Hello everyone, first post on these forums.

Ok I’m looking to upgrade my pc. I use my PC for everything watching movies and TV, surfing internet, downloading media, playing games, other basic tasks such as word processing etc... I also wish to use the PC as a devolopers environment so will need resources to run multiple virtual computers using Vmware and resource intensive IDE's. I have a budget of about £230.

Current Specs:

2.66 Ghz Pentium 4 CPU Socket 478
512 MB DDR Ram, 2x 256 MB
Nvidia Geforce Mx 420 AGP
Nvidia Geforce Fx 5500 PCI
MSI MS6701 MOBO
250 GB IDE HDD
70 GB IDE HDD
250 GB USB HDD
350 Watt PSU
ATX Case

I wish to upgrade to

2.66 Ghz Pentium 4 CPU Socket 478

2 GB DDR 3200 Ram 2x 1Gb Crucial
Already ordered the ram £70

Nvidia Geforce 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3 http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=127275 £125

ASRock P4VM890 Socket 478 MOBO
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=126187
£30

250 GB IDE HDD
70 GB IDE HDD
250 GB USB HDD
350 Watt PSU
ATX Case

What do you guys think any recommendations, changes?

I’ve done a great deal of research and am 80% certain that these components will be compatible. (Please correct me if I’m wrong).

Later on in the year, possibly after Christmas, I will use the old components to build an additional PC, although I will need to buy a new case, PSU and Socket 478 processor.

haha you crack me up. why you investing in 5 year old technology. dont get the 478 socket pentium 4. get a core 2 duo E2160 1.8ghz. as a result you will need to get a new motherboard i suggest the Gigabyte P35 Ds3r or the asus P5k, bother very good board, the first supports ddr3.

video card dont waste 110 pounds on the 8600 gts get the x1950 pro, 10 tens better and 20 pounds cheaper. ram i would get at least 2 gb at 800 mhz speed. other than that its ok, well change the hdd from ide to sata. then you are sorted

Ok how about this then:

Graphics Card
MSI X1950PRO 256MB GDDR3 DVI Crossfire ready PCI-E
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=119604

Processor
Intel E2160 Socket 775 Pentium Dual Core 2x1.8Ghz 800FSB
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=127248

MoBO
Gigabyte GA-8I865GME-775-RH Socket 775
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=118651

i would prefer to use DDr memory as it is already purchased.

Thanks for your help

hmmm, the ram well the reason i suggest 800 mhz ram is because you can easily oc the cpu to 3ghz on air not extra cooling, but with your ram you cant over clock. because th ram speed is 200 mhz and the fsb of the cpu is 200 mhz so you cant increase the fsb higher than the ram, unless you want to oc the ram too which isnt easy and a waste of time. so you can get 3ghz on that cpu with 667 (333) mhz ram as 9x 333= 3ghz so i would change the ram.

also the motherboard to be honest its rubbish (old chiplet) but you on budget you could try this http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113965

still the old intel chiplet but a very good board, as a result you wont be able to upgrade to the new cpu's.

for the p35 chiplet i would suggest this board http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128047
the cheapest p35 board

or the gigabyte i recommended before

actually i would prob go with AMD if your budget is too tight.

if they are too expensive i would save up a litlle more.

Ok after much thinking and reading many reviews. i have settled on a new system:

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz) Socket 775
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] &offset=20

Mobo
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=128047
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] uid=128047

Ram
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/pro [...] =&offset=0

Nvidia Geforce FX 5500 PCI
250Gb IDE HDD
250 GB USB HDD
IDE DVD RW
350 Watt PSU
ATX Case

I have decided to leave the graphic card upgrade until I have some extra cash and spend the money on the processor and DDR 2 Ram. However will this create a massive bottleneck within my system, so that the benfits of the DDR 2 Ram and Core 2 Duo E6600 processor are unseen, or will this be fairly unotecable except when running newer games?

Also will my 350 watt PSU support this setup. I hope it does because im really pushing my budget as it is.

Thanks alot for help so far

ps. Will this upgrade based on my current specs, give a massive performance boost?