Upgrade / Buy New?

Blake1066

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After being out of the PC world for a few years, I'm getting back into gaming. I'm only going to use it occasionally as I'm not a hardcore gamer. I still like the older FPS games, but also go for some of the newer ones (Battlefield, COD, Sniper, etc.). Should I just buy a new one, or is it easier and more cost efficient to upgrade my old gaming machine (Asus A8N SLI Premium with 2GB RAM (easy to upgrade) and an nVidia 8800GT video card (I saw some older posts recommending a 9600GT)). All (relevant) opinions appreciated. So, what say you's?
 
^^ that, as well. There is absolutely nothing at all whatsoever that can be salvaged from that rig. You see, the hardware manufacturers have completely discontinued all support for those particular components many years ago. That means that you might not be able to access the Web with that system without risking malware and ransomware attacks because the hardware manufacturers are no longer issuing even security patches for those components.

And anything that's even relatively recent (GPU-wise) will be seriously bottlenecked by the 18-year-old CPU.

Worst of all, the cost of any upgrades, if such parts could be purchased new, would cost you far more money than their performance improvement would justify.

And that is all because the entire PC hardware industry is locked into the "planned obsolescence" support model.
 
A brand new user, out of the gaming world for a "few" years asking if a 15+ year old system will run todays games. Flags are rising the poles.
 
Yep, it's time to retire the old girl.

If you need help piecing a new rig together let us know what your budget is and what res you would like to play at. We'll get you started off in the right direction ;)
I didn't really want to, but I get it. And yes, I'll take any advice / suggestions - without breaking the bank.
 
^^ that, as well. There is absolutely nothing at all whatsoever that can be salvaged from that rig. You see, the hardware manufacturers have completely discontinued all support for those particular components many years ago. That means that you might not be able to access the Web with that system without risking malware and ransomware attacks because the hardware manufacturers are no longer issuing even security patches for those components.

And anything that's even relatively recent (GPU-wise) will be seriously bottlenecked by the 18-year-old CPU.

Worst of all, the cost of any upgrades, if such parts could be purchased new, would cost you far more money than their performance improvement would justify.

And that is all because the entire PC hardware industry is locked into the "planned obsolescence" support model.
Thanks! And yes, I get it, but I was hopeful. I did some research for used parts, but as I'm sure you know, you don't know what you're getting.
 
A brand new user, out of the gaming world for a "few" years asking if a 15+ year old system will run todays games. Flags are rising the poles.
Ah yes, the paranoid, conspiracy theorists can't even resist this type of group. Sad. Edit: for the record, I didn't ask if my 15+ year old machine would run todays games. I clearly wrote, "... older FPS games", along with newer (Battlefield, COD, and Sniper), which have run just fine on the machine.
 
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maybe he just got divorced...
haha - no, she wishes - lol. i switched careers and have been focused on that until I got established and anchored - finally. only had time to play the old games (FarCry 1 is still my favorite) once in a while since everything was just sitting there ready to go. i just like to load them up and play campaign, i'm not much of an online gamer.
 
I didn't really want to, but I get it. And yes, I'll take any advice / suggestions - without breaking the bank.
As your likely well aware, the core of your gaming rig is your gpu. That's where I would start researching. I would start with Nvidias 3060ti/3070ti and AMDs 6700xt/6800 level cards and see how they pair up with your current monitors res. If your going to upgrade that (monitor) as well, you can adjust both up or down to match what your aiming for performance wise. A 1080, 1440 or 4k monitor is up to you but they can get stooopid expensive. I would shoot for something 1080, high refresh to keep cost's down for now.
CPU, MB, memory and a good SSD or m.2 can all be had very reasonably. Your PSU will come down to what your CPU and PSU require wattage wise. Good ones can get expensive right now but there are solid deals out there.

Anyhow, figure out what your GPUs price zone is and we can get more specific with the rest of your gear.

*Used gear can save you some loot but tbh I would go with new until you gain access to the fs/t section here. Trust becomes an issue elsewhere unfortunately.
 
As your likely well aware, the core of your gaming rig is your gpu. That's where I would start researching. I would start with Nvidias 3060ti/3070ti and AMDs 6700xt/6800 level cards and see how they pair up with your current monitors res. If your going to upgrade that (monitor) as well, you can adjust both up or down to match what your aiming for performance wise. A 1080, 1440 or 4k monitor is up to you but they can get stooopid expensive. I would shoot for something 1080, high refresh to keep cost's down for now.
CPU, MB, memory and a good SSD or m.2 can all be had very reasonably. Your PSU will come down to what your CPU and PSU require wattage wise. Good ones can get expensive right now but there are solid deals out there.

Anyhow, figure out what your GPUs price zone is and we can get more specific with the rest of your gear.

*Used gear can save you some loot but tbh I would go with new until you gain access to the fs/t section here. Trust becomes an issue elsewhere unfortunately.
Thx! Lots to think about, and research (I saw the 3060 for $380 on TD). And yes, I noticed the ridiculously expensive monitors. I stopped looking after seeing a 27" LED monitor I was interested in, I just didn't pull the trigger. When it comes to buying, my mantra is, "There'll always be another one." And to be fair, I "could" buy a rig for a grand or so, I just don't want to drop that kind of money for one, especially since it's not going to get every day / other day use - "maybe" 1 or 2 weekends a month. And I already have a basic "office" machine. With that in mind, is it better to just buy an off the shelf rig somewhere (NewEgg, TD), or still build one, only with lower end components? As for buying a used rig - it's tempting, but who knows what's on the machine, or if they've put some backdoor spying crap in it (yes, that's my version of paranoid, conspiracy theory - lol).
 
As your likely well aware, the core of your gaming rig is your gpu. That's where I would start researching. I would start with Nvidias 3060ti/3070ti and AMDs 6700xt/6800 level cards and see how they pair up with your current monitors res. If your going to upgrade that (monitor) as well, you can adjust both up or down to match what your aiming for performance wise. A 1080, 1440 or 4k monitor is up to you but they can get stooopid expensive. I would shoot for something 1080, high refresh to keep cost's down for now.
CPU, MB, memory and a good SSD or m.2 can all be had very reasonably. Your PSU will come down to what your CPU and PSU require wattage wise. Good ones can get expensive right now but there are solid deals out there.

Anyhow, figure out what your GPUs price zone is and we can get more specific with the rest of your gear.

*Used gear can save you some loot but tbh I would go with new until you gain access to the fs/t section here. Trust becomes an issue elsewhere unfortunately.
I'm saying poor advice. Has OP's CPU been mentioned yet?
But ya drop in a 3070ti in a 2GB system? WTF are you thinking?
 
After being out of the PC world for a few years, I'm getting back into gaming. I'm only going to use it occasionally as I'm not a hardcore gamer. I still like the older FPS games, but also go for some of the newer ones (Battlefield, COD, Sniper, etc.). Should I just buy a new one, or is it easier and more cost efficient to upgrade my old gaming machine (Asus A8N SLI Premium with 2GB RAM (easy to upgrade) and an nVidia 8800GT video card (I saw some older posts recommending a 9600GT)). All (relevant) opinions appreciated. So, what say you's?
Yes get your RAM up and drop in a AMD 480/580 4/8GB or an Nvidia 1060 3/6GB and move over to a SSD OS drive, if not already, and enjoy yourself.
 
Ah yes, the paranoid, conspiracy theorists can't even resist this type of group. Sad. Edit: for the record, I didn't ask if my 15+ year old machine would run todays games. I clearly wrote, "... older FPS games", along with newer (Battlefield, COD, and Sniper), which have run just fine on the machine.
Conspiracy theorists have a good track record of being right. Also when you say "newer" BF or COD games it eludes to current day release versions which your system doesn't have a prayer of running.
I'm saying poor advice. Has OP's CPU been mentioned yet?
But ya drop in a 3070ti in a 2GB system? WTF are you thinking?
Mobo manual suggest max of the AMD Athlon 64 FX/Opteron era. IE, toss in dumpster.
 
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I'm saying poor advice. Has OP's CPU been mentioned yet?
But ya drop in a 3070ti in a 2GB system? WTF are you thinking?
Lol riiight.
Try to keep up funky... couldn't get past the op before drunk posting or what man? 😆
Apparently reading comprehension isn't a strong suit tonight...
 
Blake1066

What is your budget for a new system?
To be honest, I don't really have one. I originally thought I could just upgrade the old system, which would be no big deal money wise. I mentioned above that I could drop $1k on a system, but I just don't see the need since I won't be using it that often, one or two weekends a month "maybe". Obviously I don't want to just throw money out the window, but it sounds like I'm going to have to start from scratch if I build one, which was why I asked about buying a no frills, but functional rig. Or just buy low end and upgrade accordingly.
 
To be honest, I don't really have one. I originally thought I could just upgrade the old system, which would be no big deal money wise. I mentioned above that I could drop $1k on a system, but I just don't see the need since I won't be using it that often, one or two weekends a month "maybe". Obviously I don't want to just throw money out the window, but it sounds like I'm going to have to start from scratch if I build one, which was why I asked about buying a no frills, but functional rig. Or just buy low end and upgrade accordingly.
Check out slickdeals.net and keep an eye out on the forums for a rig or piece some parts together. They often post deals on nice enough pre-built systems. The real cost is the video card nowadays in a system.

You should be able to get a 2tb sata ssd ($80), amd 5700G cpu with integrated half decent graphics for your needs ($140), 16gb ddr4 ($50-60), a cheap am4 mobo ($100), and whatever case you want, and be set enough.
 
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if you get your post count up you could grab a combo in the fs/t forum
something like:

"Asus Z170-A Motherboard
Intel i5 6600k
GSkill Trident Z 2x8gig (16gig ) DDR4 DDR3200 CL-16-16-16-36
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo"

for $130 that isnt too shabby of a starting point.
 
if you get your post count up you could grab a combo in the fs/t forum
something like:

"Asus Z170-A Motherboard
Intel i5 6600k
GSkill Trident Z 2x8gig (16gig ) DDR4 DDR3200 CL-16-16-16-36
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo"

for $130 that isnt too shabby of a starting point.
Jeez, forget what i just said... If he's willing to go used, that kind of combo is a steal.
 
if you get your post count up you could grab a combo in the fs/t forum
something like:

"Asus Z170-A Motherboard
Intel i5 6600k
GSkill Trident Z 2x8gig (16gig ) DDR4 DDR3200 CL-16-16-16-36
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo"

for $130 that isnt too shabby of a starting point.
Do you know how many posts the OP will need to get access to the For Sale/Trade forum? That is a legitimately amazing deal. I can't even buy a new Raspberry Pi 4 for that cheap in 2023.

With that in hand, he basically just needs to get:
- case
- thermal grease
- psu
- gpu
- ssd (SATA or M2)
- optical drive (optional, but he might be able to save $$ by buying a Win 11 DVD - alternatively this might be one thing that he can swap out of his existing build assuming that it uses SATA and not those old IDE ribbon cables)
- Win 11 OEM (pro or home)
- USB keyboard + mouse (if he's coming from a 2005 era computer the old ps/2 peripherals probably won't work on new motherboards)
- Monitor if needed

I think that could be easily kept under $1,000. I am kind of thinking that the 3060 might be the sweet-spot to go with that i5 6600K, I can't see the 3060 getting too bottlenecked especially if he picks up a 1440p monitor. I probably wouldn't recommend going over a 3070 with that cpu.
 
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Jeez, forget what i just said... If he's willing to go used, that kind of combo is a steal.
Both good options, thx! I didn't see anything about buying from fs/t, only 100 to post, so I'm not sure if it applies. I'm still looking.
 
if you get your post count up you could grab a combo in the fs/t forum
something like:

"Asus Z170-A Motherboard
Intel i5 6600k
GSkill Trident Z 2x8gig (16gig ) DDR4 DDR3200 CL-16-16-16-36
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo"

for $130 that isnt too shabby of a starting point.
Good info, thx! It says local pick-up, or ship on my dime. Not sure what shipping would be. Large USPS flat rate maybe.
 
Do you know how many posts the OP will need to get access to the For Sale/Trade forum? That is a legitimately amazing deal. I can't even buy a new Raspberry Pi 4 for that cheap in 2023.

With that in hand, he basically just needs to get:
- case
- thermal grease
- psu
- gpu
- ssd (SATA or M2)
- optical drive (optional, but he might be able to save $$ by buying a Win 11 DVD - alternatively this might be one thing that he can swap out of his existing build assuming that it uses SATA and not those old IDE ribbon cables)
- Win 11 OEM (pro or home)
- USB keyboard + mouse (if he's coming from a 2005 era computer the old ps/2 peripherals probably won't work on new motherboards)
- Monitor if needed

I think that could be easily kept under $1,000. I am kind of thinking that the 3060 might be the sweet-spot to go with that i5 6600K, I can't see the 3060 getting too bottlenecked especially if he picks up a 1440p monitor. I probably wouldn't recommend going over a 3070 with that cpu.
More great info, thx! I have the case (just need to check compat.) and USB (was considering upgrading to wireless). I also have grease somewhere, but it may not be any good 15+ years later, and new won't break the bank. And you can't go wrong with more power and a better monitor.
 
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Do you know how many posts the OP will need to get access to the For Sale/Trade forum?
100, but he doesnt seem in much of a rush

Good info, thx! It says local pick-up, or ship on my dime. Not sure what shipping would be. Large USPS flat rate maybe.
it depends on the seller. if you get your post count up to 100 you can use the fs/t and your used options open up.
 
If the OP doesn't plan on using the machine that often, no sense in dumping a ton of money into it. You could get a used Dell like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195465395666

Slap a drive in it and off you go. The only issue with a system like this is the proprietary PSU prevents you from using video cards that need external power. So something like a GTX 1050 Ti is about as high as you can go without rigging something up.
 
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if you get your post count up you could grab a combo in the fs/t forum
something like:

"Asus Z170-A Motherboard
Intel i5 6600k
GSkill Trident Z 2x8gig (16gig ) DDR4 DDR3200 CL-16-16-16-36
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo"

for $130 that isnt too shabby of a starting point.
Agreed. So much so that parts are inbound. Now I just need to pick out a comparable GPU, and eventually a newer monitor to match. Oh, and I want to upgrade the power supply at some point too.
 
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Wowza, that rig is almost as old as these forums. 😁
That was when PCI-e was still in its infancy, and DDR1 RAM was still common. PCI-e 1.0, which that system has, will heavily bottleneck almost all of the newer GPUs that are currently on the market. And good luck finding even used DDR1 RAM modules larger than 1 GB in size.
 
Even granma would be mad with those specs and all she does is check Facebook and emails 😂 you'd be getting phone calls saying come fix it when it's running full potential hah
 
I think buying used is okay - sometimes a really good idea if it works out. Of course, you can always get a dud and then you're mad afterwards.
Buying new - power supplies, motherboards* - you can sometimes get a good deal from a used motherboard - but, it's more risky with bent pins and you don't know what someone did with theirs - OC-ing etc. is fine if they knew what they were doing. Graphics cards new - are really expensive - some say, overpriced - and the generation sometimes doesn't last very long (in stock/at retail outlets) - you can get a good deal on used cards that are only 1 or 2 years old - again - as long as they were treated/operated well - and there's no mining craze or other situation that inflated prices - or impacted stock or availability.
But, sometimes, you want peace of mind and buying used is better for ensuring full warranty and being able to return it - also, there's more choices, obviously.
 
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