Advice on upgrading computer?!

[Cylon]

Well, I need to upgrade my computer, and I need to hear some feedback from other people, mainly about the processors (I know Tek, Punx, D-boyz will help, and anyone else big on computers).

From what I have seen, the duel processor looks like the best way to go. Or is it? Does anyone have any experience or know a lot about the AMD Athlon Processors? Right now I'm looking into the AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+, or the AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ processor.

The computer I have right now is a really weak for gaming, and I'm probably going to just build my own computer at this point (I'll probably end up getting a 250 gb hard drive, 2 GB of memory, along with at least a Geforce 7300 graphics card).

Basically I want to build a computer that will run basically games smoothly (I know all games vary though), without the choppy gameplay, or drop in frame rate.

Maybe anyone who plays a game such as battlefield online or a game of that caliber can tell me how it runs on their computer with your specs?? I'm also trying to look to the future, and predict what some of these game may require down the road, but that is a little hard to do...

I'm not looking to go crazy here either like those 3,000 dollar ultimate gameing computers, lol...

[Subject 17]

Want the most bang for your buck harddrive wise? Buy Western Digital.

Western Digital Hard Drives
^Main site^

WD Desktop Drives Overview
^page for internal harddrives^

WD Caviar SE16 500 GB SATA Hard Drives ( WD5000KS )
^Pretty Cool Internal harddrive^

My Book Premium Edition 500 GB Hard Drives ( WDG1C5000 )
^ If your upgradeing I highly reccomend that^

Get at least A gig of RAM if your going to upgrade. Personally I'm saving up for 2 or 4, but that's just me. If you want to make a good gaming computer ample RAM is something you must get. If your not from the graphics camp, then I wouldnt suggest upgradeing your Graphics card unless It's really old.

[Cylon]

Yea, I'm not going to go that big on a hard drive. All I use my computer for is the internet, mail, messaging, and word processing. I don't store any video/music on my computer, and games generally take up 6 GB at most. I'll probably stay close to the 200-250 GB, and from the looks of the first link it has some of those, so I appreciate it.

Do have any insight on the processors I listed?

[zero2000]

My processor is an Intel pentium D 830 dual core (3 GHz) and I think it works great.

Ram: 2 gb
Hard drive: 160
Graphics card: 256 mb geforce 6800

Graphics card is a bit weak, but current games, like battlefield run perfectly, at high settings. I am getting a new graphics card in a bit though, eventually.

[Subject 17]

Sorry, I'm a video/limewire-phobe


Read these articles to choose what you want to get:

Howstuffworks "How to Build a Computer"
Howstuffworks "How Microprocessors Work"
Howstuffworks "How RAM Works"
Howstuffworks "How Graphics Cards Work"

If you want to be super cool (pun not intended):
Howstuffworks "How Liquid-cooled PCs Work"

[TEKNIC]

For a Gaming rig, get RAM first. It's crucial. I've seen BF2 using over 1.5 gigs of RAM. Other newer games are more CPU intensive, such as the new Ghost Recon. BF2 is relatively easy on your processor in comparison. But even considering this, the processors you listed, Cylon, are very respectable. And as far as video cards go, there is really no reason to spend 500 or even 600 bucks on the newest flagship card when Newegg has a ATI X1900GT for under 200 bucks.

[Subject 17]

Listen to what were're saying. You NEED some RAM more than a high end graphics card. Dosent matter how much you spend on the card, you won't be able to use it if there is no resources for the game to run on.

Get some

Upgrade your computer memory today with RAM memory from 4AllMemory.com

[Cylon]

So I'll probably be safe with about 2 GB of RAM, right?

I've done a little more research and pricing, and I'm still liking my original set-up that I was going to go with. What do you guys think of a set-up that consists of the following:

AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+
250 GB Hard drive
2 GB RAM
Nividia GeForce 7300

[TEKNIC]

Originally Posted by Cylon

So I'll probably be safe with about 2 GB of RAM, right?

I've done a little more research and pricing, and I'm still liking my original set-up that I was going to go with. What do you guys think of a set-up that consists of the following:

AMD Athlon 64 x2 4200+
250 GB Hard drive
2 GB RAM
Nividia GeForce 7300

Sounds good. That should run just about any modern game at higher settings. And yes, 2 gigs of RAM is plenty.

[Sparkplug1990]

Yeah Cylon, the set up your going with looks to be a good idea. The Processor is damn good, althought I use the Intel Core Duo, and that works really well. The Harddrive is quite large, and the 2GB or RAM is good as well.