PC Upgrade!

[Xanoas]

My current build is pretty crap. I've decided to build a new PC all together, but I'd like to upgrade this one as well for my older brother. The budget is at £300. I'd like it to be able to play most games at medium to high settings at 720p.

CPU - Intel Celeron G1620 @ 2.70GHz Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology
RAM - 6.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz
GPU - Intel HD Graphics (Gigabyte)
Motherboard - H61M-DS2 DVI
Hard Drive - Western Digital Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB
Hard Drive 2 - Hitachi Deskstar HDP7250550GLA360 500GB
PSU - FSP250-60HCN​

 

[.Sam.]

I'd suggest you to get a decent CPU like an i5, the RAM is enough for high settings at 720p already, you might wanna choose an ATI GPU since they're good price-performance cards compared to NVIDIA cards. and you will need to change ur motherboard and power supply for getting new CPU and GPU.

 

[Sloth]

Since the budget is very less, its better to use the same motherboard and add an Intel Core i5-3470. Then add a GTX 960 or Sapphire Radeon R9 270x.

Need more information about the RAM sticks being used in the PC.

 

[Kuttz]

As sloth said, upgrade the CPU to a Core i5 3470 + ASUS R7 370 Strix + Samsung 850 Evo 128/256 GB SSD for OS boot drive does transform the system to a solid performer for 720P gaming on a budget. Before upgrading the CPU make sure you update your motherboard BIOS to the latest available. Also add a better PSU if required.

 

[BoraMurdar]

i5 3rd generation will handle today's games at 720p pretty well. So will Intel Core i3 with difference from 3-5FPS per game. And in some cases some i3 are faster in processing single or dual threaded apps and games due to higher frequencies of certain i3's. If you're gonna stay at 720p there's no need for i5 and GPU better than r9 370 but still we must think for the future games that can use more than 2 CPU cores
For £300 you can :

• get an i5 (3rd generation) and r9 370 + better PSU + SSD
• get an i3 (3rd generation) and r9 370 + better PSU + SSD
  
• change the mobo to H97 chipset and get i3 4170 + r9 370
• change to mobo to H81 chipset and get i5 4460 or 4590 + r9 370

First option is the best for your needs in my opinion.

 

[Nico@FMA]

i5 3rd generation will handle today's games at 720p pretty well. So will Intel Core i3 with difference from 3-5FPS per game. And in some cases some i3 are faster in processing single or dual threaded apps and games due to higher frequencies of certain i3's. If you're gonna stay at 720p there's no need for i5 and GPU better than r9 370 but still we must think for the future games that can use more than 2 CPU cores
For £300 you can :

• get an i5 (3rd generation) and r9 370 + better PSU + SSD
• get an i3 (3rd generation) and r9 370 + better PSU + SSD
  
• change the mobo to H97 chipset and get i3 4170 + r9 370
• change to mobo to H81 chipset and get i5 4460 or 4590 + r9 370

First option is the best for your needs in my opinion.

Very well said.

 

[Xanoas]

Thanks guys you've all been really helpful. I will be upgrading the PSU, GPU, CPU and I will be getting an SSD.

 

[Sloth]

Try to get 270x if its cheaper and not 370 as 370 is just a rebranded 270. Yes, 370 is new but 270x gives bit more performance.

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-270X-vs-Radeon-R7-370
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1043?vs=1080

 

[Xanoas]

What would be the best upgrades for £500? Gaming at high settings 720p and maybe 1080p in the future.