Nearly 2 years old, time for an upgrade??

[Omid]

Hi all, my PC was originally a Compaq Presario SR1280.UK

Components currently:

-ASUS PTGD1-LA MB HP SPEC
-Pentium 4 HT 775 550 3.4GHz
-2GB DDR 400 RAM (4*512)
-3*250GB HDD (2WD 1 MAXTOR ALL SATA 150)
-ASUS ATI RADEON X600 PCI-E 256MB
-Pioneer DVR-111D
-ASUS DVD ROM
-CoolerMaster 450W PSU

Thats all i think

Oh yea!

-Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
-Normal 92mm exhaust fan

NO SPACE FOR INTAKE FAN

Scored 616 on 3D Mark 06, Dads Laptop got 2210 so it cant be good right?

Running XP Home too

 

[AeroB1033]

You could probably eek another year or so out of that machine by upgrading the video card to something mid-range (X1950 Pro or GeForce 7900GS for example). You'd probably even be able to play most of this year's games, albeit at mediocre visual quality.

 

[Omid]

Yea youre right i feel my graphics card lacks, only gives like 3-6 FPS i think lol.

How much will that cost me?

 

[p05esto]

I've got a little less system than you but with a 7900GT Volt Modded GPU and i can play the latest games with no problems at all. And I'm on a 24" LCD playing at high resolutions. Yes, I have to give up just a few visuals but it's not even really noticable at all. I plan on waiting another year to upgrade my P4 3.0. No problems here. It just doesn't make financial sense to blow $2k+ every two years on a computer to see little improvement. (unless rich of course).

Heck, that's two 360s per year...plus games. Stick with yer system. Buy an xBox or upgrade your GPU if you wanna game.

 

[fredgiblet]

Since you have PCI-e I'd say just grab a new GPU (8000 series if you have the cash otherwise a upper-mid range 7000/X1000 series) and call it good for a half-year or so, by then the Core 2 should have had a price drop or 2.

 

[Omid]

Since you have PCI-e I'd say just grab a new GPU (8000 series if you have the cash otherwise a upper-mid range 7000/X1000 series) and call it good for a half-year or so, by then the Core 2 should have had a price drop or 2.

Dont want to spend too much (i.e 8800) also dont think that will fit in my case.

Is X1600 or 7600 good upgrade?

 

[fredgiblet]

7600GT would probably be a decent upgrade for a while, probably enough to last you until you do a full rebuild.

 

[Omid]

which brand or model do you recommend

 

[AeroB1033]

In this price range I would go for this card, it honestly can't be beat for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127271

 

[Mondoman]

Depending on how power-hungry the graphics card, you may have to upgrade the PS as well -- I'm not sure how much +12V power your current PS supplies.

 

[fredgiblet]

In this price range I would go for this card, it honestly can't be beat for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127271

I'm going to second this actually, it's more expensive than a 7600GT but it's way more powerful.

 

[Omid]

nice, i have 450w coolermaster, dont think there are many of them.

It is dear though lol but nice.

Whats its power consumption?

 

[fredgiblet]

with a 450w PSU you are most likely fine.