TR Forums

Hi. I have an old computer i want to upgrade. Need help
Its eMachines ET1331G-03w

• NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 SE

I want to upgrade the CPU, HD to SSD, and the vid card
I'm pretty sure i can stick a Radeon 460 in there but i'm not sure what the best CPU this computer accepts, and what SSD i should get because this thing probably uses old SATA' THNX

The fastest CPU that *might* be compatible with that system is something along the lines of a Phenom II X4 980 or X6 1100T. However, compatibility is dependent on the motherboard's VRMs being able to handle a CPU with 125W TDP, and on the replacement CPU being supported by the eMachines BIOS. The Phenom II series has been out of production for several years now, so you will need to hit the secondhand market to find one; it also won't be cheap, since there are a lot of other people trying to squeeze a couple more years out of their old Socket AM2+ systems, which means higher-end Phenom II chips are still in demand even though they are long out of production.

Chances are you'll need a new HSF too, since buying on the used market will get you just a bare chip (no heatsink or fan), and the one from the existing CPU probably won't be able to cool a 125W chip.

If the system is still running with the original PSU you will likely need to upgrade that as well. The info I've been able to find seems to indicate that the system probably shipped with a 250W PSU, and I do not think that will be enough to power both a 125W CPU and an RX 460.

Current SSDs should be backward-compatible with the SATA interface on the existing motherboard, so at least that should not be an issue.

Given that you would be paying a significant amount of money for a used CPU (and one that is weak by contemporary standards on top of that), and (probably) need to replace the PSU and HSF as well, it is rather questionable whether upgrading this system is worth it. I think you'd be much better off putting that money towards a new system based on current (or at least more recent) technology.

That's a really old Computer. Athlon II x2, DDR2 memory. You might as well do a completely fresh build because you aren't going to find parts to use as upgrades without replacing the whole system.

Update: Looks like that system probably uses an ECS MCP61PM-GM motherboard. If that is in fact what is in there, you don't have much of a CPU upgrade path. The MCP61PM-GM is limited to CPUs with 89 watt power usage or less, which rules out all of the faster Phenom II CPUs (including the two I mentioned above).

So to get a faster CPU, you'd need to replace the motherboard... and the RAM too, since current motherboards are DDR3/DDR4 (unless you go with an obsolete motherboard from the secondhand market). By this point all you're reusing are the case, DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse.

Time to start over from scratch with a new build.

As JBI points out the PSU is not going to allow you to upgrade without it being replaced. You'd end up building most of the computer over again, so a new very cheap Intel system would offer considerably better performance for not much more.

Kougar wrote:

As JBI points out the PSU is not going to allow you to upgrade without it being replaced.

If the motherboard is what I think it is he'd need to replace that too to get a meaningful bump in CPU performance.

Just. Not. Worth. It.

ah ok. thnx guys. nevermind the CPU upgrade then. I'm just gonna get a SSD for it. After using SSDs for a while, the HD is annoying lol

HappySOB wrote:

ah ok. thnx guys. nevermind the CPU upgrade then. I'm just gonna get a SSD for it. After using SSDs for a while, the HD is annoying lol

Even before you do that, just what exactly are you doing with that box? Don't throw $$ at an "upgrade" that won't get you much unless it's a mission-critical box.

For $533 (or less that you had planned on spending on upgrades) the TR Budget Box stomps all over that old E-Machines box.

Captain Ned wrote:

HappySOB wrote:

ah ok. thnx guys. nevermind the CPU upgrade then. I'm just gonna get a SSD for it. After using SSDs for a while, the HD is annoying lol

Even before you do that, just what exactly are you doing with that box?  Don't throw $$ at an "upgrade" that won't get you much unless it's a mission-critical box.

For $533 (or less that you had planned on spending on upgrades) the TR Budget Box stomps all over that old E-Machines box.

Plus the Budget Box can make better use of an SSD then the OP's system as well.

THis computer is in my dad's office at his house. I spend a lot of time in their house so i use his computer there. He never uses his office or the computer. He has a laptop in the livingroom. I use the computer for web browsing, playing MAME games, and office programs. It plays Tekken 2 very well but Tekken 3 is a bit of a slideshow. I don't want to spend money for a budget computer because I want to build a new computer next year and retire my own current computer to my dad's office. you know, i'm gonna just put the computer to sleep everytime and not even bother with the SSD. I was gonna get a 120GB SSD but meh. I do want to play tekken 3 on it though. Maybe i should just play 2D games on it.

"Next Year" is right around the corner.  I'd recommend the "do nothing" option for the E-Machine.

HappySOB wrote:

I don't want to spend money for a budget computer because I want to build a new computer next year and retire my own current computer to my dad's office.

Keep Tekken 3 at your pad and that's a much more logical upgrade path. Leave Pop's box as is (and given that MAME works, keep it as a MAME box).