Graham

[grahamkel]

Hello

I have a 3 year old computer and is now in need of an upgrade, I’ve got a Pentium 4 3.20 GHz, 1.00 GB of ram and 180 GB Hard Drive. My graphics card is an ATI Radeon, not sure which one exactly but its 3 years old.

I want to be able to get the best out of games like Crysis, Bio Shock, Call of Duty 4 and new releases.

I believe I just need to get a new Motherboard, CPU and graphics card. Is that right? Please can I have some suggestions on what hardware to buy?

Thanks Graham

If possible can you give me 2 options?
Option 1: Best possible at any cost.
Option 2: Best possible at a budget.

[chuckskull]

Ars System Guide: Spring forward and build a new, badass rig: Page 1 Should give you something to work from. Only thing to bear in mind new cards from ATi and Nvidia are only a few weeks away from market.

[Blitzen]

Unfortunately, without knowing your full specs currently, but having an educated guess, you will probably need different RAM and a new PSU aswell.

Bioshock and Crysis especially, eat most PC's thrown at them (to run on high dettings anyway).

[YOYOtech - CK]

It is hard to give the best possible advice without knowing everything - so please give us a call !

Also, when you say 'get the best out of' - then you are looking at a substantial investment

For example, while you can buy CPUs from as little as £20 - the fastest chips on the planet will leave you with almost no change from £1,000

That's quite a spread !

Also, it is important to know if you are an overclocker

Likewise, how long do you need this machine to last you - going forward

Also important is to be certain of exactly WHEN you want to buy - as new products are released all the time - and prices are (almost!) always dropping

Think of it as a downward-moving conveyor belt, where each step that passes you is nicer/faster/shinier than the last... but it is moving down... so each month there is something 'slightly newer and slightly shinier' than before...

...but if you never step on - then you are still standing on a musty old step

Here are some things to consider:-

• There are some great graphic cards around the £120 mark - like the 9600GT and 3870 - are they quick enough ?
• Intel have some storming processors around £150 - will they be fast enough ?
• If you are running Vista - then will you choose the 64-bit version ? if so, then do you need 2, 4 or 8GB of memory ? And which speed ?
• In terms of hard drive, Samsung have a 1TB drive with a 32MB cache that is selling like hotcakes for under £100
• The latest P45 mainboards are just coming through - but do you need a vanilla or 'pro' version ?

Questions questions questions...

...welcome to the BIG FUN of buying a new system


We are here to help - give us a call and we will work through some ideas and deals for you