Can anyone give me some advice on how to upgrade my PC?

[RedgraveStorm]

I'm mainly looking to upgrade my graphics card, but I'm not sure whats good or what will work with my... other computer things. My current specs are:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core Processor, 2.30GHz
3 GB RAM
32-bit operating system, running Vista Home Premium
500GB hard-drive
NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 with shader model 3
Board: PEGATRON Corporation NARRAS5.500

Really could use some help here my fellow Escapees.

 

[Slaanesh]

This looks like a pretty outdated rig. Do you know how much power your PSU holds?

EDIT:What do you plan on doing with the computer? If you're thinking about light gaming, then maybe a new graphics card would help. But if you plan on heavy gaming(BF3, Skyrim) then its time to build a new PC.

Also, more system specs would help.

 

[RedgraveStorm]

This looks like a pretty outdated rig. Do you know how much power your PSU holds?

EDIT:What do you plan on doing with the computer? If you're thinking about light gaming, then maybe a new graphics card would help. But if you plan on heavy gaming(BF3, Skyrim) then its time to build a new PC.

Also, more system specs would help.

I'm looking to play The Witcher, Skyrim, FEAR, plus the games I already have, just at a resolution above 640.

And a more complete (I hope) system specs:


System Manufacturer - Compaq-Presario
OS - Vista home premium
BIOS - Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor - AMD Athlon 7550 Dual-core processer ~2.6GHZ
Memory - 2942 RAM
DirectX 10
Graphics - Nvidia Geforce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC - Integrated RAMDAC

Hope that helps. I'm having a little trouble finding how much my PSU holds, any idea how to find out?

Sorry for the late reply too.

 

[Slaanesh]

This looks like a pretty outdated rig. Do you know how much power your PSU holds?

EDIT:What do you plan on doing with the computer? If you're thinking about light gaming, then maybe a new graphics card would help. But if you plan on heavy gaming(BF3, Skyrim) then its time to build a new PC.

Also, more system specs would help.

I'm looking to play The Witcher, Skyrim, FEAR, plus the games I already have, just at a resolution above 640.

And a more complete (I hope) system specs:


System Manufacturer - Compaq-Presario
OS - Vista home premium
BIOS - Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor - AMD Athlon 7550 Dual-core processer ~2.6GHZ
Memory - 2942 RAM
DirectX 10
Graphics - Nvidia Geforce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC - Integrated RAMDAC

Hope that helps. I'm having a little trouble finding how much my PSU holds, any idea how to find out?

Sorry for the late reply too.

I'm assuming this is a prebuilt? If so, the case may not be roomy enough for a better card and the PSU is weak.

The biggest question here is how much is your budget? I seriously think you are better off building a new computer, and possibly sell the old one.

Is this just your computer? Or is it the family computer that everyone uses?

 

[RedgraveStorm]

This looks like a pretty outdated rig. Do you know how much power your PSU holds?

EDIT:What do you plan on doing with the computer? If you're thinking about light gaming, then maybe a new graphics card would help. But if you plan on heavy gaming(BF3, Skyrim) then its time to build a new PC.

Also, more system specs would help.

I'm looking to play The Witcher, Skyrim, FEAR, plus the games I already have, just at a resolution above 640.

And a more complete (I hope) system specs:


System Manufacturer - Compaq-Presario
OS - Vista home premium
BIOS - Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor - AMD Athlon 7550 Dual-core processer ~2.6GHZ
Memory - 2942 RAM
DirectX 10
Graphics - Nvidia Geforce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC - Integrated RAMDAC

Hope that helps. I'm having a little trouble finding how much my PSU holds, any idea how to find out?

Sorry for the late reply too.

I'm assuming this is a prebuilt? If so, the case may not be roomy enough for a better card and the PSU is weak.

The biggest question here is how much is your budget? I seriously think you are better off building a new computer, and possibly sell the old one.

Is this just your computer? Or is it the family computer that everyone uses?

Yeah its a prebuilt, Was on sale after my old computer died suddenly.

At the moment, I don't have any money to spend, I'm just planning things out. I'm weird like that.

And its my computer.

 

[RedgraveStorm]

TBH you are better off with a whole new PC rather than 1 simple upgrade.

I was afraid of that. Damn budget computers.

 

[Slaanesh]

double post

 

[Slaanesh]

TBH you are better off with a whole new PC rather than 1 simple upgrade.

I was afraid of that. Damn budget computers.

Well just throwing this out there, if you were to build a brand-spankin-new PC, it would be around $650. But if you were to take out the old hard drive that has the OS on it, you just saved around $150 right there. So maybe a little over $500 for a new computer. Which is pretty good price for a gaming rig.

 

[RedgraveStorm]

TBH you are better off with a whole new PC rather than 1 simple upgrade.

I was afraid of that. Damn budget computers.

Well just throwing this out there, if you were to build a brand-spankin-new PC, it would be around $650. But if you were to take out the old hard drive that has the OS on it, you just saved around $150 right there. So maybe a little over $500 for a new computer. Which is pretty good price for a gaming rig.

Oh. That's surprisingly a lot cheaper then what I though, Thanks man.
Now to rob a bank, or sell a kidney for the $650....

 

[PhoenixFlame]

Yeah, Deathleaper has it right - there are some PCs that will generally play games decently for around 600 - 800 or so.

If you want to upgrade this machine, though, you'll probably have to go with 1 GB of RAM just to max out your memory on a 32-bit OS, get a slightly better video card (the NVidia GT 200 series, such as the 220, might be a mid-level upgrade that won't kill your wallet), and definitely make sure your power supply can handle the output or you won't be able to boot.

Sadly, you may have to crack the box open and check for a sticker that will tell you the wattage on your PSU, or try to discern it based on the model number - some PSU manufacturers end their model numbers with the wattage, such as blahblahblah400, but not all do.

You'll probably need at least a PSU with 500 or 750W to handle a video card upgrade.

 

[J_Monsterface]

it depends mostly on whether or not youve got enough ram

see ram is the electricity that the games use to activate the hd graphics

if you want to play standard definition games, then youll only need a couple of roms

youll need a couple of backup floppy drives because they get melted easily and most text adventures require them (until sony releases that patch (fuckin sony))

i know that some old graphing calculators have jump-man

anyway liquid plasma refills for lcd monitors can be suuuuuper expensive, so dont get a screen

your better off gettin the sony playstation vita because it has a touch pad AND a touch panel
it would have all the apps and widgets youre looking for

i myself have a Haro brand laptop made out of holographic charizard cards