All my games run fine, except for Day Of Defeat Source online, when theres multiple people on the screen, they move not so smooth..yet my ping/latency is around 20 or so.  My singleplayer HalfLife2 runs just fine on pretty high detail settings....Its been 3 years since ive upgraded, pl

Heres what my computer is currently...

P3 2.4ghz CPU
Asus P4S8X Motherboard
two hard drives, 5200rpm (200gigs+ of space)
512mb 3200 DDR Ram (Corsair brand)
GeForce 4 Ti4600 128mb Video Card (by Chaintech)
simple/basic Soundblaster audio card


Id like for the latest games to run smooth on the computer...but id also like to keep the cost down where possible...for example, im aware there are $500-$600 video cards out there (the 512mb one I saw at CompUSA for example), that I can do without..but also I dont want the run of the mill sort of computer system.  As it is, my current computer can handle most anything, except for running the latest games on the highest video settings, then it starts to chug.  

Bump your board ram up to 1GIG , get a decent brand of vid card with 256MB.

I wouldnt spend more than that .

That should get you up to speed and do you ok for maybe a year and a half.

Eventually you'll have to spring for a new box to run state of art games anyway.

Quoted: Bump your board ram up to 1GIG , get a decent brand of vid card with 256MB. I wouldnt spend more than that . That should get you up to speed and do you ok for maybe a year and a half. Eventually you'll have to spring for a new box to run state of art games anyway.

im definitly going to get 512mb more ram (same type and all)...what type of 256mb card would you recommend?  Specifics please, as many will say "Radeon" or "GeForce", theres so many out there, im looking for one of the better ones.

I know my motherboard is another weakness, as its FSB is VERY low compared to those on the market today, so im thinking a whole new CPU/mobo combo.  

I may give the system to my dad, and get $$$ towards a new one, if thats the case, then it will be an entirely new system.  What would a really good gaming PC run me if I ordered the parts online and assembled it myself (as ive done with this one)?

 thanks

You can probably do it for $700 on the low end. I would go for 7200rpm drives this time in addition to a gig of ram. Get a board for a PCI express video card and try for a 800mhz FSB. As far as video, the top for Nvidia IIRC is Gigabyte's 7800 GTX Turbo Force, but it's around $525 street price. I usually look at the most expensive cards then come down a few models. For 200 you could do the GeForce 6600 GT Silentpipe-II. There's a model n between that also for around $300. As you tell, I'm partial to nvidia vs. ATI.

Quoted: You can probably do it for $700 on the low end. I would go for 7200rpm drives this time in addition to a gig of ram. Get a board for a PCI express video card and try for a 800mhz FSB. As far as video, the top for Nvidia IIRC is Gigabyte's 7800 GTX Turbo Force, but it's around $525 street price. I usually look at the most expensive cards then come down a few models. For 200 you could do the GeForce 6600 GT Silentpipe-II. There's a model n between that also for around $300. As you tell, I'm partial to nvidia vs. ATI.

you mentioned a PCI vid card, why PCI over AGP?  

Quoted: Quoted: You can probably do it for $700 on the low end. I would go for 7200rpm drives this time in addition to a gig of ram. Get a board for a PCI express video card and try for a 800mhz FSB. As far as video, the top for Nvidia IIRC is Gigabyte's 7800 GTX Turbo Force, but it's around $525 street price. I usually look at the most expensive cards then come down a few models. For 200 you could do the GeForce 6600 GT Silentpipe-II. There's a model n between that also for around $300. As you tell, I'm partial to nvidia vs. ATI. you mentioned a PCI vid card, why PCI over AGP?

AGP is being phased out in favor if PCI Express, which is not the same as PCI.

Yeah, I was just saying to go with PCIe to give you more options in the future. I wouldn't upgrade just for the PCIe right now because there's no need to. IF you were building a new system regardless, it never hurts to use the lastest proven technology which I think PCIe is. AGP 8x supports 2.1Gps of shared bandwidth. PCIe supports 4.2Gps.
You can't go wrong with P4 or AMD64, (2) 7200 SATA drives for RAID or not, a motherboard that supports SLI. Get a middle of the line nvidia card for now and you can add another later if you wish. I would then look at your monitor to make sure you aren't paying for this set up for nothing. Viewsonic's VP191b is hard to beat for the performance and money.

my moniters nice...
http://www.papab.com/adia701bk.htm



so your saying the PCIe is better than the new AGP 8x cards?  I know my GeForce4 is only a AGP 4x (I believe).....so convert over to PCIe?  Is everything compatable with it?

also...is there anyplace I can buy a new PC from online, without getting allt he preloaded garbage that Dell and other companies put on?  I was hoping to find a place that customizes PCs, but dont load on 10000 pieces of garbage.

geoforce 6800gt

Dieter122, why don't you just build it yourself.  Except for the ordering of the parts, the actual build takes me 1-2 hours.  Then you just install the OS that you can pick up for around $100 give or take.  The computers I have built I have never had problems with except for 1 power supply going out and it was under warranty.  

My surfing computer is just a P4 2.67Ghz w/ 1 gig of DDR 2700.  I have 2 computers with P4 3.0 Ghz and 3.2Ghz hyper-threading enabled 1 Gig of RAM 400Mhz 3200 in each.  One is running SATA 10,000 rpm Raptor 36GB(?) HD plus a 7,200 rpm 160GB SATA drive for storage, I think, haven't opened that one in awhile.  I use these for video processing for the most part.

I've used a number of different motherboards.  The easiest for me has been SOYO just because of the number of times I have used them. I've built on XFX, Intel and a couple of others.

AMD processor is another option.  Haven't checked the prices in about a year.  I don't know of any off the shelf computer I would buy for myself that I would be happy with.  It may not be cheaper to build your own anymore but if you know what you are doing and plan what you are building, you will get a much better computer value in the long run.  I have seen too many off the shelf computers go to hell in about a year.  

Right now PCIe doesn't have much of an advantage over AGP 8x because not many games are built for it. As I said before, don't upgrade just to upgrade the video card. But....if you are in fact building a new pc for other reasons, yes go with PCIe it will be better as the industry shifts from AGP.

The card you have is fine for anything out right now I think. There are two ways you could go.
1. Keep the card and machine for surfing/file storage etc.
2. Sell the card to fund some of the new parts for your new pc.

+1 on building it yourself. I haven't purchased a built pc since '97. It's just way to easy to customize and pay for only what YOU want. It's also not hard at all to throw one together in 2-3 hours if it's your first one. The cool thing about building youself is, you can almost always recycle some of the parts i.e the case and power supply which saves money on your next build. I've used the same Lian Li case and enermax power supply for my last two.

Write down your requirements for your new pc, post it and get some reccomendations. Don't forget your price range. If I'm around later, I will put on together on paper if you'd like. Good luck.

shit....that thing is light years ahead of mine. If you want to sell that system to fund another one, i'd be interested.

Quoted: Right now PCIe doesn't have much of an advantage over AGP 8x because not many games are built for it. As I said before, don't upgrade just to upgrade the video card. But....if you are in fact building a new pc for other reasons, yes go with PCIe it will be better as the industry shifts from AGP. The card you have is fine for anything out right now I think. There are two ways you could go. 1. Keep the card and machine for surfing/file storage etc. 2. Sell the card to fund some of the new parts for your new pc. +1 on building it yourself. I haven't purchased a built pc since '97. It's just way to easy to customize and pay for only what YOU want. It's also not hard at all to throw one together in 2-3 hours if it's your first one. The cool thing about building youself is, you can almost always recycle some of the parts i.e the case and power supply which saves money on your next build. I've used the same Lian Li case and enermax power supply for my last two. Write down your requirements for your new pc, post it and get some reccomendations. Don't forget your price range. If I'm around later, I will put on together on paper if you'd like. Good luck.

my last 2 PCs have been home built from parts, it does keep cost down, and it does fufill the needs..whatever they may be.

id like a 256mb PCIexpress video card (either GeForce or Radeon, doesnt matter..as long as its namebrand and compatable with everything out there game-wise), a processor more powerful than my P3 2.4ghz (probally 3.0ghz+).  Intel or AMD, doesnt matter to me really, as long as it has hyperthreading technology and the other advancements of late.  Im looking at 1 gig of ram (higher speed than 3200, which is what I currently have).  Harddrives im keeping...the case I think I just may get a new one..or I can replace it, doesnt matter to me (may as well just replace the entire system, except the harddrives I figure, so my father can have it, or I can sell it).  I also want to make sure the motherboard has a high FSB speed, mine was the best of the best...but that was 3+ years ago....  Monitor I already have that nice 17inch flatscreen, so im set with that.  One other thing id like is a run of the mill Soundblaster audio card, as the one I have currently is the bare bones of what you can run on, minimally..basically.

As for how much id like to spend $700-800 probally..maybe a bit  more if neccisary.  The harddrives save me a couple hundred out of the gate, the mouse, keyboard, monitor, add up also, as I already have that stuff.  

I would install your OS on a faster harddrive than you have or you are not going to take advantage of all your upgrades as much.   $100.00 250 GB 7500rpm

Quoted: I would install your OS on a faster harddrive than you have or you are not going to take advantage of all your upgrades as much.   $100.00 250 GB 7500rpm

alright ill check it out...I wasnt aware of much faster drives being available, guess 3 years allows for some development  thanks

Quoted: Quoted: I would install your OS on a faster harddrive than you have or you are not going to take advantage of all your upgrades as much.   $100.00 250 GB 7500rpm alright ill check it out...I wasnt aware of much faster drives being available, guess 3 years allows for some development  thanks

I am running my OS on a SATA 37GB Raptor (WD?) 10,000 RPM drive on one computer and have run some test programs showing that it is faster than my other computers. But to tell you the truth, another computer I built with 7,500 RPM drives with the regular/old ide(?) connections seem just as fast.  It could be the processor though that is a bit faster.  

Check out NewEgg.com, cheap shipping for single items, buy your parts when they are on sale there and you can usually get great deals.  The have very large SATA drives faster than the ones you have for about $130.00 right now.  Your slower drives can be used for slave drives for storage and if you do any copying of DVD's you can store them on the slave drive.

Except for your operating system, you can get any other software you will need on a new system for free.  Windows XP home can be bought online for around $80.00, XP Professional for about $134.00 or so.  I have 2 of each and actually for my needs I don't see any reason for Professional if you are just using one computer.  I have a network with 6 computers in my house.

Antivirus, firewalls, DVD authoring software and just about anything you could need on a new system is available for free.  The crap on off the shelf computers is never really used anyway by most people.  Something like Word or Wordperfect for documents can usually be installed if you have a disc from an older system.

Microsoft will be coming out with a new OS, but when?  I have never had problems with XP, except for compatibility with some of my older programs and hardware.

Build your own, you won't regret it.  The hardest part is getting the switches from your new case hooked up to the motherboard if you can't read/don't have the diagram.  I like Antec (Lanboy) cases, simple, silver, nice power supply, plenty of room, couple of fans installed for cooling.

Let me know if you need any ideas or software if you decide to build.    

Quoted: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor...$334.00 ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard...$163.00 CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400...$238.00 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive..$136.00 after rebate. eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16.$284.00 after rebate.

holy crap those specs are high.  ill look into this.  im going to be gone for 10 days.  catch you guys then.

Thanks for the info/price quotes on the pieces, now at least I have a ballpark figure of the specifics.  Thanks again

Quoted: Right now PCIe doesn't have much of an advantage over AGP 8x because not many games are built for it. As I said before, don't upgrade just to upgrade the video card. But....if you are in fact building a new pc for other reasons, yes go with PCIe it will be better as the industry shifts from AGP.

There aren't many current production video cards in AGP. That's the reason I switched.