What should I upgrade?

[EvanW]

I have been a casual PC gamer for a while, while mainly playing on PS3 with my friends. However, I really want to make PC my main platform. I have a decent PC right now, which doesn't NEED any improvements, but if I want to get into gaming on PC, I think I should upgrade one of the components eventually. I currently have:

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU E7400 @ 2.80GHz
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4800 series
RAM: 2 gigs
OS: Windows XP Professional
Sound Card: In the device manager it says "ATI Function Driver for High Definition Audio - ATI AA01"

So, im thinking either the GPU or the RAM, what do you think?

 

[amuffin]

If you upgrade your gpu your cpu will drastically bottleneck it. Imo it isn't a very "decent" pc :S What is your entire budget?

 

[tinmann]

Maybe if you could get your hands on a cheap Core 2 Extreme like the Q9550, 2 more gigs of ram, a 64 bit OS and a AMD 6950 you might stretch some mileage out of you current system but even those older Quad cores still fetch a decent price, sometimes greater than that of a new i5 2500K.

 

[stanistheman]

I recomend you build a new computer if you get a new gpu it will be bottlenecked by your cpu and if you try to get a new cpu the socket will be diffrent whats your budget?

 

[EvanW]

In reply to amuffin: At the moment I'm not entirely sure what my entire budget is, I didn't want to say this in my original post, but I'm only 15 but feel like I don't act like a kid online. So, that said, my budget is pretty much whatever my parents (mainly my dad) are willing to pay. So not too expensive, but I'm pretty sure I can talk my dad into getting something that's not complete garbage. I would guess the highest he would pay for a GPU is $200 and the highest for a CPU is $250, but probably would prefer lower.

EDIT: Scratch the prices, I don't think he would go that high, maybe $150 for GPU and the same for CPU, but I don't know

 

[EvanW]

In reply to stanistheman and tinmann: We (my family) really don't have the budget to build an entirely new PC. Should I continue on consoles until I can get a really nice rig? Or should I just work my way up, buying one piece at a time?

 

[EvanW]

that PC is actually not bad for win xp gaming, in fact it's a very common set up for a current gaming PC config (intel dual core + ati 4850)

2GB of DDR2 RAM is overpriced compared to DDR3 RAM so I would not purchase more RAM. 2GB is actually fine for win XP gaming

I would OC the CPU and start saving for a new build. start purchasing new items that you can transfer over to a new build with little issue like a new PSU (if needed), new case (if desired) followed by a new GPU. then go for the cpu, mobo, ram, OS upgraded.

Just saw the reply feature

So you think that I should stick with what I have now, and just work my way towards a better PC later on? And I'm a little bit of a noob when it comes to overclocking a CPU, are there any risks involved? And do you need any physical requirements to OC something?

 

[amuffin]

Look for a core 2 quad on ebay.

 

[amuffin]

In reply to amuffin: At the moment I'm not entirely sure what my entire budget is, I didn't want to say this in my original post, but I'm only 15 but feel like I don't act like a kid online. So, that said, my budget is pretty much whatever my parents (mainly my dad) are willing to pay. So not too expensive, but I'm pretty sure I can talk my dad into getting something that's not complete garbage. I would guess the highest he would pay for a GPU is $200 and the highest for a CPU is $250, but probably would prefer lower.

EDIT: Scratch the prices, I don't think he would go that high, maybe $150 for GPU and the same for CPU, but I don't know

It's ok I'm 14, way to get money is sell things. Sell things you do not use on craigslist and to your friends.

 

[EvanW]

It's ok I'm 14, way to get money is sell things. Sell things you do not use on craigslist and to your friends.

I'll try, but I don't know how much I have that's worth selling. Thanks for all the advice everybody!