I'm currently running VIsta right now, which makes my decent pc a slow one.
I don't want to downgrade in terms of OS, so might as well just buy a few upgrade parts for my PC.

here's a list of things i need to get upgraded:
- motherboard/processor
- video card
- RAM (depends on how the motherboard issue works out)

i currently have a P4 2.4Ghz processor placed on an Asus P4V8X-X motherboard. i also have a 1GB PC3200 ddr dim which i bought in January together with a 160GB Hitachi HD.

i think my pc upgrade hangs on the motherboard issue. because it's either i spend a whole lot becuase i'll have to overhaul my cpu or i'll spend just a short amount of money to get my pc upgraded.

so the best question would be:
is there any motherboard out there that has an Intel dual-core processor which supports DDR ram? and do i have to factor in the power supply of my cpu? because getting a faster cpu may mean that it has to get hotter..

all suggestions are welcome!! thanks a lot!
i don't subscribe to other tech forums and so far you people haven't failed in giving the best advice. thanks in advance. :D

Let's see...

motherboard: For Vista's sake, ditch the ddr and upgrade to ddr2, it's faster and have much more capacity, plus 2 GBs only set you back around $50. The new duo-core processors are much more energy efficient than the previous p4 series, so the power supply shouldn't be much of a problem.

video card: as for any purpose, you want to play games and watch movies right? aiming for a card with about 256MB should be decent enough, or if you want something that supports Direct X 10 then, get a card with 512MB

RAM: like I said, there's barely any dealer that would still sell ddr ram anywhere over 512MB per stick. Get ddr2, it runs faster and have much more potential in terms of upgrades compared to ddr

In general, if you're an unskilled and unexperienced, don't upgrade the motherboard yourself, go to dell or hp and ask them for a new computer... only do it yourself when your requirement of performance is beyond what a typical dealer could offer. .

danielkwan88

In general, if you're an unskilled and unexperienced, don't upgrade the motherboard yourself, go to dell or hp and ask them for a new computer... only do it yourself when your requirement of performance is beyond what a typical dealer could offer. .

Eek. Don't buy from HP or Dell unless you want to have to deal with the value add crap they infest computers with.

As for your legacy parts rcboy08, by keeping any of them you're only limiting yourself to reasonably poor vista performance. Generally when an upgrade warrants a motherboard change, its not worth retaining the CPU or RAM as technology has left them well in the past.

In addition to upgrading, I would also evaluate your always running software load. Vista should be pretty speedy on that hardware (and therefore, would be even faster with an upgrade, therefore, wouldn't it be nice to get the most out of your hard earned money?)

Sir i would just build a new computer, save up your money and just go all out when the time comes. Of course i could 'build' you a relatively good computer for around the 600 mark which includes all the parts you need.

I dont think that board supports ddr2 ram or any newer graphics cards which is also a problem. The truth is that even if you upgrade a major part of the computer the rest of the build will bottleneck it.

If you are interested in me getting a list together of a good, and reletively cheap computer, just pm me.

A few months before I built my new computer I was also trying to figure out how to upgrade my PC without having to spend so much and do as little upgrades as possible, but because I had a old motherboard with DDR only RAM and AGP graphics slots, I had to go all out and build myself a new one. The question is, are you willing to spend money on all the new parts? My new computer cost just shy of $1500, and that was with Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB, 2 GB RAM (now I bought another 1GB RAM stick for $17), and a darn good motherboard around the $150 range. That's just to give you an idea on how much you might need to spend on a PC with decent specs. Of course, if you're not needing to play PC games like I do you can buy cheaper parts.

Longbow, where did you get your parts from. I have basically the same thing cept my build was closer to the 800 range.

1. If you want to keep your current system the cheapest way you can increase your Vista performance is adding one more 1GB RAM and make Vista run at performance settings.
2. (Recommended) If you just want to run Vista smoothly, watch movies, and play some casual games you are opt to get another PC. The cheapest you can get with is a AMD based PC which runs very decently with no problems. (Note AMD chips trashes any P4 chips out there and only loses to Intel core chips)
3. If by any chance you are in budget and you want to buy a pc and later upgrade to a gamers platform then purchase a good motherboard (Intel) which got at least a 3 year life span. Get a cheep chip a Intel E4xxx is good enough for Vista and movie watching and get 2GB RAM (1x2 GB RAM for dual channel capability) plus a decent Graphic card like Nvidia GeForce 8600GT.

The basics for building a computer would be to use AMD for sub-500 builds, and depending where you buy from, i buy from newegg, you can get a pretty darn good computer for 500 and up. This was my list for my last build,
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=10932207
it didnt include the HDD but if you were to buy something like that from a store it would prolly be double the price.

Well, I'd have to agree that buying a new computer is really the best course of action in your position.

Here would be my recommendations:

CPU: Duo or Quad Core Intel. They seem to run vista very nicely in my experience.
RAM: 2GB Should be fine to play Games on Vista.
GPU: Personally I like Nvidia better but you can use ATI if you like them. 256mb should be good to run most games, but if you want to save yourself the trouble of upgrading later I'd recommend a 512 MB card. Personally I use 2 "Nvidia 88000 GT" cards.

When getting a new GPU, I always go for XFX brand cards, you can't beat the double lifetime warranty. If you ever want to sell your card, then you're set.

Sounds like you need to change everything... how much you looking to spend

cpu: buy the cheapest Core 2 Duo, it will run great

motherboard: buy a decent motherboard, it is important. I recommend ASUS or EVGA mother boards. Try to spend around $100-$150 on one atleast!

ram: for a mother board from $100-$150 it will prolly use DDR2, I recommend patriot, but most brands work fine. For Vista I would recommend 4GB of ram

videocard: Get the new ATI 4850, it performs quite well for the price

2 items: more RAM, and a tri-nvidia 8800, or the new 9300 series. That will equal awsome.

Hmmm...

Well the best advice in my opinion if you were to buy a new computer would be to go mid-range, don't save up lots and lots and then blow it all on one massive top of the range supercomputer, as for the most part, it's just not necessary. A good bit of mid-range equipment will prove a smart investment and handle most of the things you want it to do, also look for reviews of equipment in terms of overclocking, if its a good overclocker's choice then you can get a lot more performance out of it for no extra cost. For mid-range parts I'd usually split it in to:

Processor 100-150 pounds sterling (this site doesn't have a pound sign *scowls*)
RAM 30-50 pounds sterling
Motherboard 50-100 pounds sterling
Hard Drive 30-60 pounds sterling
Graphics Card 150-200 pounds sterling

($ = x2, as your economy is weak mwahahaha)

As well as this, building a PC from parts is pretty easy, I'm an IT student so I know how, and as an IT student I can safely say that people only say it's really hard to secure us a job for the future. Just keep basic warnings and safety aspects in mind, like not wiping yourself all over it whilst rubbing your feet on a carpet whilst in furry socks or getting a long haired cat and rubbing it against the circuit board then all should be well, along with not whacking things about and submerging them in fluid.

And for the love of God ditch Vista, big dimwitted windows middlechild that it is.