P.C. Upgrade Advice

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CyntheWightRabbit
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P.C. Upgrade Advice

#1

Post by CyntheWightRabbit »

Hey.

I am not all that up to scratch when it comes to this sort of thing so I thought I'd ask some people who might be.

I just want to know if it would be worth my while getting parts that are compatible with this Motherboard that I have, or if I should invest in getting a new system altogether. (Mind you this computer of mine is over 2 years old by now.)

The board is a Biostar H61MGV -->http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/int ... p?S_ID=599<-- to be precise.

I am not looking to have the best computer in the world that can run 10 desktops running different programs at the same time kind of thing. Just one that is reasonable. One that can play a few of the newer games relatively okay, and one that doesn't freeze up spontaneously. I'm not going to give any of the other specs of my PC because I know they need to be replaced, it's just that if this also does, I'm going to think of just replacing the entire thing instead (instead of piece by piece).

If you think it is fine, give me advice on what parts (RAM, Graphics etc.) would be the best in your opinion?

Thanks.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#2

Post by Adagio »

Wayyyy over 2 years... Funding a 3rd or 2nd gen LGA1155 is going to be very. Very. Hard.

Do you have a budget?
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#3

Post by CyntheWightRabbit »

The budget isn't really an issue. I just thought I'd look up if upgrading would be worth my while in the long run, but given your response I guess I can assume it is not.

In that case, any suggestions on which system I should go for? Please be as... simple in your answer as possible. My comprehension of computer lingo is severely lacking. :P

Thanks.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#4

Post by Leeward »

If budget isn't an issue, unless you're willing to spend some time familiarising yourself with computer hardware specs and shopping around on Wootware and/or Takealot, I'd recommend you buy a complete set-up from a retailer. That's what they exist for. :)
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#5

Post by CyntheWightRabbit »

But that is exactly why I posed my second question. I've already went to retailers before coming here for advice, and two different stores gave me two different answers. (Admittedly this was when I was still looking into upgrading.)

I want to be informed before purchasing anything. I thought here would be a great place to ask as a lot of you are quite knowledgeable when it comes to these sorts of things, but if I was mistaken then I apologize.

Thanks for your time.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#6

Post by Ryall »

Fluke and VoxLupus are very knowledgeable about about hardware and building PCs. you should drop one of them a PM.
Hahaha! :lol:
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#7

Post by Sev »

Leeward wrote:If budget isn't an issue, unless you're willing to spend some time familiarising yourself with computer hardware specs and shopping around on Wootware and/or Takealot, I'd recommend you buy a complete set-up from a retailer. That's what they exist for. :)
Yes, they exist to rip you off with horribly priced and woefully imbalanced "gaming" PC's.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#8

Post by Cape_F0X »

Yeah, but pre-builts often have nice warranties.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#9

Post by Sev »

My EVGA cards have a 10-year warranty on them.

Of course, actually taking advantage of the warranty is another matter entirely.

Still, I could never in good conscience recommend a prebuilt.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#10

Post by Fluke »

Give a budget and we can work from there. Including peripherals/screen too?
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#11

Post by Leeward »

Sev wrote:Still, I could never in good conscience recommend a prebuilt.
It's a good solution for the layman. Why do you think retailers are still in business?
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#12

Post by Adagio »

I'd suggest hanging around for Ryzen 3...
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#13

Post by Fluke »

Zzzz
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#14

Post by Sev »

Leeward wrote:
Sev wrote:Still, I could never in good conscience recommend a prebuilt.
It's a good solution for the layman. Why do you think retailers are still in business?
Because ignorance is easily exploitable.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#15

Post by Leeward »

We can't all be experts in every field... and you don't have to be pedantic towards people for having priorities different to your own.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#16

Post by jacojerb »

Judging a person who payes extra for a prebuilt is like judging someone who calls a plumber. Sure, you could save a bunch of money by just doing it yourself, but if you simply don't have the skills or equipment (I know people who literally don't own screwdrivers...) then you pay someone else to make your life easier
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#17

Post by Sev »

Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#18

Post by Cape_F0X »

Let it go! (Frozen song) It not everyone's aptitude, Hell! There are students who take Computer Application Technology (CAT, meow...) and still don't know their cpu socket from their power supply.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#19

Post by Leeward »

Sev wrote:Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
And 8-year-old me could draw better than present you. :P

The world would be a very boring place if we all had the same aptitudes.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#20

Post by CyntheWightRabbit »

Again, I'd like to first reiterate that I'm not looking for the best thing since sliced bread here. Just a reasonably good PC.

I suppose if I had to give an idea of what I want it's got to do with why I decided I need an upgrade/replacement in the first place. Recently, I've been itching to play Skyrim again after so many years. :P (My PC back then used to barely be able to run it but that one suffered through some...technical difficulties. This was many years ago.)
I'd also like it to have access to some of the newer games like Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher 3. (Again, it doesn't have to play it on 100% best graphics with everything looking near realistic. Just reasonably playable.)

I only said the budget was not an issue simply because if it was a little too much, I could always just save towards it. Not because I had all the money in the world. I'd prefer it be as cheap as possible (within reason, of course.) but is bargaining for it to around R10 000 a little too unreasonable?

And no, the screen I've got currently is fine for me. I just need everything that goes in the box. (Maybe the box as well.)

Thanks again.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#21

Post by Sev »

Leeward wrote:
Sev wrote:Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
And 8-year-old me could draw better than present you. :P

The world would be a very boring place if we all had the same aptitudes.

Yes, but that's actually difficult. :P
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#22

Post by Faanvolla »

Sev wrote:Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
Next time you buy the very expensive parts for a pc, please find a (random, since anyone) 8yr old to put it together, a camera recording them building it streaming to you sitting in a different room, and then a camera recording your reaction to them doing it :P
YouTube vid I would thumbs up.


As for the PC build,
I bought a laptop for my first pc, and I'll probably buy a premade from somewhere if I do upgrade since I've read too many stories of some static breaking everything, or some pin bending wrong, or the amount of thermal paste being wrong…
Too many variables I could F-up :P
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#23

Post by Sev »

Faanvolla wrote:
Sev wrote:Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
Next time you buy the very expensive parts for a pc, please find a (random, since anyone) 8yr old to put it together, a camera recording them building it streaming to you sitting in a different room, and then a camera recording your reaction to them doing it :P
We can't all be born idiot savants.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#24

Post by Rakuen Growlithe »

Sev wrote:Building a PC is like building Legos. If 8 year old me could do it, anyone can.
I'm pretty sure I could do it. I've fiddled around with old ones but I'm also not comfortable with the risks of doing something I have no experience with and screwing up a couple hundred Euros. So after I got all the parts, I went and I asked a friend to put it together for me. I'm happy now to make small changes in it once I know the majority is all in place. e.g. I had to plug in fans which got forgotten and later added extra ram and a second HDD. If people aren't comfortable doing it then they probably shouldn't do it.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#25

Post by Cape_F0X »

Rakuen Growlithe wrote: If people aren't comfortable doing it then they probably shouldn't do it.
That applies to a lot of things. ;)
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#26

Post by Sev »

There are exceptions to that; there are a lot of times where the only way that you can grow is by pushing yourself.

I guarantee that the top performers in their respective fields did not get there by staying inside of their comfort zone.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#27

Post by jacojerb »

Sev wrote:I guarantee that the top performers in their respective fields did not get there by staying inside of their comfort zone.
I guarantee you that the top performers in their respective fields had at least some interest in their respective fields
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#28

Post by Cape_F0X »

Rakuen Growlithe wrote:If people aren't comfortable doing IT then they probably shouldn't do IT.
Innuendo is what I was going for. Not saying people should never attempt to gain new valuable life skills.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#29

Post by Sev »

jacojerb wrote:
Sev wrote:I guarantee that the top performers in their respective fields did not get there by staying inside of their comfort zone.
I guarantee you that the top performers in their respective fields had at least some interest in their respective fields
This person is asking for advice, it can therefore be assumed that they have at least some interest in the matter.
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Re: P.C. Upgrade Advice

#30

Post by jacojerb »

Sev wrote:
jacojerb wrote:
Sev wrote:I guarantee that the top performers in their respective fields did not get there by staying inside of their comfort zone.
I guarantee you that the top performers in their respective fields had at least some interest in their respective fields
This person is asking for advice, it can therefore be assumed that they have at least some interest in the matter.
He is interested in owning a better PC, not in building one...

Remind me to give you tips about building a house next time you're in the property market
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