Hardware Reccomendations please

[ReaperFett]

As of now, my basic specs are:

P3 450
128 RAM
16-20G Hard Drive (dont ask:))
Voodoo 3 3000




Now, I have extra RAM to add, but need to know what next. HD Im not bothered about. I cant fit any more in as of now, and I dont want to remove my current.


So, my question is, what is the best Processor and Graphics Card to buy, and which would you get first?

[Darth Viscera]

Graphics card:
<a href=http://www.pricewatch.com/1/37/4739-1.htm>Geforce 4 TI 4200-$136 shipped.</a>

Key Questions:
What is your price range? (And how much is that in U.S. dollars?)
What model motherboard do you have right now? (If you have a computer built by a large corporation, what brand and model computer is it?)

The CPU upgrade choice depends upon the answers to those key questions. It's more complicated than you may think because you may need a new motherboard in order to make the price to upgrade worthwhile. You don't want to be dishing out $115 just for a 2x speed increase.

[Vinny Red]

Depends on your needs. Do you want TV in/out, S video on your video card? Are you a big gamer ?? Do you have a DVD?

Answer those and what Vis put down and then recommendations are no problem, mind you I'll say go AMD, but i'm just biased towards AMD so that's just me

[ReaperFett]

Vis

Price Range is unimportant. Birthday coming up, so I can get anything really.

Model Motherboard? It's an Intel Pentium III, if that's what you mean

Vinny

TV in/out is unimportant, theres a TV next to me.

S video Im guessing is to use a VCR, so unimportant,

I am a big gamer

And I have a DVD DRIVE, but the software screwed, so cant actually play DVDs :)

[Darth Viscera]

You need a new motherboard for a faster CPU:

MSI KT3 Ultra-6380E --$85 shipped
Athlon XP 1900+ --$125 shipped retail
512MB Mushkin Basic DDR RAM --$105 shipped

plus the video card. Or you could just get a P3-850 for $115, but it's not worth spending over 100 clams just for a 2x speed increase, and with no potential for future upgrade.

Get those 4 things, the new motherboard, the new CPU, the new ram, the new video card. Take it to a local computer boutique, a small one. Not a mega computer superstore, just a shop run by real people who know what they're doing. They'll charge you something like $40/hour labor, though they'll call it labour there, install your new components, you take it home, re-install the OS, leave the computer running some burn-in tests for 24 hours, then you're done, and left with a computer that's around 5x faster.

[ReaperFett]

..........Video card it is then :)



THat's a bit too complex for me

[Darth Viscera]

Yes, that's what the paid technicians are for. A new video card won't do you any good if you don't have a fast CPU to back it up.

Take it to the shop, they'll call it a shoppe there, give the guy a few hundred dollars and they'll upgrade your system. They always have deals to upgrade your system to the newest motherboard and CPU for $199.

[Morgan Evanar]

I'd get a 1.6a retail P4 and OC the hell out of it.

If you want a vidcard, the Ti4200 is a really solid reccomendation. You should just get a new PC tho... the whole thing is badly out of date.

And for motherboards, I prefer gigabyte after getting 4 MSIs Dead on Arrival.

[Darth Viscera]

unfortunately Mr. Feet has prerequisites that preclude him from getting a serious machine. His parents gave him 2 sticks of 128mb PC-100 back during christmas, and if he doesn't use them he'll be shipped off to siberia. He should get a new video card from the net, take the box to the local shop and instruct the boffin to install the fastest processor that will fit in the old, old motherboard and install the other components.

Bah.

[Khendon Sevon]

*evil grin* The first time I tried to build a computer I almost killed myself... after hours of screaming and pulling hair I called my cousin, he took one look at it and told me the motherboard was frelled to hell and sent it to his friend and found out that the ROM on it was totally shot.

Guess what... it was an MSI, muuhuhhahaha.

Needless to say, I then purchased an Asus and everything was fine.

But I'm building a new system after the summer (when I get back from Greece) and I've decided to go with an MSI motherboard (mainly because it's great for the other hardware I'm getting and was recommended) hopefully I won't have any problems with DOA hardware... but we all know it'll happen.