PC upgrade time...Geek Squad...GO!
 

I need something faster, but cheap. I have an athlon xp 1800+ pro, Asus MB, 1gb PC 2100 ram, 120GB HD ata 133, 400 watt PS. I need something faster and within a small budget, say $300. I really only need a new processor, MB and maybe ram. Anyone got any suggestions? I'm thinking of going pentium this time, but please give me some options, I'm not up to date on what's out rigt now.

thnx

Talk to H-Accord22 i think it is...he is selling a pretty good board i believe

Yea I looked on there, I just don't know what's what anymore, who makes the quality MB's, what P4 is best for the price? I don't wanna get bargain basement crap that breaks in 30 days but I don't need a SOOOPER PC. Just something 2.4ghz or better for a decent price with 512mb-1gb of ram.

where o where has the geek squad gone?

I'm here...so 300 is your budget? Are you a gammer and WANT a good video card to play BF2, QUake 4, etc?

If you want a good system, 300 is kinda low..

You need new mobo, CPU, RAM, Video card, and a good PSU to handle that rig.

On average:

Mobo + CPU combo = ~200
RAM = 80 for a 1GB in Dual channel
PSU = 60-100 for a GOOD one without a hole in your wallet
Video card = 200 for a good one :)

so that's about 550 right there for a good gamming system assuming you get the bestest best price. Both of my systems are pretty costly, 1600 for one and 2500 for another

I don't do much online gaming, so vid card is not necessary at the moment, but may be a future upgrade. For the time being I'd just like to upgrade the essentials to make my pc work a lil faster here and there...encoding and the like.

See, you want to start off with a good system. And future proof yourself. Right now, good video cards are start to come out on PIC-Express x16 platform. Most of the good motherboard WON'T come with onboard video, so you have to get a video card somehow.

If you're not in a hurry, I suggest you wait for a while, till the end of this year and things will be cheaper as well.

Otherwise, tell me exactly what you want to do and I"ll give you the suggestion :)

Here's a quick general review:

Both AMD and Intel are moving onto Dual-Core Processor now. Since you want to spend less, while they're very expensive, we'll skip them.

Let's stick with Intel for this upgrade since Intel "deals" are generally cheaper and you can get faster processor as of NOW.

There are 2 MAIN "type of PEntium 4" Socket T (aka LGA775) and Socket 478.

Socket T - the latest
Socket 478 - The first type pf P4.

You want to stay with Socket T.

Now there are 2 type of RAM:

DDR2 - New, cheaper than DDR1 (due to not much of market demand, only by enthusiast), best of Socket T mobo + PCI-E for Overclocking.
DDR1 - First general, are widely use in prebuilt PC, generally expensive. Only support by Mobo with 915 chipset. Not that great of Overclocker if use with PCI-E graphic card. Good for AGP card.

Video Card:

PCI-E - THe new hot shot, better performance and Overclocking in general
AGP - Older Technology. Good, but not the latest generation.

Power Supply PSU.

Socket 478 Mobo - uses 20 pins PSU
Socket T mobo - use 24 pins.

Suggest to get 24 pins PSU and get an adapter.
There are 2 main types of PSU:

Dual 12V rail: having 2 12v Lines, one is to feed the CPU, the other is to feed the rest. New concept, but has its flaw as the 2nd rail may not be enough to power powefull systems while the 1st rail is redundant.
Single 12V rail: Regular technology, but with a beefy 12V line, they're powerfull enough for any systems.

Good PSU companies are OCZ, Sparkle aka Fortron, Seasonic, Antec, CoolerMaster, etc.. Avoid the flashy Ultra X-COnnect, etc. or cheap brand. PSU is not something you want to risk for since it can damage the WHOLE system. DO NOT go by wattage, go by specs, especially the 12V rail. I recommend 24+ Amps for a single rail or two 12a RMS (16-18V Peak) Rails.