I'm looking to upgrade my computer in the near future, but I'm no expert when it comes to hardware. I'd like to be able to run Oblivion maxed out with graphics mods, the same with fallout, and some decent graphics on Skyrim Obviously .

What do I need to upgrade in my system, besides my crappy video card?

Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz
Yorkfield 45nm Technology

RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (6-6-6-18)

Motherboard
PEGATRON CORPORATION Benicia (CPU 1)

Graphics
Acer V193 @ 1280x1024
ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (MSI)

Hard Drives
977GB Western Digital WDC WD10EADS-65L5B1 (RAID)

Optical Drives
ATAPI BD B DH6E2L
UNUL OPA7W56Z SCSI CdRom Device

Audio
ATI High Definition Audio Device

Thankyou.

You'll want to get a better CPU, go for an I5 or I7 model clocked to at least 2.8GHz.

You're on 64bit, so I'd suggest doubling the RAM, and perhaps upgrade to DDR3 if you can afford it.

I can't offer suggestions on the graphics card, because I'm an nVidia user.

any idea how much those 2 things are gonna set me back?

Graphics is literally twice as important as the CPU, so get rid of the tinker toy video card FIRST and go for something worth having for game playing.

Here's an example for $65 after rebate, that should work fine on a stock, OEM power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871

Geforce or Radeon doesn't really matter. You decide what resolution you are interested in using, and what your budget is, then someone can assist from there. At most price points, you get more bang for the buck from a Radeon from AMD, whioch is why the example above is an HD 5670, but when you are crazy for the fastest, hottest, biggest juice-svcking card of all, you get one from nVIDIA.

Graphics card, and monitor (if it can't do better than 1280x1024, that is). Widescreen ftw, which means LCD. IPS is nice, but it does cost more. LED isn't worth any extra cost, but if it's the same price, it might be OK.

Then everything else. No really. Everything. But only when you can afford it.

That's the trouble with PC upgrades - leave it a while, and you'll need to change just about everything. In your case, probably literally everything... except maybe mouse and KB. Oh, and DVD burner or whatever. In fact, the hard drive's probably alright as well.

But a nice case helps, to securely and comfortably hold, and to cool, all your [other] new goodies. Like...

A new CPU will require new RAM, a new motherboard, and (just to be safe) a decent power supply. A good graphics card will definitely require a decent power supply. I really can't emphasise this one enough: don't skimp on the PSU, whatever else you do. It would be the most disastrous decision regarding hardware you could possibly make.

As for CPUs, may as well go with Sandy Bridge. If you want to overclock, get one of the "K" types. I recommend the i5 2500K, unless you particularly want to spend even more. Oh, and you'll also want a CPU cooler, again if you wish to OC. Otherwise, you could do without, but they're still handy, and tend to keep it far more cool and quiet. And hey, you never know if you'll want to try OCing one day... But, once again, if you *do*, that power supply I've mentioned a couple of times? It had better be more than decent. Beefy, in fact. Same goes for the GPU - you can OC them, though depending on your choice, not necessarily to a great extent. But all OCing draws more power from your PSU. Worth keeping in mind. Ahead of time. If at all relevant...

For the graphics card, it's all about your budget. The GTX460 is great value, as is the HD6850. If you have more to spend (and a monitor to make it worthwhile) the GTX570 and HD6970 are both excellent. Actually, if you buy an HD6950, the chances are, you can flash it to (just about) an HD6970 anyway, so that's another very good option.


edit: But hey, what is your budget?

Really need to know how much you want to spend for upgrades.

The Q8200 is an LGA 775 processor, so unless you have the funds for a new platform like Sandybridge (LGA 1155 socket motherboard, DDR3 RAM, and CPU) or AMD AM3 (mobo and CPU...DDR2 RAM can be saved if need be) then you may be stuck on that platform.

Cheapest upgrade in your case would be a new video card and quite possibly a new power supply depending on what you currently have. Don't just be sticking any video card in your system without checking if your PSU can safely power it. So what power supply you got?

.

I know I'm in need of a new video card, and PSU for that. My current is about 300 - 400w, can't quite remember. I was planning on upgrading to a 5770 and a 500w psu, but I'm not so sure any more.

Edit: My budget isn't really that high (￡200), but I could stretch to about ￡300/￡400.

Double post.

I'm going to take ￡300 as the median budget you're willing to spend...in which case, the most logical thing to do here is to get a new video card and new power supply. The Radeon 5770 is a sound card to get especially with the resolution limitation of your monitor being a lowly 1280x1024....doesn't take much horsepower to run games at that resolution. Your budget would fit a Radeon 6850 or 6870 actually. If only your motherboard was something that didn't come with a vendor PC, you could overclock that processor of yours too.

GPU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/248886...or...http://www.ebuyer.com/product/247611
PSU: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135514

A bit of a worry for me though, is if the card will actually fit into my system. I've seen the size of a 5770, and it's seems considerably bigger than my current one. The 6870 is supposed to be even bigger than the 5770. I'll try to post a picture later.