Upgrade options?

Hey everyone, I could really use some advice here. I’m looking to upgrade this old rig of mine so I can hit at least 4GB of RAM and finally run a 64-bit OS without everything crawling. I play a few games on it, but honestly, I don't care about high-end graphics—as long as it doesn't stutter or crash constantly, I'm happy. I'm trying to keep things pretty budget-friendly, though. If anyone knows of any good shops in the Chicago area or maybe somewhere near Indianapolis, let me know!

Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2200 2.20
mainboard - DFI Inc., AMD Phenom II X4 965
memory - ddr2 2GB, dram frequency 400,9 MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 ddr3

Thanks a ton!

You can find an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 on eBay for about $6, which would be a pretty solid upgrade.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-CPU-P...4AAOSwQTNZr7Fn

What kind of games are you actually looking to play?

Your rig is ancient and painfully slow. I guess you could try adding more RAM, swapping out the processor, and maybe even grabbing a new GPU. But honestly, even after all that work, you'll still be stuck with an old piece of junk, and you'll have wasted a few hundred bucks in the process. You’re better off just saving up for a new PC; upgrading this thing feels like throwing money down the drain.

https://www.craigslist.org/flea-market/processors/example-link
https://www.craigslist.org/flea-market/ram-memory/example-link

I think this is a pretty solid deal and would be a massive upgrade. Plus, there’s a GPU with a warranty available, maybe something like this:

https://www.craigslist.org/flea-market/graphics-cards/example-link

Yeah, but that's a DFI board with an AMD Phenom II X4 965 chipset, so you'd probably need to double-check if it actually supports the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400—it might not, I guess. Plus, there's the whole question of what kind of power supply you're running and if it's even in decent shape.

Yeah, but that's a DFI board with an AMD Phenom II X4 965 chipset, so you’d probably need to double-check if it even supports the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400—it might not. Plus, there's the whole question of what kind of power supply you're running and if it's even reliable anymore.

Games like XCOM 2 and that online shooter "Warface."
Honestly, I was just thinking about beefing this thing up a bit to see how far it can actually go. My plan is to push it until it hits its limit, then start saving up for a real upgrade because, let’s face it, I’m pretty much broke right now.
How do I go about checking out what fadedorca66 is talking about? Also, do you guys think it’d make sense to grab what crimsonstag84 suggested, but skip the graphics card? I actually picked up a brand new GPU last year, so I'm already set there.

Honestly, throwing money at that NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 feels like a waste... the chip is just too weak for actual gaming. You might want to tackle the processor and RAM first to see how things run, but I'm guessing you'll almost certainly need a new GPU eventually.

I can't find a CPU support list anywhere for this motherboard, which is a bit of a headache... it mentions supporting Intel Core 2 Quad processors, but it doesn't specify which ones exactly.

I think this site is pretty legit - http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-DFI/INFINITY_P965-S_.html

but it only lists the Q6600 and Q6700

Timothy Perez3 said:I think this reliable site - http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-DFI/INFINITY_P965-S_.html

only lists the Q6600 and Q6700

Man, holy crap, so you're saying those suggestions from crimsonstag84 are totally out in the wash?
What should I actually be looking at then? I've got CPU-Z pulled up right now, so if you guys need me to drop some specific specs or anything, just say the word.
Thanks a million, guys. Seriously, I really appreciate you helping an old dog like me out.

Man... honestly, it’s not even all that bad:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/processors/example-link

This one should definitely work, provided you can manage a BIOS update to the latest version if you can track it down. 😬

crimsonstag84 said:Man... even that isn't a bad deal:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/processors...listing-example

This one should definitely work, provided you can manage a BIOS update to the latest version if you can track one down. 😬

Man, this whole BIOS thing feels like rocket science to me, honestly. But hey, tell me—should I grab that cooler and thermal paste too since the guy is throwing them in?
And where am I supposed to go to have someone actually put this together and apply the paste for me? Or should I just be brave and try to DIY it and see what happens? Is swapping out the cooler actually that hard to do on my own?

Honestly, if you buy a CPU, RAM, and a GPU and pay someone $$67 to put it all together, you’ve basically dumped maybe $$167 into an old rig that's still going to struggle with anything even remotely modern. I guess it’s better to just stash that cash away and save up for a completely new build later... It's one of those situations where the old saying applies: "I'm not rich enough to buy cheap."

Plus, there's the issue that your motherboard manufacturer, DFI, isn't even around anymore. Since they're gone, there's no official site to check exact CPU compatibility or grab the latest BIOS updates. On these budget setups, you often find cheap power supplies where components—mostly capacitors—tend to wear out, and you really ought to test that hard drive for bad sectors too. Even if it's fine, it's probably pretty slow by today's standards unless you've upgraded it recently.

His new setup for gaming is basically $667—a motherboard, G2200, 8GB DDR4 RAM, plus an old hard drive, power supply, and case...

He should just grab one of those quads mentioned above and start playing. Newer games will run at 720p resolution. Honestly, his bigger bottleneck is having only 4GB of RAM rather than the processor. If he can manage to get 6GB of DDR2 RAM, he could run pretty much anything out there... provided he has a decent graphics card. For example, GTA 5 runs on an AMD Radeon HD 6870, or maybe a card like $67 or less... if he wants the newest Wolfenstein, he’ll need at least an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770, or better yet, an AMD Radeon HD 7770 or HD 7870. That would also handle BF1. BF1 actually runs on an AMD Radeon HD 6870. Older Wolfenstein titles will work on the AMD Radeon HD 6870, along with Old Blood... maybe even with just 4GB of RAM. I'm pretty sure about that...

The new COD works fine with 6GB of DDR2 and a card with 2GB VRAM, like an R9 270...

An Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 handles older COD titles without any issues, plus Metro, Bioshock Infinite, Singularity... and it costs about $17 🙂 including the motherboard. Maybe $150 🙂 for 5GB of RAM, though it would probably work with 4GB too...

Plus, you can get 8GB of DDR2 RAM for $67, while a new one is $267. The issue is if the board only has two slots, because finding 2x4GB DDR2 sticks is tough... but that's an option too...

Interesting... if I'm following correctly, the guy has 4GB of RAM, and if the game demands more, it just creates a page file on the SSD. Since an SSD is basically a faster version of a hard drive, it wouldn't surprise me if this actually runs smoother than old DDR2 setups... using a standard hard drive instead of an SSD would be way slower. The real question is whether it's even playable at all... fascinating 🙂

All these experts are talking about newer parts for your upgrade, but honestly, the best move is grabbing an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 3.2GHz. Just add some RAM and $200 a new GT 1030, and that dual-core E6700 will actually outperform those quad cores. With a 775 socket, you aren't going to find much more to do for modern gaming anyway, especially since your motherboard is stuck at 1066 FSB.

Alexander Moore67 said:All these "experts" know the latest stuff for your upgrade. Your best bet is the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 3.2GHz. Just add some RAM and an $200 NVIDIA GeForce GT 710. That dual-core E6700 will absolutely crush those quad cores. Besides, Socket 775 won't cut it for modern games, and your motherboard is stuck at 1066 FSB.

You clearly haven't seen this video showing how you can actually play newer titles



They used a Q8400 for comparison here, but the E8400 is $17 so there's really no point stepping down to a weaker E6700... they used an E6750 for the benchmark

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/56?vs=60

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=56

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=60

I don't see much sense in getting a new GT 710 when for $133 you could just find a used NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, whether it's the standard one or even a
high-end model.
The E8400 and E6700 destroy everything if the game only needs two cores, but once it demands four, everything falls apart...

And even when gaming on an E8400

Bryan Taylor6 said:You probably haven't seen this video showing how well you can actually play modern games.

They used a Q6600 for the comparison here, but since the e8400 is $17 there's really no reason to drop down to a weaker Intel Core 2 Duo E6700... they used an e6750 for the benchmark here.

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/56?vs=60

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=56

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/53?vs=60

I don't see much point in getting a new GT 1030 when you could just grab a used NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, whether it's a standard model or even a Phantom series version.$133

The e8400 and e6700 absolutely crush it when a game only needs two cores, but once it demands four, everything falls apart.

And if you try to game on an e8400...

THE MOTHERBOARD DOESN'T EVEN SUPPORT 1333MHZ PROCESSORS, DUH! And what kind of power supply is he using for a 660? Besides, I overclocked the e6700 to 3.2, not an e6750 at 2.66. Read a little more carefully.

Fair point. The motherboard doesn't support 1333MHz, so neither the E6750 nor the E8400 will work on it...

So we're stuck with your suggestions: the E6700, Q6600, or maybe the Q6700.

He should just sell that GT 710 and grab something else. Something low-power, too—his power supply is probably junk...

Thanks a ton, everyone! Seriously, you guys are legends.
I think I’m gonna hang tight for a bit longer. I'll just squeeze what I can out of my current rig while playing some older titles, and once I've milked it dry, I’ll start looking into picking up a beefier setup.