What do you all think I should do?

[corky clifton]

Hello, great site, but I really could not find an answer to this question. Have a 2003 HP 734N with AM37 motherboard and Geforce4 MX 420 64 Meg video. DVD went bad and a friend gave me a game that needs DVD. SO, thought I would take a look at upgrading stuff to at least a 512 AGP card and found out I would need a higher powered power supply to start(comes with a 200 watt!), then a older graphics card and then a new DVD. SO, should I spend a little on these upgrades or just go out and buy a newer, mid-priced computer? Your thoughts are appreciated, thanks, Corky.

 

[o1die]

I would search fatwallet or slickdeal for a new one. Frys also has some for $300-400 if you order online. Get one with 4 gb of ram.

 

[geofelt]

Usually, it is not worth upgrading anything over 4 years old.

If your pc is doing your job, then a replacement DVD is only about $30.

If you want an upgrade, then I think it is complete rebuild time.

 

[saint19]

Hi and welcome to Tom's forum.

Please list all the specs of your rig, CPU, mobo, GPU, RAM, HD.

Like I see and if you can afford a new rig, is a better option that try to "upgrade" the current one.

The final choice is yours and depends of your needs.

 

[corky clifton]

I hope this link will give you what you need about MOBO, chipset and all that stuff I really dont know that much about... The only thing I have done to it is increase the RAM to 1 Gig. I have found that the VIA KM 266 chip is not so good, along with the under powered power supply. I guess its just old and behind the times, but I do a fair amount of graphics and Photoshop on it and it seems OK. I do play games every once in awhile, but dont need a full gaming rig, just something that will give me average performance. Perhaps someone could give me a clue on a new one to get thats in the $500 range. Anyway, thanks for your help so far, Corky.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07941&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&site=null&key=null&product=296682