Please, advice on aging computer system

[Zorlond]

I've been debating, off and on for the last six months, with myself over the possibility of replacing my current computer system with something more up-to-date. The reason for the debate is whether or not an update would actually be worth the cost and trouble. I'm a heavy gamer, and to date, only one game has been beyond my system's ability simply based on hardware (as opposed to programming incompatability). It's getting borderline, though, no doubt the line will be passed soon where my system can't cope with the new releases. So, take a look, and please, give advice as to whether I should replace or simply wait.

P3, 600 Mhz.
384 MB RAM.
30 gig HD.
TNT2 Ultra video card.
Soundblaster Live sound card.
48x CD-ROM.
BIG monitor (20" or so), of the old not-flat variety.

[JIMINATOR]

Originally posted by Zorlond@Apr 10 2003, 04:35 AM
I've been debating, off and on for the last six months, with myself over the possibility of replacing my current computer system with something more up-to-date. The reason for the debate is whether or not an update would actually be worth the cost and trouble. I'm a heavy gamer, and to date, only one game has been beyond my system's ability simply based on hardware (as opposed to programming incompatability). It's getting borderline, though, no doubt the line will be passed soon where my system can't cope with the new releases. So, take a look, and please, give advice as to whether I should replace or simply wait.

P3, 600 Mhz.
384 MB RAM.
30 gig HD.
TNT2 Ultra video card.
Soundblaster Live sound card.
48x CD-ROM.
BIG monitor (20" or so), of the old not-flat variety.
yeah, it is over the hill.
the should I wait thing is always going to be the case. always.
Ask yourself how much would a new computer benifit you now.
get one of the new boards that uses the nvidia chipset, for sound also.
Recent comparisons show that it takes less cpu than a sound card.
I suggest an athlon 1800 at least. You will need 2 sticks of ram
(2*256 MB DDR 2700) to fully utilize the nvidia chipset,
a heat sink, and a new power supply rated for the athlon.
A video card would also be good. if you have a money crunch
I would have to say either the video card or the system. Minimum video
card is a ati 9500 pro or 9700 pro if you can afford it.
You should be able to use your existing case and drives & monitor.
Go to asus.com and take a look at their a7n8x board...

Good luck

[ME BIGGD01]

my pocket pc is stronger than that system--just kidding. well you went this far so hold off a little while because things are changing big time and you may not want to buy something which a month later has the new technology. soon both companies (amd-intel) will be releasing the latest chip so you may want to wait because of the new motherboard specs. what i suggest is maybe picking up a new video card now which will help you alot and you can put it into your new machine when you build it. also would advise everyone to buy ddr ram now because my company just got word that it will be going back up. buy ddr 3200 or higher.

[Sirc]

Originally posted by ME BIGGD01@Apr 10 2003, 12:34 AM
what i suggest is maybe picking up a new video card now which will help you alot and you can put it into your new machine when you build it.
I dunno. His system is so old it might not have an AGP slot. :hmmm:

[JIMINATOR]

Originally posted by Sirc+Apr 10 2003, 05:38 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sirc @ Apr 10 2003, 05:38 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--ME BIGGD01@Apr 10 2003, 12:34 AM
what i suggest is maybe picking up a new video card now which will help you alot and you can put it into your new machine when you build it.
I dunno. His system is so old it might not have an AGP slot. :hmmm: [/b][/quote]
Possible, but I remember seeing them on 300MHz PIIs, so it&#39;s probably there

[Dissectional]

Originally posted by Sirc@Apr 10 2003, 12:38 AM

I dunno. His system is so old it might not have an AGP slot. :hmmm:
My PII-233 had an AGP slot Sirc, they have been around quite a long time, just to back up what JIM said.

Like what BIGG said, if you can hang on a little longer, I would be looking at the 64&#39;s that are going to be coming out, and DEFINETLY get a new vid card.

[TheUltimateWarrior]

I got a celeron 733, and I have a AGP slot
I think it will be on his too

[JIMINATOR]

Originally posted by Dissectional+Apr 10 2003, 02:22 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Dissectional @ Apr 10 2003, 02:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Sirc@Apr 10 2003, 12:38 AM

I dunno.&nbsp; His system is so old it might not have an AGP slot.&nbsp; :hmmm:
My PII-233 had an AGP slot Sirc, they have been around quite a long time, just to back up what JIM said.

Like what BIGG said, if you can hang on a little longer, I would be looking at the 64&#39;s that are going to be coming out, and DEFINETLY get a new vid card. [/b][/quote]
dunno about waiting for the 64s, not sure about how much
of an improvement they will be for non-servers, but you can be
certain that both the chip and the board will be very expensive.
so you have a 1/2 yr wait for the chip, and then another year
wait for the price to become reasonable....

[ME BIGGD01]

well amd will be releasing a new xp chip with 400 fsb so that will be good. once you get a new video card, you may feel you can wait to september for the athlon 64 chip which will be 32/64 bit cpu and will kick any cpu&#39;s ass. although a new system will run faster a video card does alot of the processing also and will be sufficient.

right now you can build yourself an athlon xp system with nforce2 board for under 1000 dollars and have 1 gig of ram in that beast.

[Elessar]

All you need to do is save up 360 bucks and take a look at pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com) and u should be able to find something decent enough to last you a pretty long time also take a look atnewegg (http://www.newegg.com)