I need a little help with upgrading.

HanaiKenji

Baseband Member
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Well, first time here and I would like to introduce myself. I'm quite computer savvy and pretty much whenever something is wrong with my computer, I fix it, at least software portion of it. Nothing was ever wrong with the hardware. Now, I am thinking of upgrading my computer and I really want to upgrade it myself but it is pretty nerve wracking opening it up and hoping I don't mess something up. I will put up my computer specs (it's not good at all btw, don't expect crazy quad core).

2.60 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 Processor with hyper-threading technology (No Idea what this does btw)
512 MB DDR SDRAM Memory
DVD+RW/CD-RW combo drive
Intel Extreme 2 Integrated Graphics Controller (Intel 82865G Graphics Controller)

So I definitely know that I have to upgrade my ram and my graphics card (shouldn't even be called a graphics card) need an upgrade.
I'm quite confused though since my motherboard info is telling me weird info, well its probably not weird, I just don't understand it.

RAM Slots: 4 DDR DIMM

So what type of ram am I suppose to get that best suits my computer? Compaq Presario S5400NX for anyone who wants to know. What video card is not that expensive but enough to run good games with mediocre quality? I'm fairly tight on cash.

Thanks.
 
how much do ya got to spend? ok ram.
ddr is probably the most popular ram now. phasing out though to ddr2. all you have to do is find some ddr 184 pin ram and put it in the comp. you have 4 slots, which means that they probably put 2 sticks of 256. =512. so try to get 2 more sticks of 512 mb ddr 184 pin.

graphics card: something cheap. look at this:

this is a somewhat low end card. fits your price range too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102086
you have to look which ones fit your computer. try to find out if you have an agp slot. the card i show you is agp.
 
Well for the budget, its 500 dollars maximum, I'm trying to get as low as possible but still make a huge differences for my computer performance. Well here is the Motherboard info, I don't know about the AGP, you tell me?


Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type DDR SDRAM
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 160 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 320 MHz
Bandwidth 2560 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Hub Interface
Bus Width 8-bit
Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 267 MHz
Bandwidth 267 MB/s

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset i865G
 
well first check how many ram sticks you have in the computer. You are going to want at least 1gb of ram.
Then about the vid card, I'd recommend something like the 7600GT. It should be something like $100-$150. It's still good enough to run any game you have. (though not with high graphics settings)

And then you also need to think about the psu. How many watts? You are probably going to want 400W or more.

Also the case is m-ATX, so that will limit the amount of psu:s that you can get. And it would be best to check that you can fit a new vid card in there.
 
Hmmmm

$500 i know he wants to upgrade but he could prob do a cheap AMD dual core for that with a gig or 2 of RAM

well im from uk and $500 is about £250 at the mo and u could get a fairly decent AMD or a Pentium D ???

worth considering ?
 
I know what a PSU is, how do I check what its info is? Also, how much do you think it will cost?

Is upgrading my Pentium 4 really neccessary? Cause i'm thinking upgrading the ram and the video card will decrease a lot of the lag that I'm experiencing.
 
Alright so I have three options. Upgrading my Pentium 4 into a faster CPU and upgrading the RAM. OR upgrade the RAM and the video card. Upgrading the CPU and the video card.
 
I know what a PSU is, how do I check what its info is? Also, how much do you think it will cost?

Is upgrading my Pentium 4 really neccessary? Cause i'm thinking upgrading the ram and the video card will decrease a lot of the lag that I'm experiencing.

open the case and look. There should be a sticker on the side of the PSU telling you the wattage, amps and other stuff.

And I'd go with upgrading the ram and vid card. A cpu upgrade would be good, but I'd say that ram & vid card are more important in this case. Get some decent ram so you can overclock the cpu a little in case you want better performance.
 
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