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    PC upgrade advice

    Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
    in The Sims 3 Help & Technical Discussion
    My budget is tight so I can only upgrade a little at a time and my pc is old and tired. So far I've upgraded the power supply to a Corsair CX500M and the graphics to a GTX 950. So where do I go from here? Ram, motherboard, processor, something else? I own (and would like to play) every sims 3 ep, sp and a lot of the store. How much do you think it's safe to install on my current setup?
    Also any advice on not frying my graphics card much appreciated (I've been using a GT210 for the past year cos every better card I buy dies but the 210 keeps on going lol)

    Currently have:
    Hp p6210uk, AMD quad core 620 2.6 GHz, 4 gb ram.

    Comments

    • Options
      Colton147147Colton147147 Posts: 10,454 Member
      Is this your desktop?
      http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c01891666

      The biggest motherboard I'd go with is microATX.

      If you are wanting to go with AMD as your CPU, I recommend waiting for Zen to make its arrival. :)

      Intel's Skylake CPUs only work on Z170 motherboards. AMD's current CPUs, Vishera, only work on Vishera-type motherboards (I forgot what it was called...).

      For upgrading the RAM, I'd go with RAM that is either Corsair, Crucial, G. Skill, or Kingston. Upgrade to around 8GB (2x4GB sticks).

      Notifying...
      @chesterbigbird
      @phoebebebe13
      Your Justine Keaton Enthusiast and the Voice of the Sims Community.
    • Options
      Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
      Colton147147 wrote: »
      Is this your desktop?
      http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c01891666

      Yes. That looks right :)

      I'm afraid the rest of what you said (apart from going with 2x4gb ram sticks) went completely above my head. I can follow instructions and make pieces fit together but I'm not very tech savvy.

      I've no preference as to brand of cpu and I understand that ultimately all that will remain of the original pc is a cable. I'll be buying a part every month or so but don't want to mess up and get something that won't work with the power supply and graphics card. I'm also happy to smile at ram etc that 's sitting in a box that I can't use until I upgrade the case, motherboard, processor.... but I'll be happier if I can purchase the parts in a usable order.

      And thank you for taking the time to answer my post :smiley:
    • Options
      Colton147147Colton147147 Posts: 10,454 Member
      Thursday10pm wrote: »
      Yes. That looks right :)

      I'm afraid the rest of what you said (apart from going with 2x4gb ram sticks) went completely above my head. I can follow instructions and make pieces fit together but I'm not very tech savvy.

      I've no preference as to brand of cpu and I understand that ultimately all that will remain of the original pc is a cable. I'll be buying a part every month or so but don't want to mess up and get something that won't work with the power supply and graphics card. I'm also happy to smile at ram etc that 's sitting in a box that I can't use until I upgrade the case, motherboard, processor.... but I'll be happier if I can purchase the parts in a usable order.

      And thank you for taking the time to answer my post :smiley:

      I recommend waiting for @chesterbigbird. :)
      Your Justine Keaton Enthusiast and the Voice of the Sims Community.
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Thursday10pm wrote: »
      My budget is tight so I can only upgrade a little at a time and my pc is old and tired. So far I've upgraded the power supply to a Corsair CX500M and the graphics to a GTX 950. So where do I go from here? Ram, motherboard, processor, something else? I own (and would like to play) every sims 3 ep, sp and a lot of the store. How much do you think it's safe to install on my current setup?
      Also any advice on not frying my graphics card much appreciated (I've been using a GT210 for the past year cos every better card I buy dies but the 210 keeps on going lol)

      Currently have:
      Hp p6210uk, AMD quad core 620 2.6 GHz, 4 gb ram.

      Honestly the pc is old, If you were intending on upgrading more then just the power supply and graphics card then i probably would of saved and brought a new pc.
      I would absolutely hate putting a motherboard.. cpu and more ram into that case. They are not intended to be gaming computers and lack the proper ventilation and cooling and space for good upgrades.
      If you were to upgrade the motherboard that would mean a new cpu and new ram, so i would probably just think about buying a new case.
      Example of basic (but very good.) Budget case :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
      Cpu :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117564
      Motherboard:
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130892

      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,828 Member
      The i5 6400 can't be overclocked since Intel recently put a stop to that I believe. Z170 motherboards are for overclocking. Unless you're buying a Z170 board for any extra features or future overclockable skylake CPUs then it makes no sense to pair the two.

      H170 & H110 are for non overclockable skylake CPUs. You can mix the two but I just wanted to point that out.
      i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
      S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
      S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
    • Options
      Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
      @chesterbigbird thank you that's exactly what I needed. I know she's old and needs to be completely replaced, I've had her for the better part of 7 years and logic says save for a brand new pc.

      And I save like mad and then a kid comes along and says "Mam, I need money for college fees", or "I need money for a school trip" and my pc fund is empty again. It's more time consuming and more confusing and frustrating (and most likely more expensive) but if I buy a part at a time I will eventually arrive at a new pc.

      The parts you've mentioned is the information I'm looking for. Thank you. I don't care if they won't fit yet but I can't spend the money twice :)



    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Simasaurus09 wrote: »
      The i5 6400 can't be overclocked since Intel recently put a stop to that I believe. Z170 motherboards are for overclocking. Unless you're buying a Z170 board for any extra features or future overclockable skylake CPUs then it makes no sense to pair the two.

      H170 & H110 are for non overclockable skylake CPUs. You can mix the two but I just wanted to point that out.

      LOL they are just examples.
      The msi board is a cheap but good full sized ATX board.
      Yes you could go with the cheaper :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130918
      But it is Micro and i don't like to recommend them.
      You can really pair what you like.. as long as its compatible and within budget, The Msi board is the cheaper of the full sized boards.




      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Thursday10pm wrote: »
      @chesterbigbird thank you that's exactly what I needed. I know she's old and needs to be completely replaced, I've had her for the better part of 7 years and logic says save for a brand new pc.

      And I save like mad and then a kid comes along and says "Mam, I need money for college fees", or "I need money for a school trip" and my pc fund is empty again. It's more time consuming and more confusing and frustrating (and most likely more expensive) but if I buy a part at a time I will eventually arrive at a new pc.

      The parts you've mentioned is the information I'm looking for. Thank you. I don't care if they won't fit yet but I can't spend the money twice :)



      Nothing wrong with buying one part at a time.. its probably how most people can actually afford their own gaming pc.
      If you buy that motherboard,cpu, ram and a new case and throw in the parts you already have.. then its basically a new pc.
      The best part of getting you out of that HP case and into something new is you are free to upgrade without allot of size and overheating issues.
      When you have enough money to buy a part or multiple parts.. PM me and i'll help you further. :)

      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,828 Member
      edited February 2016
      chesterbigbird wrote: »
      Simasaurus09 wrote: »
      The i5 6400 can't be overclocked since Intel recently put a stop to that I believe. Z170 motherboards are for overclocking. Unless you're buying a Z170 board for any extra features or future overclockable skylake CPUs then it makes no sense to pair the two.

      H170 & H110 are for non overclockable skylake CPUs. You can mix the two but I just wanted to point that out.

      LOL they are just examples.
      The msi board is a cheap but good full sized ATX board.
      Yes you could go with the cheaper :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130918
      But it is Micro and i don't like to recommend them.
      You can really pair what you like.. as long as its compatible and within budget, The Msi board is the cheaper of the full sized boards.



      No doubt, that is a great deal on the ATX board.

      H170 should be a bit cheaper normally vs Z170 unless it's a great sale like you posted. I'm just saying unless there is a sale, or the builder plans on upgrading to a unlocked CPU later, the Z170 + locked CPU is not necessary. Yes it's all compatible.
      Post edited by SimplyJen on
      i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
      S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
      S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Simasaurus09 wrote: »
      chesterbigbird wrote: »
      Simasaurus09 wrote: »
      The i5 6400 can't be overclocked since Intel recently put a stop to that I believe. Z170 motherboards are for overclocking. Unless you're buying a Z170 board for any extra features or future overclockable skylake CPUs then it makes no sense to pair the two.

      H170 & H110 are for non overclockable skylake CPUs. You can mix the two but I just wanted to point that out.

      LOL they are just examples.
      The msi board is a cheap but good full sized ATX board.
      Yes you could go with the cheaper :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130918
      But it is Micro and i don't like to recommend them.
      You can really pair what you like.. as long as its compatible and within budget, The Msi board is the cheaper of the full sized boards.



      No doubt, that is a great deal on the ATX board.

      H170 should be a bit cheaper normally vs Z170 unless it's a great sale like you posted. I'm just saying unless there is a sale, or the builder plans on upgrading to a unlocked CPU later, the Z170 + locked CPU is not necessary. Yes it's all compatible.

      LOL your not telling me something i don't already know, I search by price and quality, and thats a good price for that board.
      I did not recommend a better cpu because i don't think the OP needs it.
      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
      Thanks chesterbigbird :)
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Thursday10pm wrote: »
      Thanks chesterbigbird :)

      Your Welcome ;)
      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      dx1965dx1965 Posts: 335 Member
      edited February 2016
      I am in similar boat but my system is bit newer it's a Hewlett-Packard System Model: p7-1050t Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G620 @ 2.60GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz Memory: 4096MB RAM
      graphics is AMD Radeon HD 6450 which is not on sims 3 compatibility list.
      Not sure what I am going to do but I know I am going to have do something sooner or later.
      But I am not very knowledgeable about the subject.
      I thought about just maybe getting more ram and new video card but I have been told install video card can bit more complex that just open up the case and putting it in depending on the motherboard.
      I like your idea of just buying little bits at time. I am just not sure yet what I can do.
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      dx1965 wrote: »
      I am in similar boat but my system is bit newer it's a Hewlett-Packard System Model: p7-1050t Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G620 @ 2.60GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz Memory: 4096MB RAM
      graphics is AMD Radeon HD 6450 which is not on sims 3 compatibility list.
      Not sure what I am going to do but I know I am going to have do something sooner or later.
      But I am not very knowledgeable about the subject.
      I thought about just maybe getting more ram and new video card but I have been told install video card can bit more complex that just open up the case and putting it in depending on the motherboard.
      I like your idea of just buying little bits at time. I am just not sure yet what I can do.
      Hi :)
      You will also need to replace your power supply before you can add another graphics card.
      Your pc only has a 250 Watt power supply so its not enough to power a newer card.
      I'm assuming you have a 64 bit windows? If so then i would also upgrade the ram to 8GB. If you only have 32 Bit then you will need to upgrade to 64 Bit.
      But you only have a dual core cpu which is on the lower end of things, So there will be a limit to what graphics card you can add before bottlenecking comes into play. (graphics card too strong for cpu.)
      For a power supply you might need something compact such as :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171094
      For a graphics card you will also need something low profile and something will not cause much of a bottleneck such as :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202165
      Or
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500349
      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,828 Member
      edited February 2016
      @chesterbigbird I wasn't trying to insult you. I was just putting that out there for the OP. Yes it all depends on sales. No a overclocked CPU is not what I was suggesting the OP buy. :/
      i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
      S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
      S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Simasaurus09 wrote: »
      @chesterbigbird I wasn't trying to insult you. I was just putting that out there for the OP. Yes it all depends on sales. No a overclocked CPU is not what I was suggesting the OP buy. :/

      I understand.. however i am fairly sure the OP had no idea what you were talking about, I doubt they even know what overclocking is.
      It makes no difference whether its a overclocked board or not, As long as its not complete overkill and within a good budget frame.. then there is no issue.

      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      dx1965dx1965 Posts: 335 Member
      edited February 2016
      chesterbigbird wrote: »
      dx1965 wrote: »
      I am in similar boat but my system is bit newer it's a Hewlett-Packard System Model: p7-1050t Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G620 @ 2.60GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz Memory: 4096MB RAM
      graphics is AMD Radeon HD 6450 which is not on sims 3 compatibility list.
      Not sure what I am going to do but I know I am going to have do something sooner or later.
      But I am not very knowledgeable about the subject.
      I thought about just maybe getting more ram and new video card but I have been told install video card can bit more complex that just open up the case and putting it in depending on the motherboard.
      I like your idea of just buying little bits at time. I am just not sure yet what I can do.
      Hi :)
      You will also need to replace your power supply before you can add another graphics card.
      Your pc only has a 250 Watt power supply so its not enough to power a newer card.
      I'm assuming you have a 64 bit windows? If so then i would also upgrade the ram to 8GB. If you only have 32 Bit then you will need to upgrade to 64 Bit.
      But you only have a dual core cpu which is on the lower end of things, So there will be a limit to what graphics card you can add before bottlenecking comes into play. (graphics card too strong for cpu.)
      For a power supply you might need something compact such as :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171094
      For a graphics card you will also need something low profile and something will not cause much of a bottleneck such as :
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202165
      Or
      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500349

      Thank you I have a 64 bit system. I am not really sure how to upgrade. Any advise would be appreciated. I will check out the links.
      I could probably save 300 for computer but not sure if the 300 dollar computers would be better than what I already have. Its been years but I have installed ram before but I recall it was bit tricky.
    • Options
      Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
      It's been a looooooooooong time since I started this thread but there's finally an update.

      My poor old pc gave up the ghost last week and the kids rallied round and bought me some very overdue parts. I'm currently downloading all my sims eps and sps and suddenly I'm scared lol

      To go with my gtx 950, I now have a Ryzen 5 1400 3.2 GHz processor, 8 gbs ddr4 ram and an asus prime B350M-A motherboard. Is this going to be good enough? I don't care if I can't play on high settings but I'm hopeful I can play with all stuff packs and expansions. And should I hold out any hope for downloading my store content?
    • Options
      chesterbigbirdchesterbigbird Posts: 8,581 Member
      Thursday10pm wrote: »
      It's been a looooooooooong time since I started this thread but there's finally an update.

      My poor old pc gave up the ghost last week and the kids rallied round and bought me some very overdue parts. I'm currently downloading all my sims eps and sps and suddenly I'm scared lol

      To go with my gtx 950, I now have a Ryzen 5 1400 3.2 GHz processor, 8 gbs ddr4 ram and an asus prime B350M-A motherboard. Is this going to be good enough? I don't care if I can't play on high settings but I'm hopeful I can play with all stuff packs and expansions. And should I hold out any hope for downloading my store content?
      That's all good and will play fine on high settings. Shouldn't have issues with store content and all expansions. Have fun!

      i7 6700K
      16GB hyper X fury
      MSI GTX 1080
      MSI gaming M5 mobo
      Evga 750 supernova
      Corsair hydro h110i GT
      Corsair obsidian 750D
      500GB SSD
      6TB Seagate Barracuda Pro
      LG 34" ultra wide


    • Options
      Thursday10pmThursday10pm Posts: 193 Member
      Thanks @chesterbigbird :) I really am having fun with it.
      It's phenomenal. I've never been able to play with weather on before and playing with high settings makes everything so much prettier. Like a whole new game. Now all I need is a free afternoon to download the store.
      I guess there's a lot to be said for one's kiddies becoming grown ups lol
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