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Seeking advice regarding my possibly outdated motherboard, RAM, and video card n

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Hello,

I'm fully aware that I am naive when it comes to computers. That being said, I still love gaming on mine. My problem is that my computer likes to freeze the game, and even hardlock period when doing some tasks. It also gets insanely slow for some things. I know this is not due to a virus, I've checked so don't go there. My question is, what would be the best configuration, within a reasonable budget for my gaming and regular needs? (I know some video cards are over $100, which could be ok depending)

These are my computer specs: (Please don't make fun of my PC, just tell me what I need to change)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+
1.00 GHz 960 MB of RAM

Windows XP SP 3

hard drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 GBs <--didn't format right somehow, have half that

CPU Antec Earthwatts Model EA 380 380w Max

CPU cooler is I think the "Cooler Master"
There's also a fan on top of the mother board that mentions AMD?

Motherboard abit AN M2 VCE002963 V1.00

RAM 2 Kingston KVR? KVR800D2K2/1GR which apprently equal 960 MB total. If there was any trouble as there was with the hard drive, could that be less than they actually are?

monitor ViewSonic Professional Series PS 790

Could not see a soundcard sorry. I can hear sound though so it's possibly something built into the motherboard?

I'm sorry if this isn't that helpful. I tried my best, and carefully dusted the inside (without touching boards of course!).

Please let me know soon ok? I was hoping to take advantage of any Black Friday deals if I could.

Thank you

More about : seeking advice possibly outdated motherboard ram video card

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Not exactly sure what you mean by that. Are you saying I need to give a budget for the total cost for everything I might need? Or what I'd be willing to pay for each item? As I said before, around $100 for a video card would be ok. I'm not too terribly saavy on the prices of motherboards however. Since I don't even know if mine will still suffice anyway, it makes it harder to decide on that. Probably something within $200 since it is an essential item. Of course, if a soundcard or sound something or other is included in the construction, then I'd have no reason to buy it separately. I definately don't wish to burn $1000 to make the improvements. Just need something that will work best without necessarily being the very best there is. I don't need something for two screens, and I don't really know anything about overclocking so it's best not to try that. If I have to get windows 7 to be able to handle speeds, I'll probably do that. I haven't got a clue about the differences in CPUs much less how much they cost. I'm sorry if that makes it harder for you to help me, but I'm trying my best. If I can do this for under $500 I would love to, but I really don't know beyond video cards what things actually cost. I also would like to take advantage of black friday deals or any other holiday promotions, which could lower the cost of some items as well.
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Thank you!! I'm going to check all of these out!! I didn't even think about a processor! I'm also curious: should I try to get windows 7 as well? Or will my current xp work out with this setup?

To Swifty > According to my display settings, I have:
Plug and Play Monitor on NVIDIA GeForce 7025/ NVIDIA nForce 630a
current resolution: 1152 x 864 pixels 32 bit color

My monitor is a ViewSonic Professional Series PS790. It's very bulky.
Motherboard Expert

looks like the problem is you're trying to play with an on board graphics chip instead of a discreet graphics card. You may want to try a new graphics card to see if it suits you.......... even though your other hardware is old and dated. Having said that, I'll post some new stuff for you to think about.
Motherboard Expert

i'm looking at your monitor. the thing will run at decent res and refresh rates. what games do you play ? maybe we can get through this cheaply....... without a completely new build.......?????
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