newb needs help

I would like some help with an upgrade decision. i would like to max out my current computer, or just get a new one. It is an amd 2600+ with 512 mb DDR 2700 ram upgradeable ot 2 gig, 128 mb ati radeon 9600 SE, and 250w PSU. I know I will need to go to the full 2 gigs ram, which will be about $100-$150. I would like the best graphics card I can get for $100-$150 and possibly more $200 if it would help, how big of a card can I go with this system? and a beefy PSU $50-$75 how big should I go? I guess i am looking at between $250-$425. What do you guys think I should do. I would like any help that I can get. What is my potential for a gaming computer for the future, and how long can I expect to get out of it? I know there are a lot of questions here, but I know very little. thank you guys alot in advance for all your help

thank you for the reply. Yes i do have an AGP slot. I read the article and got a lot of info from it. a few questions for you guys. can i overclock my system, it is untouched now at 2.13 ghz,(is this closer to part 2 of the review?) and get an X1950 PRO and get a couple of years out of it? how high should i upgrade my RAM to. i would like to have some suggestions for what you guys would do for the upgrade, like which graphics card to get and the PSU and amount of RAM. is there a difference in PC2700 vs. PC3200? i think both will run in my system.

Go to Walmart. Get a brand new PC.

Don't waste your time with such a low performance PC. Winter is coming, earn money by shoveling snow and ask for hardware for Christmas. If you have a mid size tower you can go with a BTX motherboard. A really cheap Core 2 Duo. EVGA 8800 GT graphics card is less than $300.00 The 8800 GT has excellent firepower for the little amount of money that is paid. About a 500W power supply. Forget about AGP. All it does is bypass the memory and goes straight to the CPU. I/O modes and DMA is too slow. All new motherboards now don't have AGP. Bus mastering is used. As far as your new PC lasting, you can keep it for as long as you want. No rules stating a PC must be upgraded whenever new hardware arrives. Even reputable brand name companies have hardware that simply stops working. Playing current games will require a fairly powerful graphics card, unless you prefer to play them with all the settings low or off. If you open your budget more you can get more bang for your buck. I have used ATI and nVidia graphics cards and have great success with them both.

so if i upgrage the ram to 2 ghz and get a 450W power supply. will the X1950 pro be overkill, or will i get what it can dish out? and Xunicronx, i can spend $300 for the total upgrade, you are proposing i spend 300 on a card alone on top of all new components! that is a pretty obvious upgrade path that i am considering, but if this will hold me over for a year or so then i'll wait to spend the big money for a killer system.

Well, no, you don't have spend that much for a graphics card. Also, if you are having trouble choosing a medium priced CPU and medium priced graphics card, go for the graphics card.

Part 2 of the article had a athlon 3500 with a really bad motherboard that supported agp and pci-e. Part 1 applies to you a bit more.

The morale of the story in part 2 was that the pci-e and agp 7600gt's performed nearly identically.

Power Supply: After you figure out everything your going to install in your new build, then you can determine the amount of power you need. A high power CPU can use up to 130W, harddrives and optical drives about 30W each, RAM uses about 15W per 256MB, floppies I think use about 10W. These are just estimates.

Ok, 2 GB of RAM. These are Slot 0 and Slot 1 for RAM. You can install 1GB per channel, or to save money you could go 512MB and 512 MB.

Well, yes if you maximize your RAM, then as far as RAM speed goes in the big picture, you set.

with only 2 slots and possibly no dual channel mode, I'd replace the 2 256's with a gig stick of pc3200 and leave the other on open for a second stick later.

the performance difference between pc3200 and pc2700 shouldnt be huge but you might as well go with the pc3200 as they are usually priced the same.

will i see a performance difference with going straight to 2 ghz ram? what card is recomended with my final system specs? it will be 2.13ghz AMD Athlon 2 ghz ram,

or you can get the 7600GT that is really a preference between NVidia and ATI either is fine

and YES 2GB of RAM Vs. 1GB is a huge difference never mind 2GB Vs. 512MB
(not to pick on you or anything just to help educate GHz is reference to how fast the RAM is where GB is the amount of ram)
GB=Gigabyte = size
GHz=Gigahertz = speed

I really do recommend the new build route.

don't do a new build right now... the AM2+ is about to be released and I don't see in wasting money on something that is going to be obsolete tomorrow

yup, you can re-use the hard drive and os

I mean, a new board that can support faster RAM, CPU, etc.

you may have to re-install windows with a motherboard upgrade. and I agree with Hell_spawn, next year would be the time to start over.

this is sounding better all the time, so a couple hundred dollars more and i am out of the stone age!!??
plan 1: same system, 2.13 ghz AMD, 2 gb DDR ram about $125ish, new GPU $120-175, new PSU 450w $65 minimum. total of about $325
plan 2: new motherboard cost???, new processor cost?? more of better ram?? new PSU $65, GPU with PCIe about $200 total cost of about???

See, didn't I tell you to open your budget a little more?

You might as well spend an extra $150 and get a new CPU if your next build or upgrad isn't going to be for another year.

will a new CPU just plug in to my current mobo, plug and play.

sorry for the confusion. There are many views on what the best way to go is. In the end it is your needs and budget that determine wich is the best route to go.

I agree that new computers can be had for cheap. But now it is not the time to build a new system as there are far too many new and cool things coming out in the near future to jump into a new build today.

Edit: The 8800 gt is only the begining

what would you estimate the total cost of a new midrange build. i have a 108 GB hard drive, dvd rw cd rw combo, dvd rom drive, floppy. and i'm sure i can reuse some fans and the case?? ballpark?

as hard as it is to do wait for the new build with the upgrades we suggested you will be able to play any game with very decent quality (except crysis lol my rig probably won't even play crysis that good )

just wait

I also find it hard to wait as I suffer from G.A.S (gear acquisition syndrome)
but I have to keep applying logic to my purchases.. for instance I was going through the same issue you are. I was going to get the 5000+BE a new mobo PSU and RAM and an aftermarket CPU heatsink. I already have a PCIe VGA [8800 GTS 640MB] so that saved me 500$.
total cost was going to be~850$ CAD
so then I thought to myself... "well self, the AM2+ motherboards are going to be released later on this month, or early next month, with quad-core to be released shortly after... why spend 800$ to only have to spen another 400$ in a few months?"
so what I am actually doing is buying the PSU I wanted and the Heatsink which cost me ~250$ so now I don't have to buy that stuff when I do my new build
then to hold me over I bought a new cpu for my current board (because that was my biggest bottleneck as I have a good VGA and lots of RAM) the CPU cost me ~50$
so now I will only have to buy a mobo cpu and ram which will cost me roughly 450$ which saved me ~400$

this way I will have a system that I am happy with and parts to carry me over to the next build

if you upgrade now you will be able to atleast carry over you PSU which will save you 100$ in the future

BTW if you plan to carry over your PSU make sure to get one with a good watt rating somewhere in the ~700-850W range (don't worry power supplies don't draw the full rating (eg if you have a 700W psu and your computer parts only pull 400W then 400W is coming from the wall) also it's good to leave some headroom on your PSU (eg if your system pulls 400W get at least a 600W PSU) using your PSUs at full load shortens their life produces a lot more heat and provides less stable voltages

wow sorry if I overloaded you with info, I know it can be a lot to take in.