Advice for a friend

[jabberwock95]

I have a friend who has recently got full control of a computer. It is a year or two old, and the specs are not that great. He wants to be able to play the latest games, not too concerned about graphics but he would like medium settings if possible.

Here are the specs:

Pentium 4 1.4GHz Processor
Unknown Motherboard
256MB RAM
GeForce 2 Graphics Card

He is looking at three possible upgrades ATM.

1. Replacing the motherboard and CPU with an Athlon XP 2400+ and a fairly cheap motherboard.
2. Adding 512MB of memory.
3. Upgrading the graphics card to a GeForce 4 Ti4200.

Which of these upgrades would be best for his system? Im talking about the best performance/price ratio. I am thinking RAM at the moment, because 256 is rapidly becoming the minimum for new games. Any advice?

 

[Subatomic]

At this stage, getting a new computer wouldn't hurt.

I'd say his priorities are

1.) More RAM (512)
2.) Better graphics card. (NOT a 4200ti, that is barely an 'upgrade' go with a 9600/9800)
3.) New processor

But getting a whole new computer is a better idea :E

 

[JFry]

that is a tough situation as no matter what you upgrade you will still be left with a pretty low bottleneck. I agree with Subatomic's order tho you will prolly have to add ram AND a new vid card to see a signifigant improvement. The cpu should be able to squeek by but it too will soon show its age.

 

[Maxi]

The graphics card or the CPU seems to be the biggest problem.

 

[jabberwock95]

At this stage, getting a new computer wouldn't hurt.

I'd say his priorities are

1.) More RAM (512)
2.) Better graphics card. (NOT a 4200ti, that is barely an 'upgrade' go with a 9600/9800)
3.) New processor

But getting a whole new computer is a better idea :E

I too thought more RAM would be a good idea first of all. He really can't afford a good graphics card, the only reason he can get one at all is because I offered him a Ti4200 I had lying around. He will be perfectly happy with DX8, so it should be fine.

The new processor would have to be a cheapy aswell. To get a decent upgrade with a P4 would be costly, which is why I suggested a cheap Athlon mobo/processor combo. Once you get to that stage you are basically building a new computer.

He has this computer because his dad recently got a new one, so he gets the old one. He wants to keep it around for LAN games and such, so top specs aren't a priority (he will have access to the new one).

 

[Gunsnroses]

4200ti is a great card.

Very cheap now too.

Mine can run CS:S with no aa/af at 30 FPS.

1. ram
2. video card
3. mobo/cpu.
or
Just get a credit card, charge a new computer, and pay it off like me. wooohoo

 

[bosox188]

4200ti is a great card.

Very cheap now too.

Mine can run CS:S with no aa/af at 30 FPS.

1. ram
2. video card
3. mobo/cpu.
or
Just get a credit card, charge a new computer, and pay it off like me. wooohoo

When I turn 18 I'm not getting a credit card. Wastes all of your money. You know you gotta pay for it later...

 

[Gunsnroses]

I'm 19, and i'm just fine with my money.

You just need to know how to use it.

 

[blahblahblah]

I would recommend fixing up his motherboard and CPU first. Then Ram and finally the video card. Atleast for me, I spend most of my time on a computer doing other things besides playing video games. You should upgrade the things that will benefit his everyday usage instead of exclusively focusing on video games. His Geforce 2 will see him through HL2 just fine if he can't upgrade that in time.

For upgrading, I suggest upgarding this very minute or wait for several months. AMD is stopping mass production of its Athlon XP's which is driving up prices for the XP's while its replacements (the Athlon Sempron) do not have good prices/performance yet. If you do wait, give it enough time for AMD to saturate the market with its new Sempron processors and for prices to fall.

When I turn 18 I'm not getting a credit card. Wastes all of your money. You know you gotta pay for it later...

Credit is really good, if you know how to use it. Having a credit history makes it easier and cheaper to buy cars and houses. Though you should only use your credit card for large purchases where you want special protection (that a credit card gives) and have the cash to pay for it, or in cases of emergency.

 

[bosox188]

Agreed, maybe having one just for those large purchases and only for those it's okay, but I'm talking about people who just charge stuff everyday because it's easier and whatever. And there's a like a minimum amount you have to pay for what you bought, you can pay lower than the actual price, but you'd have to keep making payments and because of interest in the end you pay more. I heard if you buy a $250,000 and keep paying minimum in the end you end up having paid $1 million!

 

[Gunsnroses]

He should upgrade ram first, reguardless of if he games or not.

athlon xp is still dirt cheap.

I seriously doubt a geforce 2 will do much good in half life 2

 

[blahblahblah]

He should upgrade ram first, reguardless of if he games or not.

athlon xp is still dirt cheap.

I seriously doubt a geforce 2 will do much good in half life 2

Depends what his motherboard supports, etc. I say by the motherboard that you want for the future and the processor. That gets you set for future upgrades. Then the RAM and finally the video card. No reason buying PC3200 if it can't use it right away.

The Athlon XP has risen in price dramatically in the past month. It was around 77 USD and is now 92USD. Its price rose 3 dollars over three days. I'm glad I ordered my XP 2500+ yesterday for my parents computer. The Sempron 2500+ can't compete with the XP 2500+.

HL2 will run on max settings with a 9600 XT at 30 fps. I'm willing to take that bet. If a 9600 XT can do max settings, a Geforce 2 can handle HL2. In fact, HL2 has support back the original Geforce. Don't expect state of the art graphics though.

 

[bosox188]

Yeah those damn Sempron pieces of sh1t are raising the XP's money!