Need help deciding what to buy for a client

[WarDemon666]

I fixed his computer once, and he just called back saying his comp lags for games


Hes got a celeron 2.4 ghz, dont remember what type of mobo but it was really cheap, doesnt even have AGP. Anyways, hes got 256 megs of ram, I suggested getting a new video card and some more ram. ( 512 meg stick with some type of PCI radeon

But what I was thinking, maybe he could get a new motherboard too?

He wants to spend about 300-400$ max on his system. (Canadian)

What would you guys suggest?

Thanks

 

[piasabird]

The big question you need to ask him is what games he wants to be able to play. Then you can advise him what it costs for an upgrade.

To upgrade to the level of playing a game like DOOM III or Far Cry will not be cheap.

 

[WarDemon666]

He wants to play the nascar type games, maybe hell move on to more powerful games.

Heres what I was thinking:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...0528&Sku=V261-3032
and
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...ails.asp?EdpNo=1070724

should this be enough for him to play a few games? (right now hes running on his onboard crap, so he will see a huge improvement IMO)

 

[WarDemon666]

heres the setup I came up with: Tell me what you guys think!


Mobo | $89.00 | P4 S478 ASUS P4S800-MX 661FX 2DD3P1A AVL | Microbytes | http://usa.asus.com/products/m...78/p4s800/overview.htm
http://microbytes.com/showproduct.php?stk=15772
Ram | $114.99 | PQI 512MB PC2700 DDR 333MHz CL2.5 Memory | TigerDirect | http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...ails.asp?EdpNo=1070724
Video Card | $269.00 | ATI AGP RADEON 9600XT 128M BOX | Microbytes | http://microbytes.com/showproduct.php?stk=10039

Sub Total: $472.99
Taxes: $70.9485
Total: $543.94

 

[SupraSkylineSTI]

I would recommend that and a better CPU..... Maybe the Intel Pentium 4s, or the althlon XPs, you really get the best bang for the buck with them

 

[WarDemon666]

For the stuff I have listed, do you think it will be enough to play games right now? He can upgrade his CPU to a p4 fairly easily with the setup imo

 

[SupraSkylineSTI]

Probably for the nascar games...... overall the setup is great, but the celeron would really slow him down in a bit newer games

 

[WarDemon666]

hows the video card? How are the prices? I can get most of this locally

 

[SupraSkylineSTI]

The video card's really good, and most of the prices are good too, but like I said try to upgrade from the celeron

 

[WarDemon666]

perfect. Ill let him know what I found see what he wants to do about it!

Thanks for your help!

 

[SupraSkylineSTI]

np

 

[tjaisv]

Recommend getting PC3200 instead of PC2700, as the new motherboard supports all these faster memory speeds. And your client's Celeron 2.4GHz should work just fine for his games...and like u said he can always upgrade to a fast P4 if need be.

Here are your best prices (includes shipping), courtesy of pricewatch.com:

ASUS P4S800-MX ($57) ==> bestbargainpc.com

Corsair 512MB PC3200 CAS2.5 ($99) ==> axiontech.com

Sapphire ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB ($135) ==> buyxtremegear.com

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: tjaisv
Recommend getting PC3200 instead of PC2700, as the new motherboard supports all these faster memory speeds. And your client's Celeron 2.4GHz should work just fine for his games...and like u said he can always upgrade to a fast P4 if need be.

Here are your best prices (includes shipping), courtesy of pricewatch.com:

ASUS P4S800-MX ($57) ==> bestbargainpc.com

Corsair 512MB PC3200 CAS2.5 ($99) ==> axiontech.com

Sapphire ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB ($135) ==> buyxtremegear.com

these prices are all american though right?

My prices are all canadian and I can get them locally, the only thing ill be getting online is the ram, and he doesnt absolutely need that right away..

Is the pc3200 that much faster?

Thanks

 

[Nickel020]

A big plus of the PC3200 RAM is that he can run it in sync with a FSB 800 P4 later on. It's certainly worth spending a little more on the PC3200 RAM, P4 systems reward good RAM and memory bandwidth is very important.

 

[WarDemon666]

Cool, thanks.

All those websites you gave me for the prices, came up to about 356 canadian according to xe.com/currency

Do you think it will cost MUCH more because of the over the border costs?

Thanks again!