[tubes]

Hello guys,

I like to describe myself as a game lover. Maybe not as much as some but a game lover nonetheless. The situation I have is that my PC is very underequipped, if you will, for todays gaming standards.

Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor, 1.5 gigabytes of RAM
ATi graphics chipset, x200
142 Gb ATA harddrive.

I wish to know if I can get cheap solutions to upgrades, or whether it would be better to buy an advanced motherboard for AM2 and more RAM slots. I have no intention however, of adding any more hard disk space just yet, as I wish to keep my old one.

Apologies for being a bit nooby, but everyone must start somewhere, right?

Thanks very much,
Tubes

[wiley8425]

Originally Posted by tubes

Hello guys,

I like to describe myself as a game lover. Maybe not as much as some but a game lover nonetheless. The situation I have is that my PC is very underequipped, if you will, for todays gaming standards.

Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor, 1.5 gigabytes of RAM
ATi graphics chipset, x200
142 Gb ATA harddrive.

I wish to know if I can get cheap solutions to upgrades, or whether it would be better to buy an advanced motherboard for AM2 and more RAM slots. I have no intention however, of adding any more hard disk space just yet, as I wish to keep my old one.

Apologies for being a bit nooby, but everyone must start somewhere, right?

Thanks very much,
Tubes

Look at the recommended requirements for what you want to run and go from there, based on what you can afford, would be my suggestion.

[BG-0]

X200 is the most limiting factor there, and your power supply most propably. Adding RAM will be very much less expensive with a new mobo(examples: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148212 ) Also you can get a decent dual-core AMD for 57$, and maybe upgrade later, but bear in mind that AMD currently doesn't offer any gaming powerhouse CPUs. Low-end gaming goes fine with a athlon 64 x2 5000+-6000+, but for high-end gaming, Intel E8500 Q6600 and Q9550 take the win on every aspect.
However upgarding your mobo will force you to reinstall Windows, and if you have a Dell/HP/PP, etc, you'll need to buy a new copy of Windows.
I woud upgrade you hard drive too, ATA drives will slow the games down compared to a new SATA2 7200 rpm 32 MB cache drive.
Other parts: Radeon 4670 is good for mid-high gaming, and can be run with a 40 $ QUALITY PSu.