What should I upgrade to?

[soap]

Right now on my computer I have:
P3 500mhz w/ 192MB RAM
Voodoo 3 3500 16MB video card
Phillips 4.1 channel sound card w/ EAX 2.0 and A3D 1.0
Windows 2000
17GB harddrive


Right now I can run HL1 great and can even run Warcraft3 and GTA3 decently. But I know that HL2 won't work at all on it...Can anyone suggest what processor speed I should get and can anyone reccomend a good and compatable video card that could run GTA3, Vice City, and HL2 when it comes out? Also do I need a new sound card to be able to use EAX in HL2? Cause I know Vice City says EAX 3.0 but mine says it has support for 2.0...

And one more thing, would anyone know the process to upgrade the processor and motherboard? Can I just plug the harddrive into the new motherboard and let my already installed Win2K do the work? or do I have to go in and change some settings by hand?

Thanks for the help that anyone could give me..

 

[Murray_H]

To tell you the truth, i would reommended a whole new system.

At the very least:

2ghz processor + new motherboard
512mb DDR ram
Radeon 9000+/geforce 4 ti 4200 +
40gb Hard Drive (although you can take that size up down depending on your needs)
Windows XP (cos i like it )

If you give the price range you can afford for uprgrades, it will be easier to specify components (and if you dont want to say, just give a rough estimation )

 

[soap]

I really don't have a price range, I'm trying to keep it under $500-700 ...but I really need to get a top of the line processor and motherboard because I dont want to have to upgrade again soon...

 

[SidewinderX]

Asus A7N8X Deluxe nforce2 Athlon(XP)/Duron SktA DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)***
400FSB, ATA/133, AGP 8X, 3DDR DIMM, 5PCI, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, Audio, LAN, RAID/SATA

http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=240272

there's a good motherbaord....


AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.16GHz 333FSB Processor Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)***
w/Fan and Heatsink, 3 Years Manufacturer Warranty


http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80179-R


and processer...

 

[SpuD]

What if your poor, then what should you get?

heres what i got

SOYO MoBo
AMD Duron 1.2GHz
640 MB RAM DDR PC2100 (640 not 64)
GeForce 2 64MB
40GB 7200RPM HD
52x CD-ROM
52x/24x/52x CD-RW
RealTek 10/100 base ethernet
Creative SoundBlaster Sound Card
Some $10 Optical Mouse(upgradin soon)
Some Keyboard
BIG ASS mousepad from frys
Plantronics .Audio 90 headset
Windows XP Professional

 

[Mr. Redundant]

www.datacomputer.net

Intel P4 2.6g kit
-----

cpu -intel p4 2.67g processor 533fsb - hyperthreading enabled
mobo -asus P4pe mainboard -4gb ram capacity in 4 1gb slots (max pc 2700 ddr) /comes with onboard soundmax (excellent)
ram -256mb pc2700 ddram
vpu -Asus 128mb Geforce fx 5200
case/ps -350w atx case /with power source

~$530

what you already need to have for a complete system (you prolly have if you have a comp currently)

-monitor
-keyboard
-mouse
-speakers
-mouse pad
-hard drive
-floppy/stiffy drives (optional)
-cd drive/s
-Operating system

pretty standard stuff.
great value for money.

 

[SpuD]

Dude, that store has speny prices! www.outpost.com is better, or if you live near Portland, Oregon go here: www.enuinc.com they have great prices, DC had a AMD Athlon xp 2600+ for $179.99 ENU has it for $110

 

[Shockwave]

Spend $800-900 and you could have a 3ghz system with a great vid card...

use these things from your old computer

HD
CD-ROM
Sound card
Video Card

BUy a new case and buy a motherboard/processor combo..You could spend $200-500 depending on the speed you want. I would get a 3ghz with mobo if i were(qualtiy parts around $500) then just connect all your old stuff to it. Your FPS will double most likley with just the new processor/mobo/DDR ...Then when you have extra money you can replace the old parts one by one(which are all cheap $50-$100)

 

[KiNG]

i found best place to look for piecing together a system was newegg.com not only do they have great prices but according to everyone who uses them, great service as well. i saw prices posted by sidewinder and other guys, all the stuff they said i could find better stuff for the money, seriously check out the site and browse around i myself am surprised.
i bult a nearly perfect system to my standards but they surpass 1000, but if u are lookin for minor upgrades(i did entirely new case and internals) its great too.