Help a newbie with an upgrade?

[digitalwolf]

Well I need some help with upgrade my ASUS P5S800-VM motherboard. I need to know what's the highest RAM plus model and the best video card for it. It currently has a generic video card and 480 MB of RAM. I can't use Direct3D with my video card and you all know my RAM isn't much to do anything. I can't even use the Bing toolbar. Would please give me some advice on what to buy?

 

[BikerEcho]

wow. that is some old Sh*t you got there.
you want my advice? buy a new PC.
this is your motherboard right? Newegg.com - ASUS P5S800-VM LGA 775 SiS 661FX Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

if so:
the problem is that that motherboard dont have PCI-e witch is that port ALL graphic cards today i made to. you have AGP x8. if you realy WANT to have a new Graphic card for it it will cost you alot of money corz AGP is an dead port. and cards for that port is not being produced anymore
also the RAM slots are ddr1. today we are using ddr2 and ddr3. ddr1 is just TO OLD AND SLOW for anyone to want it. (also ddr1 are dead and cost to much money)

 

[Luke_Uk_Baggy]

Umm, I would partly agree with the above post.

Highest amount of RAM you can use = 2GB. Also just the normal DDR type (not DDR2 DDDR3 etc ... However, If you did opt to upgrade, you would definately see a big improvement from 480MB to 2GB). The DDR type, as said above, was phased out pretty much because of advances in technology, and the new memory created was more viable.

I'm guessing your CPU (proccessor) is also fairly old too, and is causing you to have fairly poor performance, what is that? Also, what operating system are you using?

The Micro ATX size could make it a little trickier to find parts too (means your board / components wont fit to a normal ATX physical specification)

Overall I would also suggest to go and buy a new machine rather than upgrade, if you could afford.

Just had a quick scout, and Corsair do 2GB of RAM for your current machine, (2 x 1GB sticks) and thats about £70 (say $100 ish) throw into that, that it might also be your processor that needs upgrading (say another $60) and then you want a new GPU ($60) we are talking roughly $200 for a refurb / upgrade. (could be more or less, and couldnt tell atm what sort of benefits it would yield)

You could probably shop around and for $400 you could get a new system, roughly along these specs:

CPU, Dual core 2.6GHZ
2GB of RAM DDR2 / DDR3
350GB - 500GB HD
New monitor (17 - 18inch)

Then ontop of this you would have all new parts (I.E. PSU etc) and a fresh / newer version of windows Im guessing.

Your only other bet (which could be a viable option) is to look around for old systems online (auction sites, craigslist etc) and purchase odd bits and bobs that you could use, which would be an upgrade (they would probably be dirt cheap).

Cant put any links or anything (or check spelling etc) because on the go at the moment