Need to upgrade my old, dusty computer D:

[T-nex]

Hey, All this spore-talk makes me think about the deadline that is approaching faster and faster
I need this game, but my computer can barely run Psychonauts(great game) at a decent and consistent speed(it's fine most of the time, but sometimes it runs slowly).

It's from year 2002 me thinks... If I remember correctly, has a GeForce 5200 graphic card and only 512 mb ram :S So go figure. Also I'm running XP if that is relevant(i hate vista <_<)
So I'm asking all you, presumably experienced newer gamers what to do :S Upgrading the computer to something decent that will last a few years seems very expensive. So do any of you know how I can most effectively and cheaply upgrade my comp? Also, is CPU upgradeable?

Yea, I know I don't know much about the hardware stuff so that's why I'm asking you

[Nate]

You don't have a Dell do you? Because that sounds like you've pretty much got the same computer as I had until a week ago.

First of all I'd say upgrade the RAM. 1GB should be fine but seeing as RAM is cheap, you might want to go higher. Scrap the 5200 and buy a good card but first (and here I'm teaching you from my own mistake) check whether your computer has an AGP or PCIe slot. If it's from 2002 I'd say it's AGP, which complicates the video card upgrading process as AGP cards are rarer and more expensive. I pretty much went to a computer store that I trusted, asked what they recommended for a good mid-range card and then googled it to see whether it was worth it. Reviews for most cards that I looked at had one fatal flaw, so I ended up with a Radeon HD 3850 because no review had anything bad to say about it (they weren't gushing with praise either, but they said it was good value for money).

[T-nex]

Ah thanks. My dad actually made my computer for me, but the motherboard is from Abit.

Anyway, so how many years do you think I could last with an ATI HD 3850 before it got outdated? I'm not looking for a super-duper videocard, but I want it to last a few years at least.
Would your new videocard be able to run Spore? .
I'm completely out of the loop on which cards are good at the moment.. Just keep seeing alot of ATI's and Geforces with alot of numbers :P

Anyway thanks alot though.

Oh and btw here's a link to my motherboard's description: http://techreport.com/articles.x/5332/1

So it says it's AGP and PCI... not PCIe though(whatever that is x_x).

[Nate]

AGP and PCIe are different types of ports that graphics cards can plug in to. AGP is the old style and PCIe is newer (2004+).

I'm pretty sure the 3850 should be able to support Spore. I haven't checked the specs out yet. The main thing to look at in reviews is which version of DirectX it supports and how well. Sme cards I looked at were DirectX 10 compatible but did it really shit. I didn't mind though because I only wanted to be able to play DirectX 9 games.

EDIT: Specs for Spore are:

PC: Windows XP/Vista, 2.0 GHz P4 processor or eq., 512 MB RAM (768 for Vista), 128 MB video card (Pixel Shader 2.0 support), 6 GB HDD. Internet connection. (For computers using built-in graphics chipsets: Intel Integrated Chipset 945GM, 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, 768 MB RAM)

The only thing I'm not sure about is the Pixel Shader, but I'm fairly sure it would be fine. It's not a hugely graphically-intensive game from the look of it.

[T-nex]

Oy.... I guess my computer will survive for a tiny bit longer I guess It's right on the minimum requirements I guess(with exception of the video card and RAM.. need more).


Oh also, never got an answer to my question about CPU upgrade... Is that possible?

[Havoc]

RAM is really cheap these days so it shouldn't be to hard to crank it up to 3GB if you have some cash on hands.

Video card is next. I'm not a big fan of ATI myself because between Nvidia and ATI I had most problems with ATI cards. But thats a matter of taste and needs I guess. For a standard system and a standard user the brand won't really matter. You'll be alright with a card from the HD range for a couple of years.

After that, if you have the cash, you could see if you can upgrade your processor but since it's an old computer and today's CPU's are all dual cores I doubt that's going to work. Replacing it would probably mean replacing your motherboard as well.

Let me put it this way: What is your budget? If we know how much you can spend we can tell you what you can do with today's prices.

[Wil]

Funny you should bring this up now, just as I’m preparing to do the same. Thanks, doll.

*pays close attention*

[T-nex]

...

Hm..

Well I have probly about 100$ to spend every month, unless I go on low-profile with the money I have. THen I probly have a bit more to spend... So it's a project that I'll have to work on for more than a month of course. But for now the video card is the most important.