Should I upgrade my parent's computer?

[chingyg]

Currently they have a athlon 64 3700+, radeon HD 4850, 1GB ram, some IDE based optical drive,some biostar motherboard, 500W PSU, and less than 300GB harddrive.

They use the computer everyday mainly for playing old imported asian games and streaming lots of videos. My dad sometimes complains how slow it takes to start up and load his applications. Do you guys think it's necessary to upgrade?

[killerx525]

Yes, just upgrade it to a APU which would be perfect as the integrated GPU has more then enough power to play old games and stream a lot of videos.

[Guest]

I'd chuck both more ram and an SSD in it if it has at least SATA2. Some people will say SATA3 is your minimum to notice the differences but I've got an old Asus P5KE that loads noticeably quicker on an SSD compared to a 7.2k drive even with only SATA2. The added ram will also help speed things up.

Eventually you're going to have to upgrade but you should get some more life out of it yet

[killerx525]

What is the model of the Biostar motherboard?

[chingyg]

What is the model of the Biostar motherboard?

Okay I just checked it. It's Micro-Star international model MS-7125

[Kilmer02]

I would say just redo it all and keep the 4850, and the PSU. Get an APU and a new HDD. You can win them a free 1 TB drive if you enter my contest for a free HDD in the storage section!

[killerx525]

That motherboard is pretty old, i'd scrap it and get an APU.

[ThaChosun1]

If I were you, I would definitely upgrade the hard drive (most likely the main hardware that is slowing down the computer) and maybe go with a new mobo+cpu combo... perhaps a i3 or a FX4100 for the cpu,

[chingyg]

Ok thanks for the ideas everyone. I'm going to keep the 4850 and I think I'll either go for an apu and hopefully do a hybrid crossfire configuration or maybe the fx 4100. I'll probably add atleast 2GB of ram and atleast a 500GB hardrive.Thanks again guys!

[Kilmer02]

Get good high frequency RAM it likes to get gobbled up by APU's something like 4 GB of 1866 MHz ram would be perfect for them, more if they intend to play newer games ( although from your posts it sounds like they are not)

[vishalaestro]

here is my config for you

Intel Pentium Dual Core G860 Processor LGA1155 3.0GHZ

ASUS P8H61-I R2.0 mITX LGA1155 H61 (B3) DDR3

Corsair CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit

if your power supply is not a branded one buy a corsair cx430 other remains the same.this is the most cost effective cpu which will be more than enough for your father's purpose.

[killerx525]

@Vishalaestro, the motherboard is a mini-itx and chances are that it won't work in older cases.

CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core G860 Processor LGA1155 3.0GHZ (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=72280&promoid=1338)

Motherboard: Gigabyte H61M-DS2H (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=73210&vpn=GA-H61M-DS2H&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1338)

Ram: Corsair CMV4GX3M2A1333C9, 2x2GB, DDR3-1333 (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45301)

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58402&vpn=WD5000AAKX&manufacture=Western%20Digital%20WD&promoid=1338)

[Kilmer02]

Don't skimp on ram 1866 isn't much more then 1333 and it will help the computer out with its ram addiction!

[killerx525]

It would depend on the OP if his parents would let him spend more.

[Kilmer02]

It's at the most like 20 bucks more and will really help out your system.

[Helepolis]

Lets not get ahead of ourselves, if their playing older games and basic services the only upgrade that might be appropriate to them would be to throw more ram in there, add an ssd and get rid of all the crapware that's accumulated on it. Unless there are plans to play modern games then yes it would be a good idea to build something new.

[Rich_]

The phenom quads are real cheap now if u can find them, and they'll do that 4850 some justice instead of the athlon which isnt gonna let it be used all the way :p

[BathroomSecurity]

I would personally switch out the CPU for an AMD solution, and add some RAM to help it along. If you really want to see a massive improvement, chuck an SSD in it and the computer will be great.

[Paperchase]

To be honest the only thing that would make the PC much better for their use is an SSD upgrade. Your father said it took a long time to load applications, right? Well, applications are loaded up by the device they are stored on, therefore an SSD would be the best possible upgrade. A RAM, CPU or even GFX card upgrade is just a waste of money in this case.

[BathroomSecurity]

Upgrade the CPU and add more RAM. Chuck an SSD in there if you want even better performance

[Dexterity]

Is there a budget for you parents new computer? I agree with everyone above to get a amd setup so it saves you money.

Also is there a local Microcenter store near you? If so they have the best combo deals for cpu and mobo.

You can keep your old psu and gpu.

get a new cpu, mobo, 8gb 1600 ram, and 7200rpm sata hdd (or ssd since ssd are getting cheaper)

[Salmiakbal]

I'd just get a cheap SSD for it since the biggest problems seems to be loading times. SATA revision doesn't matter that much, SSD's are fast nonetheless.

[killerx525]

Help out the system in what way?