Ok, my computer is about 5 years old, and it's kinda slow, and I think it's time to upgrade it. I don't want the newest or best out, but something that will be reasonably fast and most importantly, CHEAP. It has an AMD 1700+ palamino Athlon XP in it right now, w/ 512MB of RAM.
Should I look at a new vid card to? I have a nVidia GeForce 4 MX420 currently, which I beleive is 64MB on board... do I need something with 128MB or 256MB? What?
2006-10-20 17:35:30 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
I have AVG and reformated and all that, I even already upgraded my HD from a 40GB to a 250GB. It just isn't cutting it in some games anymore. I was thinking about getting an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ for like $50...it's a single core but it's socket 939 so I can upgrade to a dual core in a few years if I want? Guys I'm trying to keep this really cheap, I think for a couple hundred dollars I can make this machine much better..not the best, but much better. Yuo guys talking about 'screamers' and etc. are way missing my point, lol
2006-10-20 18:01:10 · update #1
Yes you need a new card, now as for what Motherboard, CPU, and RAM, I would really need to know what price range you are looking at and then I could help. Drop me an email with that info, my email is in my profile. Include the cost of a video card and anything else you would need in the price.
2006-10-20 17:50:15 · answer #1 · answered by mysticman44 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You picked a wrong time to upgrade because the industry is going through a transition... Both Intel and AMD released dual-core CPUs (basically 2 CPUs in 1) and that requires a complete upgrade.
I've decided to upgrade my computer too this year. Although I was a dedicated AMD user, I decided to go with Intel Core2 E6400 CPU because the reviews were just too good and the price was very reasonable. Little did I know how much additional cost this would infer.
On top of the CPU, you'll need to buy a new motherboard, memory, video card AND even power supply. Basically, everything except the kitchen sink. I can't be done piecemeal as in the old days...
2006-10-20 17:39:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It depends on how much you want to spend.
I would back up all of the data you want don't want to lose, then reformat your hard drive and reload windows. This will get rid of all of the bugs you have on your computer and it will run like new again. Add another stick of ram to make it 1000MB and upgrade your video card with a video card with at least 128MB of ram. Download the free anti-virus from AVG (www.grisoft.com) and use zone-alarms free firewall. For about $200 your computer will run better than new. This should give you another year or two on your system.
2006-10-20 17:52:52 · answer #3 · answered by spanky 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just do the basics max out your ram if possible crucial .com is pretty cheap
im guessing your board is a pci and maybe an agp so get a 128mb card or if you can afford it go right to a 256mb im not overall computer savy i just know my own machine that is less then a year old so and that ob graphics is crap 64 mb shared, i use to play eve-online with a 128mb mx420 in an 800mhz it played pretty good with a gig of ram hope you figure out what you want to do good luck
2006-10-20 17:50:35 · answer #4 · answered by halicon2000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The new line of Intel chips are great, I just ordered mine. AMD's 3500+ and up are a really good value too, and Motherboards depend on which processor you get. The RAM will also depend on how much and how fast you want. Figuring out if you wante DDR/DDR2 and then what speeds you want is key. DDR2 is in huge demand right now, but what can you do about it. I bought mine, even though this might be a bad time to upgrade (my comp is sooooo old as well). So my choices were as follows:
Intel Core 2 Duo 6400 2.13Ghz
Gigabyte GA-965P DS3
OCZ Gold XTC 2GB PC-6400 DDR2-800
2006-10-20 17:45:28 · answer #5 · answered by sefie30 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
video memory isnt so important .. get a nvidia 7950 .. its the best bang for the buck right now for video cards ... i just put a system together with a dfi sli board and a amd4400x2 and 2 gigs of gskill .. added 2 raptor 10000rpm drives in raid and a couple on nvidia cards in sli ... its a real screamer and have it running stable at 2.7ghz ... total cost with the box and a good power supply was 1700 but you could cut that way back with using a single more modest videocard ..11-1200 or so ..
2006-10-20 17:43:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It extremely comes right down to selection. jointly as there will be no issues of AMD via 'much inexpensive components', you will see greater effective overall performance with Intel, basically via fact of their bigger CPU's, *ATM*. So, the 2nd is bigger, yet i could in my view decide for the 1st one with a greater robust motherboard via fact I <3 AMD. =)
2016-11-24 20:45:59 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oh ya, you are suppose(u dont have to but it is good to) upgrade to a new comp every 4-5 years. i would upgrade to a new video card. get a nvidia 7600gt or higher or ati x1600xt or higher. those two are mainstream cards and are very good. i purchased one for my new comp like 2 weeks ago (x1600xt) it is about 125. the 7600gt is about 150. they are both good. do not get anything lower than those models. for ram, get 1gb. 1gb would be good enough. for the cpu ,, get an intel e6300, or e6400. for mother board, a very good one is the intel "badaxe" but costs around 260. asus p5b or gigabyte ds3 are good too. i have problems with my asus board because it cannot recognize the dvd player and makes a beep. it is not much a problem but ya. it is around 150
2006-10-20 17:41:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anothersliceplease! 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
dont know
2006-10-20 17:42:27 · answer #9 · answered by Mohomad Hafeez 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋