PC Upgrade or Replace

Associate
Joined
7 Sep 2019
Posts
1
Hi,
I am hoping for some good advice. I have one general question and then one specific related to the general.
The general question is, when is upgrading a PC not the best path and replacing a system needed? Is there a price or performance point? Seems like you can always keep piecing but eventually this seems like a cycle of diminishing returns.
The reason I ask is I am trying to help my son fix and upgrade his computer (system specs below). His current system is a few years old and works ok but recently has been having a CPU overheat issue. On his American Megatrend Bios he gets a CPU Over Temperature Error message after the system freezes and he reboots. (see attached image).
Also he is beginning to have latency and drop frame issues with some of the MMO he plays. He is an avid gamer, works at Blizzard, does some visual animation editing, so graphic performance is a high need requirement in his system.
So with that we have been looking at replacing CPU cooler and putting in a liquid cool system but I wanted to ask some better informed experts their thoughts on upgrade path. I appreciate any advice.
  • Source 210 Gaming Case – Blue
    • S210E-002 White
    • Drive Bays 3 EXTERNAL 5.25" DRIVE BAYS
    • 8 INTERNAL 3.5" HDD Drives
    • Fan Support FRONT, 2 X 120mm
    • REAR, 1 X 120mm @ 1200rpm (included)
    • TOP, 2 X 120/140mm
    • BOTTOM, 1 x 120mm
    • Clearance CPU Heatsink Support 160mm
    • VGA Clearance Maximum 230mm w/ hard drive, 330mm w/o hard drive
    • Dimensions 195mm(W) x 440mm(H) x 495.5mm(D)
    • SECC Steel, ABS Plastic
    • Motherboard Support ATX, MICRO-ATX
    • Expansion Slots 7
    • I/O Ports 1 x Audio/Mic 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0
  • Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 LE -- 2x USB 3.0
  • Power Supply: 750 Watt - Corsair CX750
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3820 Processor (4x 3.60GHz/10MB L3 Cache)
  • CPU Cooling System: [SOCKET-2011] - Standard 120mm Fan
  • RAM Memory: 8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Kingston HyperX
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti - 2GB - FREE Upgrade to 650 Ti 2GB
EVGA Superclocked

  • Lan Network Card: Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
  • Wifi/Bluetooth Network Card: Gigabyte GC-WB300D Bluetooth 4.0 / Dual Band WiFi Expansion Card
  • Storage:
    • 2 TB HARD DRIVE – 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s – Single Drive
    • 500Gig SSD (Primary)
    • Optical Drive 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive
  • Sound Card 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
 
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