PC Upgrade Question

[Cerek the Barbaric]

I'm shopping around for a new computer system. Mine is very old and only has a Pentium 1.55 processer in it (one of the very first Pentiums).

I called a local PC store and they said they could upgrade my old system with a new processor and other necessary components.

My BIG question concerns the video card. BGII is "choppy" at best on my PC. I usually have to PAUSE the screen in order to move my characters. Everything I hear about NeverWinter Nights indicates it is even MORE graphic-intensive.

What "specs" should I look for in a new video card? Is 32mb enough, or do I need a 64mb?

I have a basic understanding of the fundamental parts in the PC, so I know what to ask for concerning RAM, hard drives, and some of the other primary parts...but I'm just not sure about the Video card.

All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Rokenn]

Personally I have using Geoforce cards for the last few years and have loved the quality of the cards and the drivers (I always use the Nvidia reference drivers). As with anything computer related you should buy as far up the curve as you can, since it will delay the inevitable upgrade If I remember correctly the current top of the line for the Nvidia cards is the Geoforce 4 Ti series. But I think I read that they are about to release a new chip set soon.

A 32 meg card will be enough (for now), but if you want to play a game the way it is meant to be played get a 64 meg card. Also games are only going to get more and more graphic intense so you might find that a 32 meg card will be worthless in a few years.

*edit* I guess it depends on how much money you have. Or how much money your willing to spend.

[ 08-02-2002, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Deathbringer ]

[Larry_OHF]

Deathbringer made an important comment there.
You should set a limit on yourself as to how much money you are willing to put into the whole thing. Tell yourself that you will not exceed that amount. Otherwise, it is very easy to put more money into the new PC than you expect, and may regret the over-cost.

I am sure that once you post to this thread the amount of money you are willing to spend, you'll get five different opinions within the hour from people telling you specifically what to put into your upgrade.

Also, do not forget to tell us what OS you have!

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Thanks everyone. I had a link to an Online store where I could purchase an entire system for about $580.00 - but that was for a 1.2gh Celeron and NOT upgrading the video card.

Now that the new Pentium 4's have come out, that's all that is available "online"...but it's a 2.2 or 2.3 gh processor. Upgrading the video card to 64mg only increased the price by about $200.00.

As Larry pointed out, that is a little more than I was wanting to spend....BUT, it's such a jump in the "tech curve" that I'm considering it. I've been setting money back since I got my tax refund for a new system, so I have enough to buy the Pentium 4. I just wasn't planning on spending quite that much.

Still...it's a good deal on a PC that probably won't need upgrading for several years (remember, I've been making do with a FIRST generation Pentium for about 3 years now - I don't need the "latest and greatest" by any stretch).

[Animal]

If your PC is that old is it really worth upgrading? A first gen Pentium will have nothing that could be upgraded. The case, motherboard and power supply can't be used with new tech. Complete systems from reputable manufacturers are very inexpensive these days, and you get that lovely new PC smell too! Certainly, set yourself a cap on spending and stick to it, but if you do upgrade get the best parts you can afford as to "future proof" yourself for a while. Whatever you decide, do your homework first and make sure all the parts play nice together. If you plan on running XP, check out some hardware forums to see if your intended hardware will run under XP, but most of all have fun. Upgrading your PC can be very satisfying when you press that power button for the first time and your creation roars to life!

[Larry_OHF]

Let me mention the cost of my upgrade...and maybe that will help.

New motherboard $200
P4 1.8G $170
GeForce III, Ti200 $150.
New case and Power Supply $80
RD RAM, sold in pairs, only $110

Total = $710.00, not including tax

[Rokenn]

You may want to check out this site (http://shuttleonline.com/) They make a super small form factor pc (about the size of a toaster) packed with all the features. You can get the barebones P4 system for about $340. I have one of their older ones (a P3 system) and it is pretty cool.

[MILAMBER]

I just had to build another pc for my lan and I put together an Athlon XP 1800 w/ 256 mb of PC333 DDR, a 40gb 7200 RPM HD, LAN, Radeon 8500 LE 64 mb vid card, case and all that for $475.00

[Thoran]

As Animal said... a first gen Pentium box will NOT be upgradeable at all. If the local PC store said they'd be able to upgrade it you should be VERY suspicous of their capabilities (most of those stores are borderline incompetent).

The oldest system that will have ANY chance of being upgraded is a Pentium II based system... and most of them don't have strong enough Power supplies to be useful... and in any event the ONLY thing you'd be able to potentially keep from a P2 class box would be the case and p/s... EVERYTHING else will be too slow to be useful on a new machine (memory, hdd, graphics, etc...)

A P3 system might be upgradeable but you'll suffer performance penalties for any components you keep (memory will be slow, hdd will be slow, etc...)

What I tend to tell people is that for the price of upgrading you can almost always get a new system... with new components. Lots of Athlon boxes out there for 5-700

Maybe you can hold on to your monitor if it's a good one, I still use a Mag mx17 (that I bought probably 6 years ago) on one of my servers, and if you have a good keyboard keep that (most out these days are JUNK). But you'll want an optical mouse (trust me on this one... they're a great improvement over ball types).

Again... good luck, and don't trust what those local PC shops tell you!