Should I or shouldn't I?

[Invincer]

I am trying to decide whether to upgrade my main PC or wait a while and just buy a new one. My machine isn't bad, it just needs some upgrading to handle the games of today i think. I bought it in late 2005. I have XP but would like to upgrade to Vista and be able to play today's games without worrying about whether my system can meet minimum or recommended requirements. Thoughts? Opinions? What would you recommend? Thanks in advance...

SPECS:
Memory (RAM): 1536 MB
CPU Info: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
CPU Speed: 1942.2 MHz
Sound card: Realtek AC97 Audio
Display Adapters: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Screen Resolution: 1024 X 768 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller #3 - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: E: SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615 | F: TSSTcorpDVD-ROM SH-D162C | G: TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S203N
Mouse: 16 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 149.0GB | X: 465.8GB | Z: 233.8GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 108.8GB | X: 145.5GB | Z: 29.2GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): 1 host controllers.
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 04/07/06 | Nvidia - 42302e31
Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. A8N-E

 

[Ste]

Depends how much you want to spend and what you want to play.

But that looks to be in my world as a lost cause, as it seems likely that you have AGP slot. And far as I know the best card for AGP is a 3850.

Might as well save for new build.

 

[saltynay]

Let us help you build a new one best system I have put together lately on the cheap is this;
$414 after rebates
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards <--- you could downsize to a 4830 and save $10 but imo not worth it

 

[Michowski]

Save up and get a nice i7 system. just need a price range and we can build ya one.

 

[Invincer]

I am working with a present budget of around $500; that's why I was wanting to try to upgrade this one.

 

[saltynay]

Let us help you build a new one best system I have put together lately on the cheap is this;
$414 after rebates
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards <--- you could downsize to a 4830 and save $10 but imo not worth it

There you go thats under $500 and will kick your current comps butt you could even stretch to a 4870 if you don't need a psu

 

[Invincer]

So I should be able to replace the processor, motherboard, memory, and video card with the above components into the system I now have. How difficult will this be for someone who has replaced many cards inside, but never installed my own processor/motherboard? Thanks!

 

[Hussein19891]

It shouldn't be too difficult. Replacing and installing cards is how I first started as well.

 

[Invincer]

Okay, after reading around some on these forums, it would seem this may not come close for playing games like Crisis, FarCry 2, Fallout 3, and God only knows what massive recommended requirements will arise on games coming out next year. So if I were to go to a budget of around $1500 what would be my best path in this scenario? It would not be $1500 all at once, maybe over a few months. So I would like to upgrade components slowly say one each week or two while being able to keep my computer's functionality while going through the process. My question is not only what build would be good, but what order should I upgrade if it is like one component every other week keeping full functionality? Thanks for all your help!

 

[Dr DMoney]

Best thing to do is save for a whole new build then. If you add a few parts now, and add months later then the stuff your originally bought is less expensive. Save until you get to $1500 for a new (much more powerful) machine. That said you will still be able to play those games with the $500 setup. They won't be at highest resolution, but it will be fine.