Ok I am a first time poster here, I looked at the sticky at the top of the page but I still have some questions. I AM upgrading this PC for gaming and gaming only.
Ok I am looking to upgrade my current pc, the stats on my current PC are
512 ram
1.6ghz processor
geforce 4 ti-4200 128mb gfx card
cable modem
I want to keep the price on upgrading these to under $800. My main problem is, I don't understand what to do about my motherboard and processor. The motherboard I have now is a Socket A, but when I was looking on Newegg I found that there are a lot of different socket types. Really I just don't know what to look for in a motherboard and processor.
For the processor I want something above 2 ghz, there are a lot of options, but there are other things that are complicating to me. Like the FSB, some of the processors have a certain mhz, but the others are integrated into the chip. I still don't understand what it means if it is integrated into the chip, and am really unsure what the certain mhz means. Is it better to have a higher mhz on the processor, or is it better to have a integrated processor?
Now for the motherboard, which socket if any is best for a gamer? I want an AMD processor, so I think that limits me to Socket A, Socket 939, and Socket 940. What should I look for in a motherboard? There are a few stats that are weird to me, Onboard LAN, and form factor. Also how do I know if my motherboard and processor are compatable?
Lastly, my graphics card. I plan on getting a Geforce 6800 128mb card. Is there a big difference between a 128mb card and a 256mb card?
Ok that's about it for now. Sorry for the extremely long post, but as you can tell I know NOTHING about the way computers work...I have had this rig for a long time and my friend built it for me, so this is the first time on my own. I tried calling the local PC shop and I couldn't explain all of this over the phone.
Ok I am looking to upgrade my current pc, the stats on my current PC are
512 ram
1.6ghz processor
geforce 4 ti-4200 128mb gfx card
cable modem
I want to keep the price on upgrading these to under $800. My main problem is, I don't understand what to do about my motherboard and processor. The motherboard I have now is a Socket A, but when I was looking on Newegg I found that there are a lot of different socket types. Really I just don't know what to look for in a motherboard and processor.
For the processor I want something above 2 ghz, there are a lot of options, but there are other things that are complicating to me. Like the FSB, some of the processors have a certain mhz, but the others are integrated into the chip. I still don't understand what it means if it is integrated into the chip, and am really unsure what the certain mhz means. Is it better to have a higher mhz on the processor, or is it better to have a integrated processor?
Now for the motherboard, which socket if any is best for a gamer? I want an AMD processor, so I think that limits me to Socket A, Socket 939, and Socket 940. What should I look for in a motherboard? There are a few stats that are weird to me, Onboard LAN, and form factor. Also how do I know if my motherboard and processor are compatable?
Lastly, my graphics card. I plan on getting a Geforce 6800 128mb card. Is there a big difference between a 128mb card and a 256mb card?
Ok that's about it for now. Sorry for the extremely long post, but as you can tell I know NOTHING about the way computers work...I have had this rig for a long time and my friend built it for me, so this is the first time on my own. I tried calling the local PC shop and I couldn't explain all of this over the phone.