Suggestions for a n00b - New Computer Parts

[Summiner]

First off I know very little about compter stats, I can tell you my basic stats but I have no idea what most of them mean aside from the baiscs.

My computer stats are now:

AMD Athlon XP (think its a 2400+ or a 2200+)
1.99 GHz
1gb of RAM
GeForce FX 5700 LE 256

I have about $800 tops to upgrade my computer. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what parts would be best for an avid gamer? I am looking for something that is capeable of running Oblivion when it is released and other such games. The only thing is I need to keep with AMD because I dont want to lose all of the files on my hard drives.

Thanks!

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: Summiner
The only thing is I need to keep with AMD because I dont want to lose all of the files on my hard drives.

An Athlon 64 is the way to go for gaming...but where'd you come up with that wild idea? You'll need to format your hard drive or at least reinstall Windows after upgrading everything.

 

[deptrai]

Do you have a monitor already?

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: Gerbil333

Originally posted by: Summiner
The only thing is I need to keep with AMD because I dont want to lose all of the files on my hard drives.

An Athlon 64 is the way to go for gaming...but where'd you come up with that wild idea? You'll need to format your hard drive or at least reinstall Windows after upgrading everything.

AMD64, right.
Reinstall wrong, but that's a good thing

Are you keeping everything except the motherboard, processor, vid card? Is that DDR400 or better ram?

$103 Epox EP-9NPA+Ultra
$248 G.skill 2x1GB DDR500
$206 AMD Opteron 146 retail
$250 Sapphire GTO2 (100% succes of unlocking 4 more piplelines + 90% chance of reaching X850 XT speeds + chance of reaching X850 XT PE speeds)

 

[Summiner]

Thanks for the replys! The ram sucks, its not even DDR. And i have a 19" LCD for a moniter.

Will I have to wipe all of my hard drives or just my main one with windows on it?

 

[ribbon13]

you wont have to wipe anything. look at the first link in my previous post.

I think if you got all 4 items I linked, you'd be VERY happy with the performance increase.

If you get the GTO2, here's the relevant information

 

[Skyhanger]

Originally posted by: ribbon13

Originally posted by: Gerbil333

Originally posted by: Summiner
The only thing is I need to keep with AMD because I dont want to lose all of the files on my hard drives.

An Athlon 64 is the way to go for gaming...but where'd you come up with that wild idea? You'll need to format your hard drive or at least reinstall Windows after upgrading everything.

AMD64, right.
Reinstall wrong, but that's a good thing

Are you keeping everything except the motherboard, processor, vid card? Is that DDR400 or better ram?

$103 Epox EP-9NPA+Ultra
$248 G.skill 2x1GB DDR500
$206 AMD Opteron 146 retail
$250 Sapphire GTO2 (100% succes of unlocking 4 more piplelines + 90% chance of reaching X850 XT speeds + chance of reaching X850 XT PE speeds)

Looks good, but if you're not overclocking, save money by buying value ram. $200 should be just right for 2 gigs.
Also, you might want to consider a AMD Opteron 165. It's pretty much a Toledo X2 (2x1MB cache) clocked at 1.8 MHz. That should be a good starting place for a Dual Core setup. They also overclock nice. The rest of the suggestions are nice.
The X800 GTO2 can be found for $230 if you preorder. It sucks how the prices got inflated from $180 after everyone found out the GTO2 had a 100% success rate in modding to a X850XTPE