How much to upgrade?

[bloodeagle]

Hello all,

I have about $500USD to spend on upgrades, or in theory I could wait and buy a new computer. However, I intend on buying a laptop for school, so I don't really want to go all out on a gaming PC. Here is what I currently have:

P4P800 - E Deluxe
P4 2.4Ghz
512MB Dual Channel DDR400
Radion 9600 - AGP, only AGP on the mobo
And an IDE Harddrive

I plan on buying a new 300gig SATA harddrive. But is it worth upgrading, and if so what? I don't want to have to upgrade it for at least a year, where I can buy a new computer all together.

Any help is great, thanks a lot!

 

[quadnad]

This all depends on what you'd like to do with the computer now. If you're itching to play the newer games at decent settings now, then I'd suggest doing the upgrade now, but keeping the parts and $$$ payout to a minimum so that you'll have some cash to help out w/that laptop and the new build in a year's time.

Your second option is selling that current rig now, and putting all that money into a new rig (lets say if you got ~$350 for the computer and added another $50 for a nice round total of $900).

Your final option is waiting. If you're thinking that you don't really mind not being able to play the latest games for now, then it's definitely an option to wait it out and put that money towards a new machine at a later date).

So, starting from the upgrade path, here is my idea for a minimal upgrade:
G.Skill 512mb PC3200 RAM @ $38
PNY 6800GS AGP @$179 OR a used 6800GT. An X800/X850 series card is also an option.
Total: $217
That upgrade will net you enough performance to be able to play all the games out there now, albiet maybe not at the highest settings. It will however leave over half of your budget, letting you put that either towards a new laptop or a future build.

Here's my idea for a new build, with an estimated $900 budget:
Coolermaster Centurion 5 Case @ $45
FSP AX450-PN PSU @ $50
Asus A8N-E 939 Motherboard @ $90
X1800XT 512 MB @ $299 OR eVGA 7900GT KO Edition @ 288
Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Core @ $154
G.Skill 2x1 gig kit @ $149
Seagate 7200.9 3.0 gb/s 250GB HD @ $94
BenQ DVDRW+-@ $35
Total: $905

That machine is an excellent setup no matter if you choose the ATi or Nvidia card, and if you are so inclined you could always overclock that proc. For approximately another $100 you can change out that 3200+ for a dual core 3800+ if you trade out the eVGA 7900GT and choose the combo BFG 7900GT instead (it's cheaper with the combo deal!). If you're really into the idea of dual core but don't want to shell out another $100, you could always trade out the 7900GT/X1800XT for a 7600GT (beyond the power of a 6800Ultra) and it would fit in the $900.