Want to upgrade my Alienware Area 51 R-2.

[i5Wrath]

Hello everyone. As the title states, i have an old Alienware Area 51 R-2 desktop that i want to upgrade. I have no experience with prebuilts and have ever only known to build them piece by piece, so this is out of my comfort zone. It's running a bit slow, and i think the culprit may be bottlenecking. But i'm not sure. My budget is flexible. Enough to build a new PC if i must, but i want to explore my options before i do that. Here are the specs:

 

• Intel Core i7-5820K (3.3GHz up to 3.6GHz with Turbo Boost, 15MB) 6-Core Processor
• 8GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM - 2TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Controller + DVDRW
• Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit)

What could i replace to make it a bit better? Any and all response appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read.

[emosun]

well the machine has no ssd so that'll be a massive bottleneck , but what other diagnostics have you done to determine the need for the upgrade?

 

[RadiatingLight]

SSD upgrade will make a huge difference if you aren't using an SSD already.

The GPU is probably still fine if you're gaming at 1080p, but if you want a gaming performance uplift then you should get a new GPU.

[INurHome]

You are straight up missing an SSD.

 

What's the model of your PSU?

Chris

[i5Wrath]

10 minutes ago, emosun said:

well the machine has no ssd so that'll be a massive bottleneck , but what other diagnostics have you done to determine the need for the upgrade?

 

I noticed when i would try to play with higher settings on games like FFXIV, Conan, Persona 4, i get stutters and freezes. Lowering the settings still leaves much to be desired. I want to be able to run my favorite games at a rocksteady 1080 60fps on high settings. So, the real question is, what's compatible with what i have? If i get an SSD, does it have to be a specific one that will run on an Alienware MOBO?

[i5Wrath]

14 minutes ago, INurHome said:

You are straight up missing an SSD.

 

What's the model of your PSU?

Chris

I have no way of telling. I assume i would have to crack open the case to check? (i no longer have the box it came in)

[Zando_]

Combination of no SSD + having that CPU running stock. RAM config could be an oof too, depending on what the setup for that 8GB is.

[i5Wrath]

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

Combination of no SSD + having that CPU running stock. RAM config could be an oof too, depending on what the setup for that 8GB is.

At that point, i'm considering putting this thing away and building one from scratch. Keep it as an emergency backup.

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, i5Wrath said:

At that point, i'm considering putting this thing away and building one from scratch. Keep it as an emergency backup.

CPU is still solid, at 4.2-4.5Ghz these chips are not noticeably slower than new stuff unless you play at high refresh rates. I ran a 5820K for a good while without issue, I upgraded mostly because I wanted to max out my platform, not that I needed the extra performance. Of course if your motherboard isn't capable of OCing, building a new rig would be worth it. Good X chipset OC boards can often be overpriced, and thus not worth it if you aren't an X[insert number here] platform enthusiast. 

[i5Wrath]

8 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

CPU is still solid, at 4.2-4.5Ghz these chips are not noticeably slower than new stuff unless you play at high refresh rates. I ran a 5820K for a good while without issue, I upgraded mostly because I wanted to max out my platform, not that I needed the extra performance. Of course if your motherboard isn't capable of OCing, building a new rig would be worth it. Good X chipset OC boards can often be overpriced, and thus not worth it if you aren't an X[insert number here] platform enthusiast. 

Definitely would not consider myself to be very enthusiastic about prebuilts in general. Especially not Alienware. This thing is wildly overpriced, you can find it on amazon. Building something of the same strength would literally cost so much less that it seems criminal. I will just build a new one. Too much hassle, too many specifics.