Upgrading desktop PC.

Chocostarr

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Hi avforums people,

Ok so I got a gaming computer a few months ago but I have to set every option on low/disabled on all the games I play on, and I'm not surprised because it's a low budget computer but now I want to upgrade it. I don't know much about computers so please bear with me. I ordered it on Irelands Specialist Custom Gaming & Professional Desktop & Laptop PC Builders www.CUSTOMPC.ie- Available Direct From Irelands Gaming PC Specialists www.CUSTOMPC.ie and my budget is around 250 euros.

Here are the specs:

AMD A6 5400/6400K Black Edition Gaming Desktop PC - Zalman Z11 Plus Midi Tower with Blue Leds
Processor CPU: AMD A6 6400K 4.1Ghz 2 Core Black Edition
CPU Cooling: AMD Fan Cooled
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz Corsair (4GBx1)
Motherboard: Asus A55BM-A with USB 3.0 Support
SSD Hard Disk: Optional Extra
Hard Disk 1: 500GB Sata Hard Disk
Hard Disk 2: Optional Extra
Optical Drive: LiteOn 24X DVD Rewriter
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD7540D with HDMI
Sound Card: Realtek 8 Channel HD Audio
Wireless: 300 MBPS Wifi Included
Power Supply: 500 Watt ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Office Software: Open Office Suite PreInstalled
AntiVirus Software: AVG AntiVirus Free Edition
Keyboard: Zalman KM-K350 Multimedia
Mouse: Optional Extra
Warranty: 2 Year Warranty with 1 Year Collect & Return
Monitor: AOC 21.5" LED Monitor with Cable

I look forward hearing from you soon.

Regards,
Kealan (Chocostarr)
 
You haven't explicitly stated any question, I'm assuming you're asking which would be the optimal components to replace within budget to improve gaming performance.

Can you take the side off the case and see how much power the power supply provides at +12V? While you're there it's also worth checking to see what PCI-Express power connectors the power supply has. If you're lucky it may say on the label (or if it's a good brand provide a model number you can look up) but otherwise have a look through the cables coming out of it:
All about the various PC power supply cables and connectors

As well as being a poor gaming PC it's also a poor starting point for a gaming PC as all of the CPUs on that motherboard have lots of money spent on their integrated graphics which is just wasted for gaming machines with separate graphics cards. I suspect it will work out better to keep it and go for the best CPU available for it than replace it and get a CPU that's half the price. Your best bet for that motherboard is probably the Athlon II X4 860K but if that's too expensive or not available (It's only just trickling out now) you may end up with the slightly slower 700 models.

You also want a new graphics card. Something like an R9 270 is probably a good choice on that budget, although I'm not familiar with Irish prices so an overclocked 750ti or R7 265 may be a more realistic choice.

The single slow memory stick is currently hampering memory performance for the integrated graphics but those aspects will be much less of a performance influence with a seperate graphics card. I would consider upgrading the capacity to 8GB though by adding a second 4GB stick as games are starting to use more than 4GB but that'll have much less of an impact than a new CPU and graphics card.
 
Thank you so much for your help, you meant gtx 750ti or just gt 750ti ?
 
+12V1 : 24A and 408 W
+12V2 : 21A and 408 W
and i believe the PCI-Express looks like a 4 pin peripheral power cable
 
and i believe the PCI-Express looks like a 4 pin peripheral power cable

No, that was the old drive connector. PCI-Express connectors have six or eight pins in two rows. You can get adapters to convert from 4-pin peripheral (aka Molex) connectors but given your power supply has a reasonable rating I'd be surprised if it didn't have the proper connectors.
 
If you want to buy from there I'd go for the Palit StormX Dual 750ti, which is cheaper, faster and gets good reviews for it's quietness.

It may also be worth going up to the 750k on the processor, it's around 10% faster and 10% more expensive.

Finally, you could grab an 4GB DDR3-1600 stick of memory and stay within the original €250 budget.

Although I've just had a thought. Is the wireless on your computer an internal card using the second slot? If so then you'd either need to replace it with an external USB one or hunt around for a single slot graphics card because the third slot is the wrong type and your motherboard doesn't have a fourth slot. Assuming you use it of course.
 
I guess I'll just use an ethernet cable.

I can't thank enough for all the time you took out of your day to help me. Thank you again and have a good rest of the day.
 

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