Please help me upgrade my PC!

F87

Hello everybody!

Current specs:

Windows XP Home Edition - Service Pack 3
DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR Motherboard
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+, ~2.2GHz
2046MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT Graphics Card - 1024.0 MB
Seagate 250g Hard drive

My budget is $350.

My goal is to play Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, and upcoming games on high settings.

• I feel I need to upgrade my processor mainly, so I'm guessing I will have to get a new motherboard. What processor and/or mobo would you guys recommend?
• What else would I need to upgrade to reach my goal?

Thanks for any input, my birthday is in 5 days!

Esh

First off, get a RC copy of Windows 7 64-bit.

Upgrade your RAM to 4 gigs

I've been out of the building game for a while so those are my first two suggestions.

TL DR

Crucial has a tool on their website that will tell you what kind of RAM would be best to use with your motherboard. Upgrading to 4GB is a good idea, and 64-bit Windows 7 is awesome and free until early next year. Not sure where you could download it though, since Microsoft stopped offering the download but I believe still has the licenses available.

Somewhat unrelated: Do you have any plans for your old video card, if you upgrade? Mine is terrible.

F87

Timothy Leary Come Check Out This Theory wrote: »

Crucial has a tool on their website that will tell you what kind of RAM would be best to use with your motherboard. Upgrading to 4GB is a good idea, and 64-bit Windows 7 is awesome and free until early next year. Not sure where you could download it though, since Microsoft stopped offering the download but I believe still has the licenses available.

Somewhat unrelated: Do you have any plans for your old video card, if you upgrade? Mine is terrible.

I think I will keep this video card. If I do upgrade it, I will sell it for cheap .

So, 2 comfirmed things so far?

Windows 7
upgrade to 4 gigs

What about the processor/ motherboard?

Dman

Well I would like to upgrade your cpu...which means upgrading your motherboard.

And I'd like to upgrade your video card

And after doing all that your might find your power supply is no longer sufficient.

It's a big old can of worms.

my vote is: Keep your $350 since starcraft 2 and diablo 3 aren't out yet. I suspect one or both will be released before christmas so ask for your christmas present to be money so you can combine it with the $350 and buy the parts you really want (whole new computer basically) and 4 months from now the same parts I'd suggest you buy today will all be cheaper.

Getting a free OS isn't a bad idea but hang onto your copy of windows xp....you never know.

And happy birthday!

Ruckus

I recommend a Mobo, CPU, and RAM. If you want to go the AMD route again, I've had good experiences with the Asus M4 series motherboards. They're an AM3 socket (AMD's latest), support up to 16GB of DDR2 1300 memory, have good drive controllers with above-average RAID support, onboard LAN and Sound, sometimes Video (but they also have PCIE 16x slots for Video Cards).

Processor wise, I'd recommend an AMD Phenom II X2 or X4, Price varies between $100 and $225 depending on cores, core speed, and edition (Black edition versions are completely unlocked for maximum tweaking potential).

Memory wise I recommend a Kingston Hyper-X or Corsair XMS2 memory kit of about 4GB of RAM.

The total price of all these upgrades will vary between $250 and $600.

Hugh Jass

After a quick look at newegg:

mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397

ram: PNY DDR3 1333 $70.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178238

video: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4850 512MB $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

cpu: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

$334

Not a bad system tbh, but I think your best option would be to buy cpu, mobo, ram now and save the rest for a better video card, later. Especially since ati's new lineup of cards are going to be released soon.

kaliyama

Neither DIablo 3 or Starcraft 2 are out. Whatever you do, my suggest is to wait until the last possible moment. you'll save a lot of $/get more goodies for the same price that way.

King Nada

yeah upgrading now for games that won't be out until 2011 is a bad idea.

wunderbar

FYI, you can no longer legally get a copy of the Win7 RC. Microsoft stopped providing the download and keys yesterday. I'm sure you could find it if you would like, but not in any way that's sanctioned by Microsoft.

Esh

wunderbar wrote: »

FYI, you can no longer legally get a copy of the Win7 RC. Microsoft stopped providing the download and keys yesterday. I'm sure you could find it if you would like, but not in any way that's sanctioned by Microsoft.

I'm pretty sure they could care less since they've been handing out the keys like hotcakes over the past year.

Esh

Esh wrote: »

wunderbar wrote: »

FYI, you can no longer legally get a copy of the Win7 RC. Microsoft stopped providing the download and keys yesterday. I'm sure you could find it if you would like, but not in any way that's sanctioned by Microsoft.

I'm pretty sure they could care less since they've been handing out the keys like hotcakes over the past year.

And by this I mean you could probably find someone to give you a key pretty easily. I am by no means advocating piracy of any sort. It's like Gmail invites back in the day. They're everywhere.

TL DR

Microsoft's Windows 7 Page wrote:

Need to register or find your product key? Start here

Sorry, the Windows 7 RC is no longer available for download. If you’ve got the download and need a product key, they’ll be available until October 21, 2009.

To look up your product key or get a new one, just go through the steps like you're starting a download. Go to the bottom of this page, pick your version and language, and click go. From there, sign in with your Windows Live ID, and your product key will appear on the next page.

Microsoft Windows 7 Key

Softpedia download link