Suggestions on upgrading an existing pc

[Gvolution]

I bought a new pc over two years ago in order to play half life 2. More recently i have been playing games like far cry and Halo 1 (on VERY basic settings).

At the moment i am interested in playing Team fortress 2, but I would like the new pc to conform with some standards of modernity, so it can be modified to cater for the next wave of FPS including games like left for dead.

I have never been concerned with playing these kind of games at uber kick ass settings, i just want them to run well enough that i can actually enjoy them! I have been advised by some individuals that i only need to buy a new video card, but i feel as if the existing pc is a little long in the tooth.

I am completely out of touch with the latest generation of hardware, and i have no idea of what is compatible with what. Essentially i am looking to buy a new AMD compatible motherboard, videocard and processor that i can combine with my existing configuration, that includes my recent addition of RAM. i dont have a great budget either (im looking to spend something in the region of £100- £150 quid at the very most). I am wondering whether i may need to buy a new sound card too!

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Existing pc specs:



Motherboard: MSI
-Model MS-6702
-Chipset Model Apollo K8T800 CPU to PCI Bridge
-Cpu Socket Socket 754 [Socket-754]

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+

0/S: Windows XP

Hard disc: Seagate ST380011A 80 GBytes IDE ATA

DVD Writer: Sony SONY CD-RW CRX320E IDE ATAPI

Video chipset: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE

RAM: 2x 1 gig Ram sticks ( Recently added) *
- (Part Number M2Y1G64DS8HB1G-5T)

SDRAM DDR

* im not sure whether or not my computer is fully exploiting the power of both sticks




I would like to learn about of putting these kind of things together myself at some point, if anyone can point me to some kind of information resource for the future that would be a great help. Thanks.

Cheers

 

[Abarbarian]

You'll find some good tutorials here ,

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/type/1

Your on AGP so your choices are a bit more expensive but upgradeing your graphics card to something like this might help ,



http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/nVidia+GeForce+7600GT+512MB+AGP?productId=28435

Or if that is not powerful enough go for a Radeon 1950 Pro . I see the mobo you have is noted for being a good overclocker so you could give that a try . you might need better case and cpu cooling if you did that but thats a pretty cheap way to upgrade . Or you could just get a better cpu , the Athalon 64 3400 is probably the fsatest cpu you could use but you would have to check that out for your mobo , it is considered to be a very good cpu for the 754 range and performs well at gaming .

Seeing as you have just bought some new ram going for a newer cpu and mobbo in a different socket configuration would render this obsolete as newer boards require different ram . Its not realy worth your while getting a new mobo in the 754 socket as yours is a pretty good one .

 

[Abarbarian]

You can actually upgrade the cpu to a 3700 ,

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-MSI/K8T_Neo-FSR__FIS2R_(MS-6702).html

 

[floppybootstomp]

On your budget you're going to have to stick with your current setup.

To upgrade to AMD AM2 or Intel Core two Duo you'd have to replace Motherboard; CPU; Memory and video card and you ain't gonna do that with £150.00.

Go for the best AGP video card you can find and consider a new, bigger, hard disk.

There will come a time, shortly, where your current setup won't play the latest games.

 

[TriplexDread]

IMHO i would save a little longer and build a complete new system

Keeping you Hdd, DVD-Rom, Case (however making sure your PSU is powerfull enough) this depends what CPU and GFX card you get of course.

However I dont think you will regret saving for another couple of months if you want to see the performance difference. For another £300 - £400 at todays prices and drops you could have a complete system upgrade that will perform incredibly well

 

[PotGuy]

If I were you I would just stick £90 on the Radeon 1950pro. Its a shockingly good card for sod all money.

Your system is completely fine for the games you are playing, and will play TF2 nicely.

And in answer to your question, I don't think the 754's supported dual-channel memory, so they wouldn't be using the 'full power'.



If you want to play anything really new though (e.g Crysis) at any kind of setting above medium/low then I would be looking at TDs suggestion.

 

[Alf]

"a bit long in the tooth" is right. i had the same processor about 4 years ago

i say save, save, save!

you'd be surprised at how much more powerful computers have become, mine is starting to show its age too

 

[Gvolution]

Thanks for the assist info on that guys, i think i've decided i am going to save to build a new computer. In the meantime, i shall invest in a (cheapish) video card as a quick fix.

Any good recommendations?

 

[Abarbarian]

Get the 1950 Pro , you can always get good money for it selling it second hand .