I'd written that lol, it's a GT430.

I don't think it's worth spending more than £30 on personally.

Cheers

 

[ShivP]

Hmm, tough one as the 430 is quite an old card now and quite slow

Do you mean spending £30 on the upgrade or just a new PSU?

 

[Master Skooter]

On a used GPU

 

[ShivP]

Yeah, possibly sounds about right
WoW is quite CPU heavy though, so say your friend was to go for a CPU/Board/RAM upgrade what budget would be available?

OR you could OC the CPU (is there a cooler or just the stock Asus/Intel thing?) and add a new GPU

 

[Master Skooter]

Stock Intel jobby but I'm sure I have a thermaltake cooler somewhere.

Any graphics cards you could recommend Shiv, I'll look on MM when I get home.

Thanks buddy

 

[Master Skooter]

He was using an old iMac until recently and is actually happy playing on this lol.

There is no budget but Its my GFs son so I'd happily get a cheap card to help out

 

[ShivP]

Well, there's a GTX 460 here - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18647143 though I'd make an offer as another 460 went for £30 iirc so this is a bit pricey


But these were notoriously power hungry cards (most of 4xx series) so I'd pick up a new PSU also. Good thing with this is if/when your friend goes to a new setup, the PSU and GPU can be carried over if they aren't being replaced.

There are also a few HD 7770s etc dotted around, tbh I'd just put a wanted thread up or so and look for a good deal around £35-£40

 

[Master Skooter]

Thanks for the link, the 7770's were lower power consumption?

 

[ShivP]

Yep, 7770s have considerably lower consumption