[ThePHD]

I don't know exactly what type of motherboard I have but it is older and is socket A I THINK so I might need to just build a whole new PC. My video card is dead and I think I need to upgrade a lot of things

What I have now

Athlon XP 1800+ (overclocked at 2200)
Geforce 6600GT (I think it died though)
300W power supply.
1 GB ram

This thing struggles to run Hitman Blood Money so it really sucks

I wouldn't be opposed to getting new everything but it needs to be sorta cost effective so no super computer upgrade for now. I obviously need a new processor and video card. Would like 2b of ram as well and a better power supply. Won't rule out the possibility of a new motherboard.

I don't need a PC that can run Crysis on the highest settings but it should be able to play things like Oblivion or Doom.

[Redmo0n]

Whats you budget?

Do you plan to upgrade in a few years or do you want a long life pc?

[Sora]

We need a budget if you want a new computer. Can you re-use a case or HDD or anything to save money?

[ThePHD]

Yes I can reuse a case and HD. and could I get anything decent for around 400ish?

[Puddle Jumper]

These parts come to $428 before mail in rebates and will be a huge upgrade from your current system.

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - EVGA 384-P3-N851-AR GeForce 8800 GS 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors

[ThePHD]

It doesn't look bad for a budget PC but are there any good AMD processors that aren't too expensive? My family has always used AMD and I hear that Intel dual cores sorta suck.

[Redmo0n]

No that is completely the opposite way around.

Intel has dominated the market since '06, there are some rumours of AMD coming back with the new series but you can't be to sure.

The e2180 is a great chip and with a lot of overclocking can blow any amd out of the water (probably not blow but with high overclocking is pretty good)

If you want something more powerful you could look at the E7200 which is only a bit more and can perfrom better.

[zedman3d]

Originally Posted by ThePHD

It doesn't look bad for a budget PC but are there any good AMD processors that aren't too expensive? My family has always used AMD and I hear that Intel dual cores sorta suck.

And the other myth about AMD's being cheaper isnt really true either, because while a similar clocked cpu thats AMD maybe be alot cheaper, an Intel chip some 0.4ghz or so behind usually beats it.