[Radar]

I have an old computer from 2003 that I use everyday to do simple stuff like play old Windows and DOS games. The computer has a 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 (I assume 478 socket) and 512 MB of ram.

The computer can't play any games after the year 2005, and I want to change that. I did some research and discovered a Pentium 4 clocked at 3.2 GHz can fit in a 478 socket. I don't have any PCI-E slots, but an AGP and a couple PCI's. I discovered a GeForce 8400 GS PCI card with 512 MB I could get. With these simple upgrades for under $150, I could probably get my computer running Crysis on minimum settings, right?

Though I'm not exactly sure if it is a 478 socket, that's just an educated guess based on what year we bought it in. I tried to take off the processor to figure out its socket but a weird latch is holding it in place that I don't want to break off and possibly damage something else unless I absolutely have to.

The only thing I don't know about is the ram. What kind do I need to use? Installing these things won't be a problem for me, just getting the right things that are compatible with my computer are confusing me.


Do you guys think this is worth it, or that my computer is old and nothing short of buying a new computer all together is worth the hassle?

[TerminX]

Unfortunately, it's a total waste of money to try upgrading that. If you want to play anything even remotely recent you're going to need an entirely new computer.

[Hendricks266]

This computer I got used last year. It was made in 2004 or 2005 and has a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 with an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 512MB AGP and 2GB DDR RAM.

I don't have any shooters more modern than Shadow Warrior (), but I can run Polymost very smoothly and Polymer at 10fps. This system is pretty maxed out. If you can afford it, you should really get at least a Core 2 or i5/7 with a nice NVIDIA PCI-E card.

[TerminX]

AMD is also making some pretty good value stuff these days if affording things is an issue.

[Radar]

Hendricks266, on Aug 14 2010, 05:21 PM, said:

This computer I got used last year. It was made in 2004 or 2005 and has a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 with an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 512MB AGP and 2GB DDR RAM.

I don't have any shooters more modern than Shadow Warrior (), but I can run Polymost very smoothly and Polymer at 10fps. This system is pretty maxed out. If you can afford it, you should really get at least a Core 2 or i5/7 with a nice NVIDIA PCI-E card.

The specs of your computer are somewhat similar to what I was planning to upgrade too. How do you think a modern game would run on your computer? I know you mentioned polymer, but everyone talks about polymer bottlenecking a system a lot lower than its capable of.

[The Commander]

Radar1013, on Aug 15 2010, 02:12 PM, said:

The specs of your computer are somewhat similar to what I was planning to upgrade too. How do you think a modern game would run on your computer? I know you mentioned polymer, but everyone talks about polymer bottlenecking a system a lot lower than its capable of.

It would run Crisis (at minimum and median settings) but as TX said, it is worth just buying a new computer.
If money is an issue, then do what I did and each week buy a new part for a system. (motherboard, cpu etc)
Took me about 4-5 weeks to get all the parts I needed and now I look back and call myself stupid for wasting so much money trying to upgrade the old piece of shit AGP system I had.

[blackharted]

The Commander, on Aug 14 2010, 08:02 PM, said:

It would run Crisis (at minimum and median settings) but as TX said, it is worth just buying a new computer.
If money is an issue, then do what I did and each week buy a new part for a system. (motherboard, cpu etc)
Took me about 4-5 weeks to get all the parts I needed and now I look back and call myself stupid for wasting so much money trying to upgrade the old piece of shit AGP system I had.

Buy a part each week? Jeez that sounds more expensive than buying a new PC. I'm now jealous Commander are you rich?

[Radar]

Thanks for the suggestions. I also agree that upgrading an ancient computer may not reap many benefits.

Money is a definite issue. I appreciate the help, but I don't see how buying one piece every week for a whole new computer will be any cheaper. I'll still, in the end, end up wasting $500 - $1000. But the computer I already have may be able to run Crysis with no more than a $150 upgrade. You must understand I am young (14), and have absolutely no idea where to pull $200 a week for something like that.

I understand that after 1 or 2 years that computer won't be able to run anything modern if I upgrade, but I don't plan on gaming regularly. All I honestly want to do is to be able to run polymer decently and get Pro Street finally working on my computer that I wasted money on two years ago, maybe even try and get the Orange Box and two or three other games.


So what do you guys think? Being a modest gamer desiring nothing more than 5 or 6 newer games (though, mainly polymer is all I want), do you guys agree with this solution?

[The Commander]

blackharted, on Aug 16 2010, 04:51 AM, said:

Buy a part each week? Jeez that sounds more expensive than buying a new PC. I'm now jealous Commander are you rich?

Actually no it's not, if you knew anything you would know that retail shops have a thing called "markup"
I built mine at half the price it would have cost to buy it retail.

Radar1013, on Aug 16 2010, 05:42 AM, said:

I understand that after 1 or 2 years that computer won't be able to run anything modern if I upgrade, but I don't plan on gaming regularly. All I honestly want to do is to be able to run polymer decently and get Pro Street finally working on my computer that I wasted money on two years ago, maybe even try and get the Orange Box and two or three other games.

Why on earth do you want to play Pro Street? ugh.
But if you did get the Pentium 4 you mentioned put in a better AGP card and more ram then you will be able to play the Orange box with no problems.

[Kathy]

The Commander, on Aug 16 2010, 06:39 AM, said:

Actually no it's not, if you knew anything you would know that retail shops have a thing called "markup"

You meant the price for assembling the PC? Then you should have said that. Because buying everything either at once or in the course of several weeks won't change the cost.

[The Commander]

Lotan, on Aug 16 2010, 11:18 PM, said:

You meant the price for assembling the PC? Then you should have said that. Because buying everything either at once or in the course of several weeks won't change the cost.

No, I don't mean retail as in from a computer part shop, but a fully assembled one that comes with the stupid warranty at retail stores at places like [insert name of some big fancy American store]

Also you can save money by not purchasing all at once because you can look for specials of what you need.

[Radar]

After doing a little research, I should be able to add a higher clock level Pentium 4, and I'll definitely be able to add ram, but its the video card I'm having trouble with. The only video card that would be worth anything would be at least a 6 series GeForce, though preferably an 8 series or higher. I have usable slots, but what happens if my PSU isn't strong enough? The video card I plan on buying recommends a 350 watt PSU and mine is only 250 watts. If this upgrade also requires changing my PSU, than I mind as well just buy a whole new computer, which I hope this doesn't come down too.

[Kathy]

http://www.thermalta...utervision.com/
http://www.coolermas..._calculator.php

[Radar]

I threw in my current configuration into it and they recommend at least a 290 watt PSU even though I'm running on my 250 watt without a problem. I guess they're made to overestimate just to be safe. That being said, I'm still not exactly sure if I'm going to go forward with this. In a short while, once I finally have $150, hopefully I'll have made up my mind.

[The Commander]

You should be fine with a 250watt PSU, my old AGP ATI card also recommended 350watt but I had no where near that in my factory dell PC at the time as far as I was aware.

[Omni]

Also make sure a video card will actually fit in the case, some only will hold a low profile card.

[Kathy]

Radar1013, on Aug 17 2010, 09:14 PM, said:

I threw in my current configuration into it and they recommend at least a 290 watt PSU even though I'm running on my 250 watt without a problem. I guess they're made to overestimate just to be safe.

Not really. Your system use different power based on a workload. 290 watts is a maximum.