Upgrading an optiplex 780
Posted by Flat_Land_1060@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Hello, i have an optiplex 780 (tower) that i want to upgrade (I can't buy a new pc).
For the gpu i wanted to go with Nvidia GT 1030 2GB gddr5 which costs $100. My current cpu is core 2 duo, i tried to find core 2 quad but can't find it anywhere (I can't buy used components). Same thing with ram (im left with 4gb). Hdd i wanted to replace with a 256gb ssd.
Why can't i buy new or used? Because im still in highschool and my parents won't allow me.
How well would this perform? I want to do basic tasks and play some games like world of tanks, league of legends, minecraft, and albion online.
ScrewySqrl@reddit
a core2duo is between 15 and 20 years old at this point. maybe some retro gaming of late 90s early 00s games, but that won't work for any modern game
Nebyl_@reddit
A Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM will bottleneck any GPU so severely that spending $100 on a GT 1030 won't deliver a usable gaming experience in the titles mentioned.
Plenty_South_1952@reddit
SSD is your biggest single upgrade — even a basic 256GB SATA SSD will feel like a different machine for boot/app load times. way bigger perceived impact than any GPU change. do that first.
for the GPU: GT 1030 will run LoL/WoT/Minecraft/Albion at 1080p low-medium fine, but if budget allows, GTX 1050 Ti is still findable new (\~$120) and roughly 2-3x the performance. both run on the stock Optiplex 280W PSU without external power.
RAM to 8GB if you can swing another stick — 4GB will bottleneck chrome + game easily. Optiplex 780 supports up to 16GB DDR3 across 4 slots. CPU upgrade to Core 2 Quad (Q9550/Q9650) would help a lot but new ones basically dont exist anymore, so probably skip that one.
Flat_Land_1060@reddit (OP)
Thank you :)