Topic: Upgrading your PC

[WuTangTurtle]

I was wondering if u guys could help me out with upgrading my PC.  I really don't understand all the stuff on how to upgrade so any help is welcome.

Current PC:
733mhz Pentium III
384mb ram
Geforce 2, 32mb PCI

for one i need a new motherboard with agp slots (currently only have pci slots) but i need it to be compatible with my 733mhz Pentium III processor, and compatible with a pentium 4 processor because i will upgrade to a P4 later when i have the money.  As for now i only want to buy a new motherboard and video card.

[Shift Key]

Erm, I'd recommend saving up and upgrading all in one hit (motherboard, video card, processor, the works) because it makes changing over a whole lot easier That and I have no idea if a motherboard that supports both P4 and your P3 exists

You don't need to worry about AGP slots (most come standard with AGP8x - the benchmark at the moment). If you can't afford all three parts, get the motherboard and processor first - the video card can wait until a cheaper/better model is available.

EDIT: After checking Asus and Gigabyte's websites, you're gonna be hard pressed to find a good motherboard that does what you want - so just save up and buy the best motherboard/processor combo you can.

[KDR_11k]

The P3 and P4 are so fundamentally different you can forget having one mainboard for both (let aside that no mainboard supports more than one processor type). I'd suggest an Athlon 64, though, since it's a new generation of CPUs that is vastly superior to the 32bit x86-compatible CPUs.

[MysticalMatt517]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
I'd suggest an Athlon 64, though, since it's a new generation of CPUs that is vastly superior to the 32bit x86-compatible CPUs.

I 100% agree. Also, if you can afford it, after upgrading the mobo, cpu, and video card I would make sure I didn't have less than 512MB of RAM. I have 1GB in my system, but that's a little overkill ;-]. Also, what's your current hard drive? After everything else mentioned I would consider upgrading that too. I've almost filled my 120GB drive with home movies.

[WuTangTurtle]

Quote
Originally posted by: MysticalMatt517

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
I'd suggest an Athlon 64, though, since it's a new generation of CPUs that is vastly superior to the 32bit x86-compatible CPUs.

I 100% agree. Also, if you can afford it, after upgrading the mobo, cpu, and video card I would make sure I didn't have less than 512MB of RAM. I have 1GB in my system, but that's a little overkill ;-]. Also, what's your current hard drive? After everything else mentioned I would consider upgrading that too. I've almost filled my 120GB drive with home movies.

Well first off thanks for the help guys and second i have about 30gb drive and i really dont need much more space for now.

And is there much of a difference from amd athlon processors and Intel processors?  Last question just in case i go for the video card now also then what is better nvidia or ati?

[Uncle Rich AiAi]

It's just really personal taste.  I prefer AMD b/c you get better bang for your buck.

You can't wrong w/ either nvidia or ATi, but ATi do have the edge right now.

[Shift Key]

Agreed. ATi gets my vote.

[manunited4eva22]

Wait, you can use anything from a 486-Pentium2-to a K6-3 on a super socket 7 mobo, so thats not entirely true KDR.

As for his upgrade, personally I would wait, but if you have to upgrade now, here is what I recommend

Athlon 64 2800+
512MB PC3200 RAM
Mobo based on Nforce 3 250 (socket 754)
Radeon 9800 Pro (215 USD or cheaper on newegg)

Anything else is up to you.

That right there will run around 620 USD, a full system (case, powersupply, fans, drives) would run around 900-1k USD, with a monitor probablly 1.2k

Edit:  Home movies, eh?

[vudu]

GameSpy:  Too Fast, Too Furious

this looks to be a nice comparison between ati and nvidia.  i haven't read it yet, so i can't say if it's good information or just a load of crap.  it just came out a couple days ago, so i assume it has the latest cards in it.  if anyone has read it, let me know if it's any good.

[KDR_11k]

Quote
Originally posted by: manunited4eva22
Wait, you can use anything from a 486-Pentium2-to a K6-3 on a super socket 7 mobo, so thats not entirely true KDR.

The K5 and K6 were basically Pentiums and Pentiums with MMX, which makes them part of the 586 (Pentium) generation. The Pentium 2 used Slot 1, the 486 some other socket (socket 6, I think).

For a new graphics card I'd wait until the GeForce 6800 and Radeon X800 hit the market, even if you're not going for that generation you'll get other cards considerably cheaper once those are out.

[manunited4eva22]

I agree, but I just figured he wouldnt end up buying until about a month or more from now.