What to upgrade?

[lieb39]

Well, I got a lot of money from christmas and I plan to spend it. I would like to upgrade my system for better overall preformance (I have a lot of applications open at a time) and to be able to play some online games, but probaly just Final Fantasy XI. Current my computer is;
- AMD Athlon XP 1900+
- K7S5A Motherboard
- 256 DDR Ram
- Geforce 2 MX
- 17" CRT
- Creative Soundblaster 5.1 card
- 250 w power supply

I think that sums up the most important compounts.

I am for sure going to upgrade my RAM to either 512, 768, or 1024 MB of DDR. Now its your turn, what should I upgrade to? 521, 768, or 1024 MB of DDR? Than what should I upgrade next? To what? (for example, upgrade your athlon chip to 2200+)

Now for my budget, I have about $1000.00 CDN, and I am going to a computer show (amazing prices!) So you tell me what I can do with my money.

If it changes anything at all, I am going to Austrailia pretty soon. My computer can take the extra power, not a problem.

Thanks guys, let me know!

 

[NetRyder]

512 MB of DDR is good ... if you have cash left over after you upgrade the other stuff, and you want to spend it, then get more RAM.

Get at least a 350W PSU or higher.

If you're into gaming, you might want to get a new video card.

I would think your current 1900+ is good as is, but the faster the better ... just depends on how much you can spend.

That's about it.

Cheers!
NetRyder

 

[lieb39]

I forgot to say,

I can spend all of it, and maybe more since it will be my last computer show in north america. so you say 512mb is the best upgrade? okay, i forgot to say. right now i have a 5400rpm 30gb hard drive + (very fast rpm) 20 gb hard drive and i am almost out of room. whats the next upgrade for hard drives for me?

thanks

 

[Taurus]

go ahead and get a 512mb stick of memory to give you 768mb total. that's what i have and it's perfect. if i had 512mb, newer games like bf1942 and ut2k3 would run a short on memory, and would slow down.

then get a new video card. a gf4 ti4200 or radeon 9000pro would be a good buy for a fair price.

i would stick with your current processor since a 2200+ is only .26ghz faster than what you have now. and anything faster than that is pretty expensive.

a new power supply might be a good idea... 250watts isn't much and i'm sure your system is stressing it as it is. if you got a new video card or faster processor, your voltages might start to wander and could damage your components. get a nice brand name one like antec or enermax.. about 350watts would be good.

 

[Teddy]

PSU - 400W thesedays at least.
GPU - GF4 or maybe (if your budget allows) a Radeon 9700Pro.
RAM - go for at least 512mb
Monitor - 19inches are lurrrrvly!
HD - get a Western Digital 80Gb hard drives, spins at 7200rpm and has a 8mb cache...cheap too.

Your processor is nice, but like NetRyder said...there's always room to improve!

It would be nice to know what you end up with!! Should be a monster with that $$$!!!

 

[lieb39]

Good advice guys. The computer show is in april (11th to 13th) so i have plently of time to think about it, and for prices to go down.:blink: I also got a birthday coming up, so I am going to be loaded! but again, i have to ask myself if i should upgrade this or if i should get a new laptop (right now a got a breaking micron transport lt that i will sell on ebay... and hey! if you want the link for that when i put it up for auction PM me)

once again, good advise

 

[Goatman]

if I had $1000 CDN, and I was in your situation this is what I'd do with it I'd get

460 watt Sparkle PSU $138
Asus A7N8X-Deluxe- $230
WD 120 GB 8 mb Hard Drive- $274
512 PC2700 DDR- $210
ATi Radeon 8500LE- $148

TOTAL: $1000

all prices from www.razorcomputers.net, they are out of Scarborough, Ontario

 

[Taurus]

^^^

what he said.