Upgrade or start new?

[bdubyah]

I have been using the rig in my sig for a while now. I just ordered a 4670K,770GTX setup to build me a new one and am going to be giving this one to my girlfriend.

She mainly plays Minecraft but may move to other stuff, and it just isn't cutting it. It hangs here and there in Minecraft and is just slow overall.

So, my question is, should I try and throw some parts at this one(like a beefier gpu) or just build a low budget replacement? Somewhere around $400 max. I figure if I use the current case, HDD, and PSU I might could upgrade the rest for cheap. I wanna stay with Intel cpus, but ATI or Nvidia is fine for the gpu.

What do you guys think? Would the PSU work with newer hardware and would it run a newer video card okay?

 

[VirtualLarry]

You may need more than 2GB of RAM if it is hitching during games.

 

[bdubyah]

I kinda of figured that if one of the bigger problems with this rig. But I have Vista 32-bit so I'm gonna have to buy a new OS to go above 2gb, right?

 

[Doppel]

I kinda of figured that if one of the bigger problems with this rig. But I have Vista 32-bit so I'm gonna have to buy a new OS to go above 2gb, right?

You can do up to 4 GB with a 32-bit OS. It appears that the OS may only make use of closer to 3 GB, though. 4 GB + 32 bit is quite common, however.

 

[lakedude]

DDR2 is expensive and not worth buying IMO, especially with a 32bit OS.

An SSD might be just the ticket.

Operating systems bog down over time. I bet a fresh reload (especially if you get an SSD) will help as much as anything. I've got that same C2D and it really isn't bad at all for non-game use.

You might also try the "poor man's" SSD and try a "Ready Boost" USB stick but as cheap as SSD's are now it might not be worth it.

I would not do any of those other upgrades unless you can really find a deal.

The best thing is a reload costs you nothing!

 

[lakedude]

To give you an idea of just how decent your old system really is you could try a live CD version of Puppy Linux. Puppy is small enough it will load itself completely into RAM, eliminating the hard drive bottle neck. Puppy on the existing hardware is going to have similar performance to Windows on an SSD. Puppy does not need to be installed or write anything to your hard drive.

Puppy is free. Just grab an ISO, make a bootable CD/DVD, set your BIOS to boot from optical first (many are set that way already), have fun with Puppy!

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=puppy

 

[mfenn]

I would guess that it's your 2GB of RAM that's causing you issues, not the speed of the CPU or GPU. New DDR2 is really expensive, but you can pick some up for cheap if you don't mind used.

 

[hoorah]

What configuration is the RAM in? I've got piles of 512MB sticks of DDR2 that really aren't all that useful as most systems only have 4 ram sockets. If you have 2x1GB, and 2 free, it shouldn't be that hard to find another 1 or 2GB of DDR2 for pennies.

DDR2 is expensive when compared with equal amounts of DDR3, but smaller sticks from system pulls are all over the place.

 

[Cerb]

Can you get the machine to 4GB or more? If so, try a 64-bit Vista reload, first. You have to build the ISO to burn yourself, if you don't have a 64-bit-containing disc, but there are DLs and guides for that, and they work.

http://everyday-tech.com/lost-your-windows-install-disc/

I used that very guide when I needed a 64-bit disc awhile back, and only had 32-bit OEM discs.

I know people playing heavily modded Minecraft games on C2Ds w/ IGP, so I doubt the CPU or GPU are much of a problem. But, I know all of them have 4 or 6GB RAM, and 64-bit Win7.

Now, an SSD wouldn't be a bad addition, either, and the M500 and 840 Evo are relatively cheap, these days. Even buying DDR2 and a ~250GB SSD, you'd still be well under budget. In fact, you could probably stay under $160 total, getting used 2x2GB DDR2, and the SSD. They're cheap enough that it's worth considering, if you're going to go spend money into the PC and reload it, IMO. Then, later on, do a fresh build, carrying over the SSD.

--

Now, if you want to see what it would look like to get new parts, while others would likely come up with a different specific list, and maybe a better set of parts, at that, here's what I could whip up in a couple of minutes:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($107.41 @ NCIX US)
Total: $396.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-06 19:18 EST-0500)

That's assuming salvaging the rest of the old PC. The $90-120 Windows tax is what really makes the minor upgrades worth considering, IMO, at least for the time being. Then, do an upgrade like the above, but better, later on, with a bit more money to put into it.