Time to upgrade or rebuild?

[matrixinc]

I have a HP a520n which is a Athlon 3200 I have installed 768mb of Crucial PC2700. The video card has been upgraded to a Radeon 9600 pro and the sound card is a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum.

I am purchasing a 24in widescreen monitor and had thought about upgrading the CPU but didn't know if I really needed it.

Are there any games out there I can't play? I don't mean on just the lowest settings either. I ike to play with good graphics, not neceassarly everything maxed though.

Any input?

Thanks

 

[alcattle]

I would put you on the edge, there are a couple games out now that would tax your system.
I am not positive about your card handling the new monitor and the monitor's native format. Check that part out.

I think if it were me, I would ride the horse until it fell over. It is better that the system I am using now. (Duron 1.6 and v5200 card)

 

[matrixinc]

What are the weakpoints in my system setup?

I am thinking of Playing Oblivion soon.

 

[alcattle]

What are the weakpoints in my system setup?

I am thinking of Playing Oblivion soon.

Well you picked one of the games right away, I do not think your card will give good Graphics, just barely play it.

The cpu might be ok for now, you might want more RAM if you can add more.

You should go to the game website and read their recommended system.

 

[matrixinc]

Well I have made up my mind.

I am going to build a computer, I have a $1200 shipped budget any suggestions?

 

[alcattle]

Like I said look at the Web site, ok, I did it for you and many others I hope.[code:1:8f7e175fb2]
Recommended:

* 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
* 1 GB System RAM
* ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:

* Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit
* 512MB System RAM
* 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
* 128MB Direct3D compatible video card
* and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
* 8x DVD-ROM drive
* 4.6 GB free hard disk space
* DirectX 9.0c (included)
* DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
* Keyboard, Mouse

Supported Video Card Chipsets:

* ATI X1900 series
* ATI X1800 series
* ATI X1600 series
* ATI X1300 series
* ATI X850 series
* ATI x800 series
* ATI x700 series
* ATI x600 series
* ATI Radeon 9800 series
* ATI Radeon 9700 series
* ATI Radeon 9600 series
* ATI Radeon 9500 series
* NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
* NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
* NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
* NVIDIA GeForce FX series[/code:1:8f7e175fb2]