Upgrading a junker to something usable
The short version is, i just got a Dell Inspiron desktop given to me. It has an I3 550 and 6gigs of DDR3 1333. Has a standard variation of an ATX board, 1150 chipset. It has a pci-e and a pci slot, and a 300w Bestec psu.
I just want to throw like a bill at this thing and let my gf play wow and a couple other older games decently at 1080. Craigslist yielded 8gb of patriot ddr3 for $45 or 16gb of dominator platinum ddr3 for $65, plus shipping from in state.
Graphics selections within the budget are a 960geforce,970msi, both for 100 (ea), and 1050 2gig for 80. On the cheaper side a geforce760 2gig for $60, gtx 285 for $50, and lastly, a radeon 2600xt for $25. Oh theres a zotac 560ti for $30, which im now leaning towards.
Frankly this stuff is old enough that without doing hours and hours of research, idk what i need and what is best bang for buck. At this point, thinking of getting the corsiar ram, and building around it. In which case, getting a decent gpu, then upgrading the cpu later is a viable option. Without looking, 1150 chipset should run up to the gen before a 8600 I5? May have to upgrade the mobo, idk, in which case id probably be better ahead to just buy someones retired gaming rig for 4-500.
Looking for any insight, appreciate all that i get.
Last edited by Doxnoogle; 01-29-2019 at 04:52 PM.