Need help updating my puter

[spizzle]

Oooookkkk, so I think my computer is dying because of my graphics card. I think that's why it's not working. I made another topic about it in the help forum. Anyways... I'm thinkin about updatin my computer a little bit. I was plannin on just gettin a new motherboard with a PCI-E slot, and a new g-card and call it good. I don't think it'd be worth it to spend the money on an AGP card, because of the performance difference.

My computer is a Dell Dimension 4550. It's been good to me for real long, and even with the old g-card, it's ran a **** of a lot of games pretty well. Specs are:

P4 2.4 GHz processor
640 MB RAM
GeForce 4 Ti 4200

So my question is... what do you guys suggest I put in my computer? I don't have the money, nor do I want to dump $1500 to make a nice computer. My cars rank way ahead of that. I just want to get my computer back on its feet, with a bit more juice. That way I'll be able to play some new games, and also run my old ones with a lot better graphics.


I was thinkin about somethin like this for a graphics card, but I need some help with a motherboard. It seems like most of the cheaper motherboards support a P4 Prescott? I dono wth that is, so I dono which type of board I need to buy, or should buy. So, any help?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150140

 

[cyrax]

Graphics card would be the best thing to update.

What interface is your current one?

 

[Trotter]

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569

G.SKILL Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231039

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160811AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148149

eVGA 256-P2-N562-AX Geforce 7900GT 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130028

NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE/ATAPI 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821103116

Total is roughly $822 USD.

 

[PP Mguire]

Go Antec Sonata!!! No offense but obviously a Geforce4 would be AGP. Also, the 7800GS is a really nice graphics card if you dont want to upgrade everything.

 

[Trotter]

Nope, the ASUS A8N5X is PCIE x16. I used that as part of the search criteria.

The 7800GS is good, but so is the 7600GT.

 

[spizzle]

Graphics card would be the best thing to update.

What interface is your current one?

My current graphics card is AGP. Not sure if it's 4x or 8x. I've been leaning towards a PCI Express card, but I'm almost 100% positive that my motherboard doesn't support it. That's why I'm looking to buy a new one.



Trotter, you pretty much showed me a whole computer, but I don't wanna spend that much money, nor do I even HAVE that much money. Is that motherboard and that graphics card what you'd suggest to buy though??

I just wanted some advice, because I didn't wanna just shoot blind and then buy something that either A) isn't compatible, or B) isn't gonna make an improvement.

 

[PP Mguire]

That motherboard isnt compatible w/ your current processor. I beleive your processor might be socket 478 in which you will have a hard time finding a PCI-E mobo.

 

[Trotter]

My point was that you can build a decent comp without spending a fortune.

You could knock that down by scavenging parts from your current rig, backing down a little on the CPU, vid card, and RAM.

 

[spizzle]

Yeah, there's basically only about 2 motherboards on new egg that support my processor AND have PCI-E. They're a bit expensive, and they didn't get good reviews either. Maybe I'll just buy a good AGP graphics card for now? I don't have the money to buy a new motherboard, new processor, AND a new g-card.

So, can anyone recommend a good AGP card that will run most of today's new games?? I was lookin at this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102017

 

[PP Mguire]

You dont want an X8** card at all. No SM3 support. Get a 6800GS or higher Nvidia card, or an X1600pro. The HIS X1600pro is an excelent AGP card for little cash. Im guessing you have DDR correct? You want at least a gig to run todays modern games. So w/ the cash you save on buying a video card i suggest getting some ram as well.