Need to get my computer up to date for modern games, info needed inside.

[dville_gt]

I made another post about a video card and got to thinking that the graphics card might not be my only bottle neck (although with only 128mb of memory on the video card i know that needs to be replaced first).

Here are the specs on my computer, I am on a TIGHT budget so let me know what you think would give the best results.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/jkarger/Untitled-1-1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/jkarger/Untitled-2-1.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/jkarger/Untitled-3.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/jkarger/Untitled-4.jpg

Thanks!

[Osiris]

You'd be better off building a new rig.

[Magnus]

[QUOTE=Osiris]You'd be better off building a new rig.[/QUOTE]
qft.
Either a new rig, or a used next gen console from craigslist.

[dville_gt]

Okay, if building a new rig right now was not an option, what would give me the best bang for the buck with what I have now.

3.2ghz P4 prescott 478 socket
130gb hard drive
1gb ddr ram
MSI MS-7008 M/B
128mb agp video card


Thanks again!

[Avery'sDad]

[QUOTE=dville_gt]Okay, if building a new rig right now was not an option, what would give me the best bang for the buck with what I have now.

3.2ghz P4 prescott 478 socket
130gb hard drive
1gb ddr ram
MSI MS-7008 M/B
128mb agp video card


Thanks again![/QUOTE]

Your computer is fine. If you want it for games just get a video card. You could have a computer 3 times faster than that and it wouldn't make a hill of beans. Matter of fact a computer half that speed could play modern games with the right video card.

[AL P]

I have a very similar setup. 3.2 ghz, 2 gigs of RAM, etc etc.

Get you an AGP video card with 512 MB of memory. You won't be able to play really demanding shit but you can play the middle of the field stuff pretty well. And you should be able to use the machine for a while longer, at least until Direct X 10 is demanded by everything.

I use this card, although I would recommend paying a little more and getting a better brand. The first card I got locked up repeatedly, the second has worked like a champ:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161032

Also, pick up some more RAM for it, that will help a little.

[ceyko]

IMO you're wasting money on that thing. Retire it. Modern drive, memory, mobos, fsb, gpus and cpus are better. For a little more than buying a "high end" agp card and memory you can have this...

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11297060&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&lang=en-US

For a good price you can have this...

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11288428&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671|74658&N=4018595&Mo=10&pos=5&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=74658&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10600-Cat56671&topnav=

You can not build them cheaper.

[Stang2be]

with the costs of ddr2, pci-x vid cards, and dual core I'd also 2nd the new box option.

My kids just do web stuff and do fine with a p4 3.0 ht with 2gb ram, 128mb 6600GT and Vista but it was spare stuff I had.

Heck the Fry's 80-90 mobo/cpu combo you can get the E2200 dual core with an ecs mobo. Get 2-4gb of DDR2, and a decent vid card and you should be good to go assuming the PSU can push it all

[Avery'sDad]

He said he had a TIGHT budget. Maybe he doesn't want to shell out 1300 dollars just to play games. That's what Xbox and PS3 is for.

Shell out a few dollars and get a video card like the one Al P recommends and you should be fine. You'll be able to play the high end games. Just not maxed out. But you'll be able to play them medium or high settings.

A gb or 2 of ddr ram would help as well.

[fastfire93]

you can easily build a great pc for around 400 bucks

frys had a combo not too long ago for a m/b and e4500 for 99 bux (might be hard to find a deal like this now, but you could get something similar)

cpu fan for around 25

can get 2gb of ddr2 mem for around 25 bucks after rebate

hdd for around 60

case with powersupply for around 30-40

can spend as much or as little as you want on a video card (i got an 8800 gts for 79 after rebate though)

salvage the cd drive outa your old pc

this is cheaper than dell and can be upgraded in the future to a quadcore or whatever you want

[ceyko]

Listen to Avery'sDad, he knows what he's talking about apparently. Dude is cracking me up.

[Osiris]

[QUOTE=ceyko]Listen to Avery'sDad, he knows what he's talking about apparently. Dude is cracking me up.[/QUOTE]

In his defense, the dude did say he was on a TIGHT budget, so upgrading the video card would be the best bet.

IMO 1gb ram isn't enough nowadays.

<---- 4gb PC8500 ;)

[Tx Redneck]

[QUOTE=Osiris]<---- 4gb PC8500 ;)[/QUOTE]

Showoff! :o

[ram57ta]

I just built a new combo for a friend using all new parts from Frys and an existing ATX case I had. ECS mini-atx board with an AMD 5300+ dual core processor running at 2.6 ghz (combo was 89.99), 2 gb of DDR2 dual channel memory (19.99), 2 new 120gb SATA 7200 rpm hard-drives (ebay..60 bucks shipped), 1 ide Samsung DL DVD+-rw optical drive (29.99 at Microcenter), 450watt PSU, a clearance CPU fan at Microcenter for 5 bucks, new keyboard and optical mouse...and currently using built in Nvidia graphics set to 256megs...and it works fantastic and is fast as hell. I threw in a Linksys PCI wifi card I had laying around. Total spent was about 300 or so. I'm pretty sure it could handle some games.

[ceyko]

[QUOTE=Osiris]In his defense, the dude did say he was on a TIGHT budget, so upgrading the video card would be the best bet.

IMO 1gb ram isn't enough nowadays.

<---- 4gb PC8500 ;)[/QUOTE]

Concur with the tight budget thing. However, there are plenty of deals out there for new PC for a little more money. Those are the smarter investment overall. I also strongly disagree with the statements that minor upgrades to that older PC will play modern games on medium/high settings.

Curious what is defined as modern and what resolution.