[DrBob]

Hi all,

I am planning in upgrading a PC I bought in February '05 (my home PC) The current Specs are:

Mobo: ????
CPU: Pentium 4 3.2GHz HT
MEM: 1024Mb PC2700 RAM
HDD: 500GB (200GB, 300GB)
GFX:
Optical drives: HP DVD+/-RW DL Lightscribe Drive and Sony DVD ROM Drive
Soundcard: EXT (USB) TRUST 5.1 Sound card
Speakers: Trust 1600p 2.1 Soundforce
550W PSU Brand Colours IT
15" Neoview monitor

In the past I have added the Sound card (and speakers), PSU, HP Lightscribe dvd RW

but I now would like to upgrade my pc again to make it better for Vista and gaming etc.

I feel that I need to upgrade my CPU (?) and definetaly the memory and graphics which is a AGP Card (only AGP is supported by my motherboard) so therefore also the motherboard - Am I right.

Oh and I would like to upgrade my sound card and buy new speakers - does anyone know a sound card and speakers that would be a massive leap in quality compared to my current set up?

So what upgrades would be adviseable and could anyone advise on what I should buy, I am in UK.

Thanks

Or in another way I wonder if I would be better off waiting a while and just buying a whole new PC from PC World or something? any thoughts ?

 

[Triple6]

Well for a sound card I'd go for an Audigy 2 or 4, or a Creative X-Fi card. Nothing beats Creative cards in a gaming environment. And go with a PCI card not USB. http://www.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=1

For speakers go with a 5.1 setup. Logitech makes some of the best PC speakers around these days. Check out any of these: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlist/CA/EN,crid=2172,categoryid=422

But be warned if you want PCI-Express and a Core 2 Duo or Athlon64 X2 processor, those are the best choice moving up from your current processor and for your purpose, then you'll a new motherboard, new processor, new memory, new video card, and a new power supply.

 

[Triple6]

And do yourself a favor and get a bigger monitor: http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?Sku=6732843

 

[TheSeventhArtist]

Well for a sound card I'd go for an Audigy 2 or 4, or a Creative X-Fi card. Nothing beats Creative cards in a gaming environment. And go with a PCI card not USB. http://www.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=1

X-Fi sound cards still has some compatibility and crackling issues. It also seems to be lacking good drivers for Windows Vista. I think I can't recommend that to him.

 

[TheSeventhArtist]

I forgot to mention that I agree that you should not use external USB sound cards. It may take up some of your memory thus making your PC slower.

 

[Triple6]

Drivers are lacking for Vista for all products at the moment so thats not an issue, they will be available.