What should I do, expert or informative help needed!

[Miias]

Hello,
I am having issues with my Desktop computer at the moment,
I would love some advice as I am trying to upgrade my computer for more PC gaming some of my PC's specs include:
- 64 bit running windows 7
- Gigabyte motherboard GA-MA78GM-S2H
- 6.00 GM Ram DDR2
- AMD Anthlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.60 GHz
- Graphics card: AMD Radeon HD6850 Graphics Accelerator GV-R685D5-1GD/GV-R685OC-1GC

Now i believe i need to upgrade my processor I was looking for an i5 possible but my question is would i need to update my motherboard and what price would i be looking at? also any additional advice would be great.

 

[Leeky]

You would require new RAM, a new motherboard and of course the processor in order to change to a new chipset.

I would suggest you look at the Sandy Bridge LGA1155 platform, which is current. Your graphics card is perfectly fine for now, and will be in fine in a new setup as long as you aren't expecting to play at full HD resolution with the settings ramped on highest.

Given your spec you might also need a new case, and a new power supply. Your best to post your full system specifications, including your case, and your current power supply model and its total wattage.

You also need to set a realistic budget for those to best assist you.

 

[Miias]

Hi thanks for a answer but I just got a new power supply put in as my old one burnt out, I believe its a Antec NEO ECO 620C (620Watt) , at the moment I have games in the lowest settings yet I still have terrible FPS.

My computer was custom built around 4 years ago and now I am just updating price wise im willing to spend $300-$400 or less if thats possible.

I tried to provide additional information, as for "a new case" I dont know what you mean? but I also added a Caviar Black 7200RPM Sata3 64MB Cashe 3.5"

I hope this helps

 

[Arris]

Checking out the motherboard CPU support list it looks like you can upgrade to a Phenom II X4 940 3GHz processor ($89.99 from Newegg) with your existing motherboard if you update it to the F7 BIOS. You can have a look at the performance comparision with the Anandtech Bench tool.

Upgrading to an Intel Processor would require a new motherboard (as your current motherboard is only for AMD processors). It all depends how much you wish to spend on upgrades. Intel i5 2500k processor is around $200 and a compatible motherboard can be had for around $70, 2 x 2GB DDR3 ram is about $30 cheapest. So you are looking at least $300 to switch to a new intel platform vs a reasonable upgrade to your AMD platform for around $90. Obviously the change to a new and current platform(i5 2500k vs Phenom II X4 940) is going to give the biggest improvement in performance, but you have to decide whether you wish to spend 3 times the money to gain that extra performance.

 

[Miias]

what is the F7 BIOS? I think I will go the $90 processor how hard would it be the change the processor?

 

[Arris]

what is the F7 BIOS? I think I will go the $90 processor how hard would it be the change the processor?

BIOS (basic input/output system) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

F7 updated BIOS for your motherboard - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2758#bios
Will be details on the Gigabyte website of how to update your BIOS version. Some can be done in Windows, others require a boot disk/CD which executes before the OS loads. There are a few different methods.

Video "How to install AMD AM2, AM2+ and AM3 CPU + Cooler!" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzZQgJDyzGI (just the first one I found, lots of others showing the process too)