building a computer

[onearmedscissor]

i need some help building a computer. i've never built one before and i don't know too much about computers, but i know the basics. right now i have a dell with pentium 4 2.4ghz, ati radeon pro 128mb, audigy 2 zs, logitech z5300 speakers, 512 rambus ram, 2 dvd drives, network card (not sure what kind), floppy drive, motherboard (not sure what kind).

i want to use most of the parts of this computer, but i want to get ddr ram since it's much cheaper and almost the same performance as rambus. because of this i also need a new motherboard and case. i probably will only have less than 500 dollars to spend so i was wondering what type of stuff i should get. if i have any extra i also want a new processor. and a good building guide would help too. if anyone can help, thanks.

 

[SneakyStuff]

If I were you, i'd keep the system you have now, and wait, what you have is nothing to scoff at, it'll carry you through for awhile. And you will be rewarded for waiting, because new technologies will emerge.

 

[xenos500]

you'll have to get a new case and motherboard for sure.

Your network card is probably built in to the dell motherboard, check on that.
Your dell floppy drive also wont fit with a new case.

What you can "recycle"
powersupply
videocard
cpu
speakers
videocard
soundcard
EDIT: oops, yeah HD too


Get what ever case you like, minus the usually included powersupply if you want to cut some cost.
Get a good motherboard from asus abit or gigabyte(if you like motherboards that look like a spillt bowl of fruit loops)
Get 512MB of DDR400 (so it will last you upgrades of CPU)
See what video cards people recomend and consider upgrading it (IF IF IF you play new games)
If you have money still get another 512MB of DDR400 for one GIG total
IF you still have money left over--you wont--get a new CPU. BUT yours will be fine for a while yet, its not that cost effective for you to move up, you only have 500 dollars--that would be spent better on things like a SOLID motherboard and ram.

If you want some specific ideas on what to actually buy, feel free to PM me. I have built lots of computers and have over $7000 in newegg purchases in 4 years.

 

[onearmedscissor]

thanks, any more ideas?

 

[ponyo]

Why do you need to build a new computer? The one you have seems fine.

 

[onearmedscissor]

so i can run games on full and do more stuff at once with less waiting.

 

[boomerang]

I hate to echo what everyone else is saying here. You should be able to run any game you want on that computer.

Which ATI card do you have?

Some driver updates may get you all set up.

 

[onearmedscissor]

well so far i've been able to run any game i've tried but just not with all graphics options turned on full. i have an ati radeon 9700 pro 128mb. also, i think i need to defrag my computer but last time i tried, it showed everything as fragmented (red bars) before i ran it, then after i ran it, almost all the red bars were still there and when i started the defragmenter again, it said it was still fragmented.