Ive been looking to do a full build but i recently go into an accident so im not sure how much money i will have left over inorder to buy all the components i wanted to. Would it be possible to upgrade the off the shelf model i have now to run new games? I would obviously need a new PSU. But would it really be worth my time and money? I was thinking if i could do it cheaply i could still use the pc for another year. But could i get better performance getting an apu or doing something like that? While im on the subject of apu's can you upgrade them? What i mean is does an apu function like a normal cpu if you buy lets say a 7970 or something? EDIT I forgot to mention i have another case already that my wife got me for christmas the fractal design define R4.
Uhm, not really It is unlikely the case will support other motherboards as it's an OEM and they usually design them in favour for what they put in them. If you were to do it, you'd have to replace literally everything except from maybe the hard drive and optical drive and even then you'd be running in a crap case with low amount of storage. I wouldn't waste my time with it if I were you and just save up and buy a $700 ish one which should last you about a year or so.
Well you'd be able to fit all of the stuff that's in that case in the new one and then scrap it all and buy new parts if that's what you mean. Just make sure the case supports micro-ATX
no, the reason is your motherboard is too old, its no longer compatible with new/modern components (even the best it is compatible with is to dated). do what knightnight said.
asumming you dont know much about hardware, would you still be confident in building yer own machine inside that case?
EDIT: derp lol read your op, so yeah i guess you are confident enough to consider yourself compident in assembling a system
you can its just not worth it im my eyes, like phosegen said its comparable to an i3 which is a low end modern cpu. its just your motherbard is no compatible with modern hardware. the money you would sped on it would be a short lived investment with no ability to keep in date.
the apu you metioned has a on onboard 7670 which can be crossfired with another 7670, you put anymore in that and the onboard turns off and runs purely off the discrete gpu for graphics. the xeon you have mentioned does not have onboard graphics, so you would need a graphics card which means more money, so you would have to spend more money on a discrete gpu to even match the apu let alone beat it.
all that aside an apu build would be a longer lived investment
pretty much yeah, depending on your budget there is several way you can go about building a new system.
apu way will outlive your current rig fully upgraded for quite a long time, but is not as future upgradable as other aporaches would. for gamming impaticular.