Need some help...please...

[Adsprog03]

Okay here's the story....I just bought a computer from my buddy it was built for him 9 years ago...I know it old but with the new hardware I think it will be just what I am looking for... So its a Thermaltake Xaser II tower (huge).....it has a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe motherboard with 1gig of ddr ram...antec performance True 550w max. power supply...a video card which i haven't found out what it is yet...3 hard drive varries in sizes. A dvd burner, cdrom driver, and a cdrw drive...I want to spend about 500 to upgrade the computer what do you think I should upgrade first and to what....I haven't built a computer since 1999...i paid 150 for the computer as is in the running condition...and thoughts?

 

[Mutant Corn]

Nothiong that will go on that board is going to be very fast...you're basically going to end up replacing everything but the case and maybe the DVD burner if you want a modern system. You can keep the hard drive if you want but it'll be slow.

 

[Adsprog03]

I understand that... I am not really looking for any crazy gaming I have my xbox and ps3 for that....I looking for a media center so I can watch HD movies and TV programs on my monitor and my tv...I am just trying to get back into computer besides just internet and shit...like i would like to do some photo shop and stuff..

 

[Mutant Corn]

You motherboard is socket A...there isn't a processor in existence that will fit that board and be fast enough to handle what you want.

The video card socket is AGP, so most new graphics cards won't fit it either.

The very fastest CPU you can get for this is an Athlon XP 3200+, which by today's standards is pretty terrible.

What CPU is in it now?

 

[Adsprog03]

AMD Athlon xp 1500+

 

[Remeniz]

It's gonna be difficult this set up.

Upgrade the Motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU & PSU. I'm sure you could upgrade for 500 pounds/dollars.

 

[Mutant Corn]

Yeah, there's no way a 1500+ is going to work for this...that's about as fast as the high end Pentium 3's.

Do you know if the case is ATX or Micro ATX? (7 expansion slots, or 4?)

 

[Adsprog03]

atx 7 slots

 

[nbrikha]

Here's what I would do if I were you.
Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131398

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

Vid Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150449

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...283&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-283-_-Product

You're probably ok without a new PSU. But just in case, you can get something like this....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
You don't need more power than that...and it's the same as the one you have. Unless you have issues, you shouldn't need to buy another one. Total with PSU = $502.94 (add tax and shipping)

 

[Remeniz]

Chances are that the OP will need a new PSU.

The PSU he has will supply a 20 pin ATX to his motherboard. The latest motherboards sport 24 pin ATX connectors.