My Tight Budget Project

[seth556]

I want to upgrade my computer some but i'm on a very tight budget. So I need your help to know what to get. Currently my computer is:
a crappy case with two blue led lights
a matsonic 8157 mainboard
Amd 2000+ prosessor
40gig hard drive
a 512 mg stick or corsair ram
a 52x24x52 cd drive that it wont burn cd's anymore for some reason
a modem
a wireless internet card
a 350w powersupply a old 17" moniter
ps/2 keyboard
a wireless mouse


So what should I get next I was thinking about a video card.

[seth556]

Anybody

[bubba069]

ok, so when you say tight. how tight. 50-100... 500.. 1000.

what type of memory do you have now, PC133 or DDR (pc2100/2700/3200).
what socket is your processor, I assume socket A.

what is your goal to get out of the upgrade? more speed? play recent games?

but a quick list of mods...

New DVD burner $70-80
another stick of 512 ram $30-50
and a vid card 250-350

[seth556]

I have ddr ram, and it's socket A. As for tight I would say about 100 or a little bit more for everything. I am trying to play more game (need 3d for alot of them), make it sound better, and maybe a little bit faster.

[bubba069]

weeeelllll.....

gf6200 $58 -> http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=AA35110

then you still have some cash left for another stick of ram...

or

save up and get a 6800gt $280 -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130203

if you dont plan on getting a new board for a while I'd save up for the 6800.

or

get a new cpu/board to make the PCI-e jump, mainly due to the fact that AGP cards are damn $$ compared to the PCI-e version.

[penguinrusty]

But he won't see a very good performance increase with the 6800 because he has a very slow processor, and the only way he would notice is if he played high-end games, but he can't play any high-end games with that setup. I would say go for a different motherboard and processor, though. AMD 2400, and maybe a low-end Abit or Asus

[MicroFreak387]

If you can find at AMD Barton 2500+ somewhere, they can normally be had for around $85, and can easily be clocked to 2.2 Ghz. That will give you a pretty good performance boost, and the extra $20 can go to a better CPU cooler if you don't have a nice one.

[seth556]

I just have a normal heat sink/fan. That 6200 card looks nice too.

[bubba069]

but with his current setup and budget of 100 then the 6600 and some ram would be his best bet if he is only got on-board vid. this way he is able to play most games, may have to scale back the options but he can play.

[Leviathon841]

How old are you? Get a Job! 100 dollers a week. 13ish Weeks Get a top of a line Computer. :) I just think you will Strugle playing games on that.

Later Andrew

[bubba069]

how old am I? or seth556?

and it doesn't matter if he has a job or not, he only wants to drop a 100 to upgrade his current set up. yes he may not beable to play HL2 with full details, but turning down the settins he can play. if I had to guess since he didnt list a vid card to begin with he is running onboard vid. Adding the 6200 will be a big jump in performance over onboard vid.

[seth556]

Yep only onboard video, right now I'm 13 so I dont think I can get a real job.

[seth556]

Ok I'm back to this, I am wanting a video card. It has to have directx 9. I also have to be able to pick it up at bestbuy or circuitcity.

[penguinrusty]

AGP or PCI-E?

[seth556]

I have a AGP slot and 5 PCI slots, so I don't know.

[penguinrusty]

You need AGP. What's your budget?

[seth556]

Up to $100.

[seth556]

How bout this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6832751&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01151&id=1093468058401
or this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1138087658936&type=product

[seth556]

Anybody?

[penguinrusty]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1879886&CatId=0