What should I do???

[tomstevens26]

Hey everyone. I'm wanting to upgrade a PC that has the current specs and I'd sure love some feedback and/or suggestions..

800MHz Duron
256MB PC133 SDRAM
GeForce2MX/200

The machine is used only by my son for web browsing, email and some casual 1st person gaming. I'm thinking about giving him my GeForce3 ti200 and upgrading myself to the Gainward GeForce4 ti4200 (the $149 model from Newegg, 3.3ns 64MB Golden Sample card). I'm wondering, though, if I shouldn't just get him the same card I have for $90, and then later on down the road upgrade mine to the line of cards above the 4200...perhaps a 9700 Pro or GeForce FX. My PC plays everything just fine now so I'm not really aching to upgrade it. It seems like it would make sense though to shell out $60 more and get a much better card. So either way, the kid is getting a ti200...but would the 800MHz Duron really limit the performance on that card or would he still see a pretty decent improvement in games?

I've also thought about doing the following:

Adding another 256MB SDRAM, K7S5A, Athlon XP1700 and the ti200. I could do all that for $254.

Thanks for any advice!!
Tom

 

[ojai00]

Upgrading a processor and the RAM should definitely help the video card performance. I think the current processor and memory amount will bottleneck the TI200 anyway.

 

[CurtCold]

I would give him the GF3, and get a 4200 for your rig. With the 800Duron, that card will be nice. Especially if you add another 256Dimm. I wouldn't worry about much more performace for him, if he is just a light gamer, and web browser. Then after the first of the year when 64, and some other products hit the market, you can upgrade to the 9500, 9700, or FX for much less of the cost it would be for you now.

 

[mjolnir2k]

My .02

If you only could do 1 upgrade:
New Video card. GF3 at least or even a GF4 Ti4200 to 4600 (No sense spending a ton of money on a 9700 pro UNLESS you will ultimately be upgrading your CPU / Memory.) The MX series of cards are real dogs and will hinder perfomance on any CPU upgrade you will do.

If you could do 2 Upgrades:
Add another stick of Memory. This would help your system crunch that data more effectively.

If you can do an overhaul:
New MoBo that supports DDR / KT333 or KT400, A new XP based CPU, New Video card (NOW get that 9700 pro) and a stick of 512 MB pc2700 or higher (or 2 sticks of 256 if you have an Nforce board)

Let's face it, once you start on the path to Hell (ie. upgrading) it's a LOOOONG and winding road that will usually leave your wallet feeling MUCH lighter.

Best of luck.

Cheers,
Mj