Looking for upgrade help.

[OmegaDragon]

For this holiday season, I plan on upgrading this (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=346104) into a computer capable of running the latest games.

Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz Processor
512MB RAM
120GB Hard Drive
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Windows Vista Home Basic
Nvidia 6150 SE graphics

Looking for:
Something that can run COD 4, Orange Box, H2V, and maybe even Crysis on low/medium settings.

Price range: no more than $300. The lower the price, the better. (lol I am cheap :P)

Already Purchased:
2 gigs of RAM

Any suggestions appreciated :)

[Mr Buckshot]

I assume you know that you'll need to fill up your PCI-e slot (all geforce 6100/6150 mobos have PCI-e slots) with a real video card.

Wait, are you going to buy that mini tower PC, and then upgrade the RAM and video card? If so, that mini tower case is going to be a problem because bigger video cards may not even fit into it.

Recommended video card(s) that might fit (I assume you live in America):

shit newegg is very slow, but I recommend a Geforce 8600 GT(S) or a Radeon HD 2600

[Xetsuei]

Looking for:
Something that can run COD 4, Orange Box, H2V, and maybe even Crysis on low/medium settings.

Price range: no more than $300. The lower the price, the better. (lol I am cheap :P)

More money is required, please try again.

[Amit]

If that $300 includes the 2 GB of RAM, see above post.

[OmegaDragon]

2 gigs are already purchased. I was talking about $300 for the rest.

E: Oh I see what I did wrong, I put the wrong word in the post >.< It was meant to be purchased, not planned >.>
Also, is it just me or is newegg down? I guess it was because of the black Friday rush.

[Cortexian]

Now add an nVidia GeForce 8 series graphics card, and you should be in business.

[paladin]

Wait? $300 for a whole PC?

And what ever you do, do NOT buy from CompUSA.

[Syuusuke]

Maybe a new PSU and some video card....the new HD series comes out when?

[OmegaDragon]

Wait? $300 for a whole PC?

And what ever you do, do NOT buy from CompUSA.

That was the first link that had the information of the computer at hand, I got the PC for about $50 in a garage sale.

[Syuusuke]

Heh, that's pretty...wow.

[OmegaDragon]

Heh, that's pretty...wow.

You will be surprised what you will find in the garage sales of dumb people :p

Anyways, I was thinking of getting the ATI HD3850 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814241066), but i need to check out if it will actually fit in there.

[Syuusuke]

Not enough for a 3870?

[Snowy]

The HD3850 or 3870 are both good choices. You also may want to consider upgrading the mother board to a new FX790 chipset (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070930149&Configurator=&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=) board so you can get some more OC out of that processor.

[OmegaDragon]

Not enough for a 3870?

3850 is fine enough for me. ;)


The HD3850 or 3870 are both good choices. You also may want to consider upgrading the mother board to a new FX790 chipset (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022+1070930149&Configurator=&Subcategory=22&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=) board so you can get some more OC out of that processor.

Yea, I was thinking of tackling the motherboard once I had more money to keep upgrading it. For now, I am keeping the price low after the great deal I got with the computer.

[Mr Buckshot]

If possible, try to buy a new case and transfer the mobo and everything else (I dunno if the PSU can also be transferred) there, because the mini tower will be a limiting factor in the video card you can buy. You can cut a hole in the side of the case for the video card to protrude out (I'm serious, and it won't hamper performance or anything) but that would expose the video card to the elements.

[OmegaDragon]

Wow! I love NewEgg. Their service is so darn fast. :o
I ordered it Sunday night, and I just received the packet. After a few minutes, I installed the new hardware, and it fitted like a glove! Thanks for all the help guys. Time to go out and look for some games to test out my new rig.

[X3RO SHIF7]

cool, i was gonna suggest the 3850 too , outpreforms the 2600's and 8600's