upgrade
 

im looking to upgrade my comp and needed some advice

i have decided to keep the case and all the drives

all i think i need is a
new motherboard
looking for decent video card
ram
processor

looking to spend 200-250 max

i dont game much but my comp is hooked up to my plasma
mostly just internet use but i feel lately my comp has been slowing down when i open multiple pages
im running windows vista

let me know what you guys recommend i dont know much about this stuff

First thing you want to get rid of is vista... try loading up windows 7... Better than vista and takes less requirements than xp pro... Besides its free right now it will save you $$$ until you get more $$$... $200-250 isnt much unless you are looking to upgrade to a low end/basic machine... You can price most of you stuff @ Ncix.

Try to look for the combo promotions @ NCIX.. Sometimes you find really good stuff.

i just use the computer to surf the net

any recommendations

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...s&promoid=1021

This. Brand new processor from AMD, it's a good cheap quad-core that doesn't break the bank. It'll keep up with the Intel Q8200 which is almost as expensive as the bundle! ;)

The 785G has an integrated Radeon HD4200 which is fairly decent, and has HDMI output for your TV. If you need a discrete graphics card, pick out another ATI card and it can do "Hybrid Crossfire" which is like a poor man's Crossfire.

If you are using DDR2 memory, you can recycle it for this machine. Otherwise you can buy cheap DDR2 sticks for $30 or so for 2GB ($50 or so for 4GB, which is recommended if you have Win 7 x64 or Vista x64 installed).

do you mean 200-250 on each part?
because a decent video card already costs around 150...

mobo.. if you're not gaming or anything a basic one will do, dont need to spring for the fancy SLI stuff
video card... if you're not gaming you shouldnt even need a video card, integrated should be just fine
ram... 4gb is more than enough for surfing purposes, again, if you're not gaming, brand doesnt matter too much
processor.. simple dual core like the c2d e6600 is cheap and will meet your needs

Total.

My list

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...cture=Gigabyte

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...anufacture=AMD

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...t&promoid=1021

Ram seems to have gone up in price.

That should be more than enough for what you want to do.

Like others have mentioned, try using Windows 7 or even XP (if you have already have XP). A fresh reload will usually work wonders for a sluggishly loading PC.

If all you're doing is browsing the Internet and the occasional e-mail, a basic low end setup is fine (with integrated video). I just checked NCIX, and this is their cheapest bundle deal this week at $155:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...s&promoid=1021

Pair that up with 2GB of RAM (or 4GB if you're feeling spendy although it's probably overkill for just browsing) and you'll definitely be under $250 after taxes. Hopefully you've got some buddies to help you out if you're not familiar with assembling a computer. (although it's pretty easy if you take the time to browse through the manuals)

If it is running Vista, then your computer shouldn't be slow or too outdated.


If you think the tabs take too much time, you should try other browsers like chrome or opera. Some tweaking would do the job.


Tell us the spec of your current setup, it's usually cheaper by upgrading the cpu to the most powerful cpu using the same socket.

like P4 1.6 -> P4 2.8
E1400 -> E8500

amd athlon 1.25ghz
2gb ddr ram

thats all i know