Old PC - Worth Being Upgraded?

Locha

Good Day,
I would like to ask you a question fellow members.

I have this motherboard :
http://www.mercury-pc.com/product-detail.php?link=p-mainboards&subtitle=Mainboard&productid=748#

and this CPU:
http://ark.intel.com/products/27114/Intel-Celeron-D-Processor-330J-%28256K-Cache-2_66-GHz-533-MHz-FSB%29

With 2Gb Ram and a 256 Mb Radeon Graphic Card
Is it worth it to be upgraded? And what do you suggest?
Thank you.

yasamoka

the pentium D @3GHz is already badly bottlenecking a 9600GT...and i mean causing maybe 50-60% loss in performance...if you want to upgrade then your choices are already limited to 8500GT and the AMD Radeon equivalent and below.

What are you using the PC for?

Locha

Nothing special ... But found out that it can be upgraded to a core 2 duo cpu as mentioned in the data sheet of the motherboard as well as the graphic card can be upgraded since it's a PCI Express ...

So what do you suggest ?

yasamoka

If it's an everyday pc, then you could probably find a core 2 duo being sold used for REALLY cheap...and if you're not gaming or rendering, why do you need a graphics card?

Sami27

Get an i3-2100 for 120$ or i5-2500 for 215$. Couple those with an ECS H61H2-M3 for 65$ and Kingston 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz Ram for 27$.
For a total of either 212$ or 317$ for a total system upgrade. The Intel 2000 Integrated Graphics are probably equal or better than your 256MB Radeon but if you need to upgrade your video card, then I would suggest the MSI R6570 Radeon HD 6570 (Low-end) for 105$ or the Gigabyte GV-N560OC-1GI 560 Ti (High-end) for 270$.

Locha

I sometimes use it for rendering videos and for some graphics Yasamoka ... Do you have any place in mind where can i find core 2 duo cpus ?

Sami27, As you can notice, the data sheet says that this motherboard doesnt handle i3 or i5 cpus because of the socket...

So what do you say ?

yasamoka

@Sami27: a 560Ti on an ECS H61 is a very bad idea. Firstly due to ECS not being a REALLY good supplier of motherboards, and second (and most importantly) the limitations of such a low end chipset (H61) that's not meant for such configs. A 560Ti on a Core i3 is also a bad idea too. He would probably need overclocking with a config having a good graphics card, and non P67 boards offer no overclocking at all with K series CPUs. So for such a graphics card, one would need a suiting system so as to not run into any bottlenecks / limitations.

@Locha: Sami27 said you could get a Core i3 / i5 with an H61 board if you're looking for a work PC / common PC. He's right on track with the budget. But such a rig would never allow you to flex a graphics card's muscles. The H61 board recommended has LGA1155. But I would suggest you seriously research boards with that chipset (H61), especially ECS, before thinking of getting one.

Other than that, a quick upgrade that boosts things here and there would be to get a low-end core 2 duo and OC it yourself (if your board supports such features), and increase RAM. If you're not going for gaming, drop the dedicated graphics card. Older cards models are not worth it, considering you could get used HD4870's for what, $80 - $100 (on pcandparts.com used section).

Now if you're going for gaming, you're fast running into a bottleneck even with a heavily overclocked Core 2 Duo if you're planning on going for anything higher than a GTS 450 / GTX 550Ti. You would need a fresh system then. Or you could check whether your board could support Core 2 Quads with a BIOS update. That would be a better proposition than a Core 2 Duo, provided you could find one for a close price.

EDIT: just reread your last post. If you're into much rendering, I recommend you go for a new system. Something like a Z68 chipset with a Core i5 2500K / Core i7 2600K with QuickSync would accelerate those workjobs rapidly. Your call.

Sami27

The H67 motherboard was not meant for the graphic card option. I just suggested one so that he could use the integrated graphics if needed without a use of an external card. For that a P67 or Z68 is preferred.

Locha

@Yasamoka First of all, thanks for your answers. All i want to say that I have a motherboard which am not planning to change and its gonna be a working pc ... I just wondered which kind of Core 2 Duo CPUs i can find to upgrade and which kind of Graphic Cards can I substitute my Graphic Card since the Motherboard has a PCI Express Slot ...

AvoK95

as Sami27 said you should buy an i3 pc
i had a dual core ...and i sold it and bought an i3 , and i NEVER regretted it

yasamoka

AvoK95 wroteas Sami27 said you should buy an i3 pc
i had a dual core ...and i sold it and bought an i3 , and i NEVER regretted it

Yes Avo but the i3 benefits you more because you have a dedicated graphics card...shouldn't change the Windows experience too much though, should it?

Beej

1st i dont think this board supports 45nm cpus!
So any 45nm C2D is out of the question.
Am rocking a gtx 460 accompanied by a e5400 cpu, and am fine (attention FINE). From benchmarks, i know am only getting less than 40% of the gpu in some games.
Trust me a i3 2100 with h61 is all u need, if you want a cheap fast upgrade. Games will be affected, but you can only see windows experience at best is by getting an SSD. Surely the pc will be more responsive duo to faster proc/ram, but an ssd is another feeling.
Note that regardless of the manufacturer, here being ECS which HAD bad reputation and now is getting better, well your buying a board just to upgrade thats all. You dont need extra feature, or better power delivery since you are not able to oc in the 1st place. So your set, remember that board only have 2 slots, so fill em up in a smart way (get 8g ram). And a 460 is a good choice of a gpu, dont mind botlenecks or whatever, you will be fine. Its not like a game runs 60fps on an i5/i7 and run 25 on an i3... No the difference is small.

Anyway good luck with purchase.

yasamoka

Beej wrote1st i dont think this board supports 45nm cpus!
So any 45nm C2D is out of the question.
Am rocking a gtx 460 accompanied by a e5400 cpu, and am fine (attention FINE). From benchmarks, i know am only getting less than 40% of the gpu in some games.
Trust me a i3 2100 with h61 is all u need, if you want a cheap fast upgrade. Games will be affected, but you can only see windows experience at best is by getting an SSD. Surely the pc will be more responsive duo to faster proc/ram, but an ssd is another feeling.
Note that regardless of the manufacturer, here being ECS which HAD bad reputation and now is getting better, well your buying a board just to upgrade thats all. You dont need extra feature, or better power delivery since you are not able to oc in the 1st place. So your set, remember that board only have 2 slots, so fill em up in a smart way (get 8g ram). And a 460 is a good choice of a gpu, dont mind botlenecks or whatever, you will be fine. Its not like a game runs 60fps on an i5/i7 and run 25 on an i3... No the difference is small.

Anyway good luck with purchase.

Just for notes, I didn't mean Windows Experience Index, hence no capital letters except in Windows. I meant the Windows experience itself. Moving around the OS, browsing, surfing the internet, etc...

About the dual cores issue...well Dragon Age Origins ran 75% faster on a Quad Core compared to the same-clock Dual Core. If you're going for a 460, you might as well pay the 70-100$ difference and at least get an i5. Games are all moving forward to Quad Core. There may be some games coming forward that repeat history, or even surpass it.

About ECS: well in all cases I guess board quality does matter, even with H61. I mean, he does want the board to last, be stable, not overheat, support a bit of upgrades here and there, is it not so?