# I want to upgrade my current pc, without having to get a new computer.



## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

Long story short, I have an older PC that I would like to upgrade without breaking the bank, and without having to get an entirely new pc. as I don't have the time, money, or means. I live out in the middle of nowhere, and make only 700 dollars a month to take care of a house, a wife, a daughter, and several animals. SO I am generally strapped.

Anyways I am a gamer, I know that this PC wont ever be on the same league as the Asus G74SX gaming laptop, but I just want something better than stock.

I am willing to upgrade the following and these are my price ranges.

CPU: 20-60 dollars give or take a few
Graphics card: up to 100 dollars.
RAM up to 80 dollars. (However what I have is the best I have yet to find.)
(Well that's pretty much all I know, if you have any suggestions, I would be open to them.)

My PC specs are in the attached .Txt file.

Please refrain from posting comments about how it would be more cost efficient to just get a new computer, or buy a new motherboard or any of that. For me in my situation, it is not the most cost efficient, or easiest route. I am rather attached to my computer, and am only interested in upgrading what I have.

Thank you in advance, look forward to hearing back.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

CPU: No worthwhile upgrade option. Motherboard will support an Athlon XP 3200+ Barton (2.2GHz)
Memory: Looks like you are already maxed out. Not possible to add more.

Graphics: You may add a discrete card. Must be AGP 4x/8x. Suggest a Geforce 6200 (about $50 new. widely available used for dirt cheap)


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

gcavan said:


> CPU: No worthwhile upgrade option. Motherboard will support an Athlon XP 3200+ Barton (2.2GHz)
> Memory: Looks like you are already maxed out. Not possible to add more.
> 
> Graphics: You may add a discrete card. Must be AGP 4x/8x. Suggest a Geforce 6200 (about $50 new. widely available used for dirt cheap)


Thank you,

What is the dedicated video memory of the Geforce 6200?

and how much will it be bottlenecked by my CPU?


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

The 6200 cards had from 64 MB to 256MB. I don't see bottlenecks being an issue.


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

gcavan said:


> The 6200 cards had from 64 MB to 256MB. I don't see bottlenecks being an issue.


Thank you, now do you think this GPU will have issues rendering such games as Homeworld 2, Age of empires 3, Heroes of Might and Magic V or the like? because the integrated one I am stuck with as of right now will not even start them.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

> I live out in the middle of nowhere, and make only 700 dollars a month to take care of a house, a wife, a daughter, and several animals. SO I am generally strapped.


Spending the money on more important things rather then a few upgrades would be a better thought.

The upgrade list will span to a budget that you will not want to pay for. Since the PC is old and looks to be Pre-Built chances are there is both a under wattage and low quality PSU.

A GPU upgrade would assist in gaming but only if the PSU can supply enough power. Make and model number of your PC?

Personally my recommendation is to save the money either for later on or spend it on more important things.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Acmorri said:


> Thank you, now do you think this GPU will have issues rendering such games as Homeworld 2, Age of empires 3, Heroes of Might and Magic V or the like? because the integrated one I am stuck with as of right now will not even start them.


You should be fine for those games. Homeworld2 only requires 256MB of RAM.

Can You RUN It | Can I run that game | Game system requirements


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Spending the money on more important things rather then a few upgrades would be a better thought.
> 
> The upgrade list will span to a budget that you will not want to pay for. Since the PC is old and looks to be Pre-Built chances are there is both a under wattage and low quality PSU.
> 
> ...


I have a custom PSU in it, as for what it is, I don't have memorized and I have too much stuff on my desk to check. lol, but as for pre-built, the hardware is all pre assembled yes, btu I have it all in a custom chassis for breathability.

ANd as for the make and model of the pc it is a Compaq Presario, not sure as to what model though.


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> You should be fine for those games. Homeworld2 only requires 256MB of RAM.
> 
> Can You RUN It | Can I run that game | Game system requirements


do you have any idea as to why anytime I go to launch the game it flashes then just crashes to DT?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Acmorri said:


> I have a custom PSU in it, as for what it is, I don't have memorized and I have too much stuff on my desk to check. lol, but as for pre-built, the hardware is all pre assembled yes, btu I have it all in a custom chassis for breathability.
> 
> ANd as for the make and model of the pc it is a Compaq Presario, not sure as to what model though.


Open up the inside of the case and let me know the make and model number of the PSU.



Acmorri said:


> do you have any idea as to why anytime I go to launch the game it flashes then just crashes to DT?


That could be for a number of reasons.

Have you tried reinstalling?


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Is this your system?

Compaq Presario SR1303WM Desktop PC | HP® Support

Here are some video cards.

Newegg.com - agp video

You also might consider adding a modest-sized hard drive as yours is about full. According to your motherboard specs it can be SATA.


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

PSU is a Thermaltake TR2-340W 
Model: XP550NP

an yes I have tried reinstalling it, numerous times, I run XP SP3 in 32 bit, so running in xp compatability is out of the question, lol. and I can't run as admin, because xp doesn't have that option. I have tried changing resolution to the basic 640X400 adn Still nothing.


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## Acmorri (Sep 16, 2013)

MPR said:


> Is this your system?
> 
> Compaq Presario SR1303WM Desktop PC | HP® Support
> 
> ...


I have six hard drives in it, ranging from 40 gig to 320 gig.
As far as the system goes, yeah that looks pretty close to what it looked like, however I have it in a custom chassis right now. so it's not the original system.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Oh, I was just going my the original specs and a note form Everest that one HDD was full, sorry.

With your current motherboard the 6200 that gcavan recommended is probably the best AGP graphics you can get new now.

EVGA 512-A8-N403-LR GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card - Newegg.com

It appears that your RAM is maxed out.

You have a AMD Sempron(tm) 3000+ and can upgrade to an Athlon XP 3200+ but it's not worth it. Your current CPU has a Passmark score of 410 and the max processor your motherboard can take has a score of 429 -- less than 5% difference.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Acmorri said:


> PSU is a Thermaltake TR2-340W
> Model: XP550NP
> 
> an yes I have tried reinstalling it, numerous times, I run XP SP3 in 32 bit, so running in xp compatability is out of the question, lol. and I can't run as admin, because xp doesn't have that option. I have tried changing resolution to the basic 640X400 adn Still nothing.


The GPU suggested wants a 300W PSU and yours does supply enough.

Just to make sure the PSU is about the fail go into the BIOS and find the voltages.

Let me know of the 12V, 5V, 3.3V and VCORE.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

That PSU says 430W on the label but is in fact an older 350W low quality unit with an added 20+4 pin connector. I would be hesitant to use it with any GPU, even an AGP.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

I've never run an AGP card with more than a 350W PSU, which include Wildcat Pro 3D cards.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

> I have six hard drives in it, ranging from 40 gig to 320 gig.


 
EVGA 512-A8-N403-LR GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card 

Requirements 300 W PSU with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amps.

XP550NP +12V 18 A

Looks like the OP's PSU is a bit shy when it comes to 12 V amps. Also, with six hard drives pulling 12 V as well, a PSU upgrade is warranted if the GPU also is going to be upgraded.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

A system with a 6200 GPU and 6 HDDs should draw roughly 260W (less if any of the drives aren't 7200RPM drives) if everything is running at absolute full load, though a PSU upgrade certainly won't hurt.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

MPR said:


> EVGA 512-A8-N403-LR GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card
> 
> Requirements 300 W PSU with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amps.
> 
> XP550NP +12V 18 A


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Acmorri, I'm only seeing 3 HDDs and a USB flash drive. Did you mean 6 partitions, rather than 6 HDDs?

As for the passive-aggressive re-quote implying my statement was wrong, I guess I'll break out the math:

First, the model number given above, if correct, means the 3 and 4 were transposed and it's a TR2-430W, not a TR2-340W (though the supply will only deliver 350W and 16A on the 12V rail in reality, rather than the advertised 430W/18A). Fortunately, AGP cards run on the 3.3V/5V rail, not the 12V rail.

Second, regardless of the manufacturer recommendations, a standard (non-Pro, as is the case regarding this board/card) AGP slot cannot physically supply more than 1A of 12V power, and the GeForce 6200 has no auxiliary power connectors. That means its max 12V draw is a whopping additional 12W.

I know manufacturer ratings are something of a religion in the hardware section here, but the reality is this machine is highly unlikely to be drawing over 200W* under a max load stress test as currently configured. The maximum increase physically possible by the 6200 is 48W when combining the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V draws. The drives are 36W during seeks. The CPU has a max TDP of 62W.

*The theoretical maximum draw of the HDDs, GPU, and CPU is only 146W, and less than 110W (9A) come from the 12V rail. That leaves 80W for the mainboard, the optical drives, and USB peripherals while still keeping the supply within its highest efficiency range (~200-300W draw) and staying within 16A. That's also assuming absolutely all of the 80W draw is 12V, which would not actually be the case. The above is an entirely unrealistic worst case scenario during 100% load of every single device on the system at once, and it only equals a 226W/16A draw.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Fjandr said:


> Fortunately, AGP cards run on the 3.3V/5V rail, not the 12V rail.


Well, you are right about the voltages.

http://www.playtool.com/pages/agpcompat/agp.html

However, I'm a bit curious as to why EVGA states that their AGP 6200 needs 20 A on the 12 V rail.

(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amps.) 

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=512-a8-n403-lr

EVGA 512-A8-N403-LR GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card - Newegg.com

Newegg states 18A at 12 V

This either is a typo or an AGP board has DC-DC converters to produce the lower voltages from 12 V.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The 6200 is a native PCIe card converted to AGP, it depends on how EVGA implemented the conversion as there are no 6200 nvidia reference cards in the AGP format.

My thought the Hec built TR2 430 PSU is a low quality unit for sure but will probably run a 6200 card at least the psu has protection circuits in it.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

More than likely it's labeled as needing a 20A PSU because that's how all the other cards in that line were labeled. It was probably easier for marketing.

The HEC is definitely not a great PSU, but it does have all the necessary protections. Really the only thing it's lacking is power factor correction. It was built right on the verge of the change from 5V-reliant circuits and 12V-reliant ones. The 5V side is actually over-built at the component level.


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