Upgrading my old rig. Need help.

[chickenfox]

It's been almost 2 years since I've touched my computer parts, in fact it's been 2 years since I've touched my computer! I recently got addicted to PC games again so I am wondering what is the best way to spend my money. The following is what I have:

Motherboard: A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Video Card: X700 Pro 256mb
CPU: AMD 4200+
Ram: 2GB Corsair Value Select
PS: 200W?

I am not a major gamer in any way, shape, or form so I am looking to spend 300-400 max on this upgrade. The main reason of wanting to upgrade is because my computer kept constantly crashing then restarting itself. This led me to stop touching my rig for two years. Now, I've finally forgiven my old pal that's kept me joyful yet frustrated at times. Though I'm not entirely sure what the cause of this is, I think it could be either the PS, the video card, or even the MB. What do you guys think? Also, take note that I upgraded my CPU so I don't think that is the reason why my rig keeps crashing. Thanks for the help!

 

[chickenfox]

anyone?

 

[godless]

well your system is really dated. i'm not sure that you can easily upgrade the system and have it run all the latest games. which games will you be playing?

right off the bat the power supply is way to low for any modern graphics card. also is your system agp or pice? i'm too lazy to google your mobo.

upgrading the ram is pointless, you have enough. the cpu is only only single core, get dual core.

just googled your mobo and it seems that you have socket 939 mobo, that means you can forget about installing better cpu, your only choice would be to overclock it.

you would be better off getting a brand new system, IMO. it's really hard to find parts for your system. cpus with your socket are pretty much non existent, psu wouldn't be enough for any new gpu, or even cpu.

best thing to do IN MY OPINION is to get a new mobo, cpu, ram and psu. save the old case and hard drive . but a new hd if you have enough money left. then again 400 dollar budget will not get you great features, but it's duable. would you want to run intel or amd system? you want to overclock?

 

[chickenfox]

Intel or AMD doesn't really matter. I find both are great brands. As for O/C, it's not a must for me. What would you suggest I get for my budget though.

 

[kiwi_chuck]

I'm currently running an XP 3200+ single core on a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe board with 2 gigs of ram and a high end AGP card. I did play Crysis and managed to get acceptable frame rates. I can manage to play pretty much any of the new games as long as I keep some of the eye candy from being set to high. If I was you I would get a more powerful power supply and get a higher end video card. You should be able to play games okay and you can pull that off for less than $400. I'm currently building a new computer system only because of my single core processor and I need to be able to run Civil 3D, which is an absolute resource pig. 2 Gigs of RAM is adequate for XP in almost anything you want to do.

Of course this all depends on what is crashing your computer system constantly. I would start with checking my ram with MemTest 86 (it's free and works good) or the Windows memory tester (search on Microsoft.com)

If you have a PSU tester or someone that does, use that and check the PSU

It might also be incompatible drivers or software. When was the last time you wiped the computer clean and did a fresh install?

Anyways, just my thoughts.

 

[chickenfox]

Also, I just want to be able to play games like TF2, CS:S, BF2142, hopefully SC2. all on medium settings. With what I have now, I can manage to play css and tf2 fine on medium but 2142 is a bit laggy.

 

[chickenfox]

Thanks kiwi_chuck for the info! I'll test it with mem86 once i get my hands on my computer. As for the drivers/software, I wiped my computer clean well after getting those crashes so I think we can take the incompatible drivers/soft out of the equation.

 

[godless]

cpu, amd 5000be dual core. it has unlocked multiplier so it's really easy to overclock.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194
$88

ram is cheap you you can get like 2x1gb of name brade really cheap. get like corsair,, patriot,crucial or ocz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227139
$35

graphics card this is what i have, if you need it really soon, this is very good. but in a month new 4850 and 4870 card come out and they might be really good. there are no benches yet, just speculation. but if you can wait, i'd strongly would recommend the 4870.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050
$150

mobo, this is a really great mobo, it supports crossfirex, is really easy to overclock and you can always upgrade to quad core cpu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130136
$150
but to keep you in your budget i would definetly get a cheaper mobo something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131289
$100

now someone else might have a suggestion for a better mobo, i'm not too famliar with this one.

 

[godless]

forgot a power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052
$50

and do test your computer with memtest and prime95, fresh install of windows always does seem to fix problems

 

[chickenfox]

thx godless

anyone else got a list that would work under 500dollars?

 

[pcgamer12]

get a good powersupply in the 430w or higher range. then get a good video card like a 8800gt or 8800gts if its pci-e, or if its agp, get a 3850 512mb. i bet when u upgraded ur cpu, ur psu couldnt handle the extra wattages it brings causing crashes when ur energy usage spikes up.

 

[chickenfox]

so say i get a 430w ps and a 8800gt. will the rig that i have now (with upgraded ps and gpu) be good enough to play today's games on high? or would it just be good enough to play on medium settings?

 

[kiwi_chuck]

It depends on the game. I could turn up some of Crysis settings to high with my 3200 athlon and a ATI X1950 Pro card. I did run Bioshock with some pretty high settings and it looked gorgeous. Your dual core processor definately takes kills my single core and the 8800gt is more powerful than my video card, so you should be able to play the games at a decent level. The graphics on Crysis for me was just fine w/o turning everything up all the way. I compared it to screenshots from people running Crysis on high with DX10 and all that and I didn't feel that I was missing all that much.