Computer people - online gaming question!

So... yeah. At that point I'd suggest spending a little more by upgrading the whole system. With an old system like yours, components could dye out anytime, better to go with new parts. You don't need to spend a mint or go really high-end. BF helped me build my computer, which had to be high-performance to run multiple graphics software programs simultaneously as well as game well. We built it for an end price of just under a grand. You could easily go less powerful than mine and still play most multiplayer games really well.

Any suggestions on good sources to research components besides borrowing your boyfriend? Haha

newegg

Thanks!

We've successfully built our own in the past for similar reasons (gaming + running engr computational programs) but it's been about seven years and I'm way out of date and need to catch up.

That's the hardest part, always. I just did a lot of reading, research and Googling. Marshall stays up to date and was suggesting things to me, but I'm never one to just blankly nod my head.

Thanks for the suggestions! Michael's computer was built from scratch, but its the one on the fritz at the moment. The issue is that we're both in need of rebuilding/repairing our computers and that's going to be pricey. :/ Which we can't do right now. *sigh*

ETA: If I *were* to just upgrade a few things...i have no idea how to do it. Is it pretty idiot proof with a proper walk through, or should I seek someone out to do it? And if so, where would I look?

If you're not knowledge about computers and their innards I would not recommend doing it yourself. There's a lot you can screw up, especially with the electrical parts. If there is a computer repair shop, they are generally pretty open to helping out. They may charge you.

My SO built his computer, researched for months, ordered all the things and put it together. There was one tiny issue with it that he probably would never have found had he not taken it to the nice guys at our local repair shop. They spent an hour helping him and talking computers. (And for free!) I hope you're able to find someone nice and knowledgeable as well.

I haven't read your whole thread, just your initial post. Your computer needs to be replaced, IMO, rather than sinking a ton of money into small upgrades that'll ultimately need to amount to a whole new computer in order for you to play the games you like for the next few years.

My dad and I built two computers from scratch several years ago, it was our first time doing any of it and went surprisingly smoothly. I still have my gaming computer, from roughtly 2009-2010, which dominates any game I want to play even today.

It's quite possible to build a gaming rig for around $500.

DH's computer has been on the fritz lately. We don't really know what is wrong with it. It is randomly shutting down, the monitor doesn't want to work, weird things have happened with the picture quality...but that is besides the point, as I'm here for me, not him!

We both like to game online, but my computer has HORRIBLE lag issues when playing multiplayer games. With his computer essentially dead, he's using his Laptop for gaming which means I'm without a computer to join in on the fun. I'd really like to fix this, but we can't afford to go out and just purchase a new computer, so I'd like to see if there is a cheap alternative to boost mine. (DH plans to completely replace his computer when he comes back from deployment, so he doesn't want to dump any money into it to diagnose what the heck is going on with his at the moment. I'D like to have a computer capable of gaming online while he is gone, since he will be taking the laptop with him and I don't want to completely stop playing with our friends!)

My computer is fairly "old"...I bought it refurbished about five years ago. We thought its lag issues while online gaming were due to the wireless router, but when we hooked it up via an ethernet cable we had the same results. I can play games such as Minecraft/Civilization without any major issues (maybe mild lag), but games such as Gary's Mod/Left4Dead/etc. make it freak out, even with graphics/response times turned down low.

I don't really know what all information is pertinent for online gaming performance, but I have:

Model: HP p6310y
RAM: 6 GB (with 5.7 available)
Hard Drive: 920 GB (with 720 GB free)
Graphics Card: Nividia GeForce 9100
Processor: AMD Athlon IIx4 630

I'm connected to the internet via a wireless adapter, but I'm able to have a hard connection for gaming if needed.

Anything that can be replaced/updgraded (cheaply-ish, aka, less than a new computer) to boost my gaming performance online? I'm assuming my graphics card and processor are out of date. Or would it just be better to wait to upgrade entirely?