Although it held up surprisingly well for 4 years, with nothing but a video card upgrade, my old pre-built Dell system nearing the end of its life. So, my goal is to do a budget upgrade/rebuilt to a respectable gaming rig, while keeping some of the less outdated / critical hardware from the Dell.
Basically, I'm hoping to re-use all my HD, CD, DVD, Network cards, external devices, etc. So, what I'll be needing is . . .
- Case / Power Supply
- Motherboard
- CPU
- 1G of RAM (I doubt I'd be reusing the 512 stick of generic stuff that came pre-built with the Dell, assume it's probably about bottom of the barrel)
- Graphics Card
I've got a pretty good handle on graphics card technology and what my options are there, but as far as the rest goes, I'm a relative newbie, especially when it comes to Motherboards and compatability with CPU/RAM. I'm not really looking for a monster machine or anything, just something that will be able to respectibly run the next generation of games at medium to high level.
In terms of budget, I'm hoping to stay in the neighborhood the $500 mark or so. Under $1000, worst case.
Basically, I'm hoping to re-use all my HD, CD, DVD, Network cards, external devices, etc. So, what I'll be needing is . . .
- Case / Power Supply
- Motherboard
- CPU
- 1G of RAM (I doubt I'd be reusing the 512 stick of generic stuff that came pre-built with the Dell, assume it's probably about bottom of the barrel)
- Graphics Card
I've got a pretty good handle on graphics card technology and what my options are there, but as far as the rest goes, I'm a relative newbie, especially when it comes to Motherboards and compatability with CPU/RAM. I'm not really looking for a monster machine or anything, just something that will be able to respectibly run the next generation of games at medium to high level.
In terms of budget, I'm hoping to stay in the neighborhood the $500 mark or so. Under $1000, worst case.