OT: Pimp My Puter

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 2:30 pm

Guys,

I need some help! I have a system with a P4 2.4 CPU, Asus motherbord with only 4x AGP, Geforce ti4600 video card, 512 mb PC 2700 rame with (2) extra 256 PC 2700 ram that I can pick up for free. I'm using Win 98, my case is noisy due to the fan on the power supply (300w). I have (2) ATA 300 gb hardrives and a NEC DVD. I game alot on this system and have had a good experience playing all of my sports games (MVP 2005 my fav) up to date. I just got hooked on playing FPS like Doom 3 and well my system is not up to par! I don't need the best, fastest system, just something respectiful. I was thinking of getting a MB with 8x AGP, adding the additional free 512 of ram and updating to Win XP. Will this make much of a difference? What is my bottle neck? What can you do with $300 to $500 to give me more bang for my buck?

Thanks for you time!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:18 pm

Your bottleneck is pretty much your entire system. Your system is pretty balanced from a performance standpoint, so when you upgrade one part, it will sway the balance. Say you get a new ATI x800/x850 or better video card...then your bottleneck will be your processor and motherboard. If you upgrade those and NOT your video card, your video card becomes the bottle neck.

I recommend asking this question over at http://www.anandtech.com/ after you create an account. They will be a lot more suited for answering a question like this with real world experiences. I've never used an Intel system for gaming so I couldn't really give you propper upgrade paths. Keep in mind, that is mostly an AMD board, but there are a few Intel guys there too.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:11 pm

Pretty much what db said, your whole system neeeds upgrading. IMO you should just build a new system. You could keep a few things like your dvd drive, the RAM, and maybe the case. The question is how much money you are willing to spend.

I built a PC somewhat similar to yours for my dad over a year ago for around $450. I think it had a geforce 5 series card in it, plus a dvd burner. By now you cuold get a faster processor and video card for probably around the same price. If you really want to play games like Doom, Far Cry, or FEAR your gonna need much better hardware all around. Turning down the graphic settings too much can ruin the experience IMO.

I think i spent around $1500 on my computer i built over the summer and that was pretty close to top of the line. I bought the cheaper parts (like RAM, mobo, case, PSU) every time i got a paycheck and then got the expensive stuff (video card and processor) at the end. Maybe you could do it like that, so it won't be so hard on the wallet. And of course you won't be spending nearly as much as me.