How to improvise my pc? Help please..?

Question

I wanted to upgrade my pc, it's currently 3 yrs old, Pentium IV 3Ghz, 1GB DDR ram, 80GB hard disk, SAMSUNG cdrw/dvd combo drvie, 256mb GeForce 7300 GT.

These are the general info, in which area should I improvise? Is the graphic card not good enough for gaming? I changed it last year but haven't really try on other games besides FIFA07 and PES. The higher the resolution I put, the pc will kinda lag. How come? Is it the memory too low? How much is the 1GB ram and dvd burner? Any ideas to improve the current settings? I wanted that kind of pc which works well in all the pc games! Does the motherboard plays any role in gaming?

HELP ANYONE? ">

*thanks

Answer 1

1. Your graphics card is just a fast budget card. Replace it with ATI X1950 Pro. If you have plans of moving to Vista soon, get the ATI HD2600XT.
2. 1Gb RAM is just right for XP, 2Gb for Vista.
3. Hard core gamers prefer motherboards with full tweaking options so that they could squeeze out every bit of performance from their expensive processors and RAM.
4. Since you already have a DVD combo, you do not need a DVD writer for gaming.

Answer 2

It depends what games you want to play. When you're looking at proispects, check out what the recommended system requirements are (ignore minimum specs, these are always understated - I kid you not). If your computer's up to them you'll probably get an ok gaming experience. cheapest upgrade for you would be some more ram and a faster video card. This will probably cost about $200-$300. You have to ask yourself, though, if you really want to put this into a machine thats a generation behind the current technology.

Its a personal decision.

Unfortunately, if you want to upgrade to a dual core cpu, you will need a new motherboard. This will allow you to use a pci-e video card also, instead of the agp type which is what you probably have in your current rig.

Hope this helps. As I said above, the cheapest option is just to play games that are within your existing specs. After that it all becomes expensive. To play current games you'd really want to look at a whole system upgrade

Answer 3

Motherboard does play a roll, but unless you're willing to shout out another $150 for a very good motherboard, it's not really worth it. I would go with at least 2G of Ram if not 4G. This is dependent on your cash flow and if your motherboard can handle it. I would also upgrade your graphics card. GeForce 7300 is a cheap video card. I go with an ATI with at least 512M ram. Also, if you have a SATA interface on your motherboard, I would upgrade your HD also. The Seagate SATA drives are pretty good, and they are fast also. With all these upgrades, you might as well spend extra money to just get a new system. They might have deals on it through Dell Outlet store or something.

Answer 4

First advice: sell that PC and buy a new one, 64bit processor.
second one: if U still want to keep it, change the video card and buy a biger harddisk.
The RAM is enough. DVD burner has no influence over the PC performance.
The motherboard determine what kind of videocard can be used, what processor and how much RAM can be used. So, yes, it determines the upper limit of your system, but has no direct influence on gaming.

Answer 5

Don't add more memory, you don't need it and your graphics card is good enough.
Yes, it drags down your computer when it accelerates, but you obviously don't have your memory set to it's full potential.
I do this for a living and can tell you that the system you have is exactly what any gamer needs if they would just take the time to learn how to tune it up properly when they get it home.
It is sort of like buying a television and not knowing that you can change the channels!
Click my profile and e-mail me if you want optimum performance from what you already have.
It will take you less than an hour to have one of the fastest computers in town and no $$$ need to be spent to do this either!

Answer 6

First of all if your on a budget, try upgrading the ram first at least to 2GB...I would say your video card is good enough, but if it still kinda laggy then i would upgrade my video card. But if you are playing online could be your internet connection.

so RAM first, then video card if RAM doesn't help.