Power user on a budget (oxymoron, i know:))....advice?

[AntaresVI]

I would like to consider myself a power user. Who on Anandtech isn't? I play Half Life, Counter Strike, Max Payne, Unreal...to name a few. I also edit graphics and build web pages.

At the moment, I have a Duron-800, never overclocked. My mobo is a MSI Gateway OEM, which doesnt support overclocking . I have 128 megs of PC-100, and a Radeon LE flashed to the DDR bios. I also have a 7200 rpm 20 gig WD (ATA-66), and a plextor 8/4/32 burner. My sound is a Maxi Sound Fortissimo, and i've also got a netgear network card in there.

I'm looking to upgrade my system, in power and reliability. The mobo I have now is a piece of crap, so thats gonna go somethime....but therein lies the problem. Very little ca$h. I'm looking to upgrade little by little until I'm at a point where i have a stable, fast system. Hopefully this'll happen be4 i go to college (3 years away but you never know) ANyway, any advice you guys have would be great.

 

[johneetrash]

how about buying a new motherboard (that supports OCing), 256mb ddr ram, and a new hsf and try your luck on overclocking? if the new board doesnt fit in the new motherboard ull hafta get a new case

 

[AntaresVI]

I'd looove to do that, but i have about 50 bucks at my disposal now i'll probably get more gradually, but thats a bit too big of a jump for me now.

 

[Kroze]

$50 bucks? Get a Job.

 

[Kroze]

Most fast food "restaurants" will accept 15 year old kids. They'll start you out at Minimum! wage....$5.15

 

[AntaresVI]

yeah i wish...i dont have the time, honors courses really take it from ya....next summer though

 

[AntaresVI]

hey i made 9 bucks an hour last summer!!....too bad i blew it away on savings and av equipment

 

[FlippyBoy]

50 dollars? that's not gonna buy much, even with today's ridiculous prices. when you do manage to get together some money, i would definitely go with johneetrash's suggestion and try a better motherboard with more memory. that will be a good starting point, with plenty of room for small upgrades after that. and even though it may sound like a flame, what kroze said is a good idea, in many more ways than simply earning money.

 

[Jeff7]

I think someone at the FS forum has an Epox 8KTA3 for sale for $70. Not sure who, or if it's available; do a search for it and see if it turns up.

 

[Comguy12]

The only thing $50 will get you is more memory; however, it would have to be SDRAM because your board won't support DDR. So wait until you get $75 and get an SIS 735. Then you can add pieces as you get money. And don't rule out doing landscaping or even doing some builds for a local computer store on the weekends.