Upgrading my computer

So I am trying to decide on what to buy for my upgrade and Highlander mentioned I might want to post as many here build there own computers. My current machine is pretty old and maxes out with 8GB DDR2. Seems to run the game ok but the load time into matches is just unacceptable.

I don't have the money to spend on a big robust machine so I am looking more mid range. Newegg has a CyberpowerPC 2165 desktop that fits my budget for $589. It seems like a good deal to me but I'm not up on gaming specs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229437

What do you think?

 

Seems like a pretty decent machine. I wish I could give you more help with mid-grade stuff but I haven't looked into it that much. And I don't know how you would feel about building your own but if you did using a website like pcpartspicker will really help finding the lowest prices on individual items. You could also use it to see how much that machine would cost to build yourself.

 

I agree with icebalm. Whatever can be re-used is good. Might even get a mobo and ssd to start with in budget.

 

The only exception is if you're using a laptop to game with. :V

Yeah, that was me for the first six years of my Steam life.

But yeah, reusing stuff = good = save more money

 

I'm using a Compaq Presario CQ5600F. The MB is a M2N68-LA. It came with a single core AMD 170u, 64 bit running windows 7. 500GB harddrive, Nvidia GeForce GT630 video card with 1GB memory. The motherboard accepts only 8 GB of DDR2 memory, which I have maxed.

Once I am in game it seems to run ok without lag (I'm using medium settings) but it loads missions so slow that my squad is 2 miles from the airfield by the time I'm ready to take off. I don't want to be that guy everyone is waiting on to log in, that gets old real quick for all involved.

This is my first flight sim game and it has grabbed me hard. I have TrackIR on the way and plan on flying sim and I don't know how much extra stress that program will put on the machine. If I can reuse some of these parts that would be great. I'm completely out of touch with computer advancements over the past several years so I appreciate any advise. I'm willing to build a new machine and reuse parts if you think that is cheaper. I just don't have the knowledge to make those decisions.

 

If you upgrade cpu and mobo, you should be able to get ddr3 ram and sata-600 ports which is ssd or faster hdd which should reduce loading times.

You linked a $589 pre-built pc but you might be able to upgrade for less.

I will try an example here:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3kfpB

This would be for you to re-use gpu, hdd, optical drive, case and doesn't include OS. Also added in a psu incase your current one mightn't cut it. It is just an example and comes in at less than the one you found already.

I just spend 5 mins or so on it to just make something that should patch together but it should give you an example of a few parts that could be added and should help you current pc end up better than the pre-built one. The gpu in it also isn't a huge amount better than what you have now so wouldn't be a big upgrade.

 

Wow, thank you so much for such detailed info! I'm going to bite on the $390 package and order that today.

I sure appreciate the help!

Benny