Help with upgrade

T

Tomex28

Member
Ok I bought a Compaq Presario SR5350f desktop about a year and a half ago. It is a cheap PC but had everything I needed it to do at that time.
It has:

Windows Vista 32-bit
Motherboard is a LANCASTER8-GL6
Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor E2160, 1.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz front side bus
2 Gb memory
It had a 200W or 250W PSU but I changed this out with an Antec 650W ATX12V v2.2
I put a BFG GeForce 9400GT 512MB DDR2, it worked for a while then got really hot and the fan on top of graphics card stopped working, this is why I changed the PSU not sure if that would help, was look at buying the EVGA GeForce 9400GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 (as of right now I have to have the cover off the case and have a small circular fan blowing in to keep it cool)
I also installed another fan to help keep it cool but without the graphics card fan working its not really helping much.

So I guess my question is how much would I have to spend to upgrade the motherboard and processor. I started playing WoW so that was the reason for the graphics card and sometimes I can be on the PC for a couple of hours. My knowledge of PC is limited but if I'm correct I could get a motherboard and processor that would match up with the upgrades that I have already done.

Any suggestions of which motherboard or processor? I know my current processor is bottom line, I would just like something a little bit more powerful. WoW is really the only gaming I do and it doesn't require much to run it, just would like to spice my PC up if its reasonable to do. I think Vista also sucks alot out of my PC because I believe 2g RAM is minimum to run it, would like to upgrade to 4g but current motherboard only goes to 2. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Some newer motherboards may not fit (Screw holes) in the case you have now... And also you would have to makesure all of the components you have now will work on the new mother board.
 
what kind of ram is it? and you might be looking up changing the ram (maybe) as well as deadeyealex said, new case might be needed.

Good luck i hope you find something your looking for
 
make sure you get a motherboard that fits your case. also, get one with ddr3 memory and am3 (or even am2+). they should last you a while. most modern motherboards support up to like 16 gb of ram (probably more now, i haven't checked in a while).
 
Is this what the inside of yours looks like?
H25-2118-e.JPG


I thought that was a BTX case at first, but it's just an upside-down mATX. Any micro-atx motherboard should go in there.

Keep in mind that unless you've bought a separate retail copy of windows, you can't move it to the motherboard. The one that came on the computer was locked to the original motherboard.

For the new motherboard, like he said get one with DDR3 RAM, and get either socket AM3(for AMD processors) or socket 1156(for intel). There's also socket 1366 for high-end intels, but those are expensive and there aren't too many mATX options.
 
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I am not sure the PSU do anything with your 9400GT. But I do think you will need upgrade PSU if you want a better video card.
And 9400GT is a bit low end, I recommend you get something like ATI 4670

CPU - your current motherboard with 945GC chipset, the best CPU it support should be E5400.

RAM - Since you have 32bit OS, I recommend you buy a stick of 2GB RAM and replace one of your 1 GB
 
Thanks for the replies

Would I benefit any from keeping my motherboard and instaling the core 2 duo E4400? I believe this is the best processor it will hold. The picture of the case is exactly what it looks like. Is trying to upgrade this a waste of my time?I don't play any games except WoW and surf the net watching videos or downloading music. Also someone mentioned putting a 2gb stick in place of one of the 1gb but from what I can read on the specs it has the max ram already which is 2gb total. Once again thanks
 
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