PC Upgrade

[Paul Maddix]

Hello guys,
My name is Paul and I am fairly new to computing in general.
I would like to upgrade my system from win x p to win 7.
I have a Compaq EVO D510 CMT with a pentium4 2400 MHz CPU.
This has 2GB DDR Memory (recently upgraded from 1GB)
With 1 4x short agp graphics port or a short PCI slot.

Which reasonably priced graphics card could you suggest for running windows 7?
I am currently unemployed and therefore do not have a great deal of money to spend!.

Any advice would be VERY WELCOME.

Paul Maddix.

[eyezpy]

AGP graphics cards are probably hard to find now, retail will probably only have PCI-E versions, so that leaves places like eBay for second hand ones, you need one that can do DirectX 9 .
Have you tried just using the what ever you have and set the appearance to the classic view.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would stick to XP as it will do the job for the time being.

[jim]

As much as I love Windows 7, I'm tempted to agree with the moosinator.

Any money spent on graphics for that system will be wasted, you'll never use them again in the future. And the PC itself really isn't worth anything significant if you were to sell it on.

Best approach would be to hold off any upgrades, like Windows 7, save your cash, and get a whole new machine when you're able to.

[Paul Maddix]

Thanks for the advice EYEZ, very much appreciated mate.

[Paul Maddix]

Thanks for the adviceCAT, very much appreciated mate.

[Paul Maddix]

Thanks for the advice SNOOTY, very much appreciated mate.

[0iD]

Hi Paul, the thread has been moved to a more appropriate section so more peeps 'in the know' will be available to help.

[MSIC]

Hi Paul, recognising that you say you are short on money, it might be a better bet still to get a whole new PC.
Can I ask why you want Windows 7? Is it to use something specific, or just because it's the newest?
Bearing in mind that Win 7 is going to cost you £70 alone (as a minimum), that is money much better spent elsewhere. If you do still want to try to put Win 7 onto your current machine, i would strongly advise paying a little more to get the retail version (not the OEM), since at some point you'll want to upgrade / change the machine again, but your OEM licence would likely become invalid. A retail licence would be transferrable to a new machine.

[Paul Maddix]

Hi MSIC,
Thanks for the advice MISC, very much appreciated mate.

[maverick77_uk]

Hi Paul. I think you may find that Win7 takes any useability out of your computer. Although its a great OS and much lighter on resources than Win Vista, it is still heavier than Win XP, and with your spec, its going to struggle a little.

One fantastic thing with Win 7 (and Win Vista I think), that Win XP lacked is a 30 day free trial period. ie you can use it fully functional for 30 days after install before needing to activate it. If you can borrow a disk from a friend, this would give you the opportunity to see whether Win 7 will run acceptably on your system. If so, you can then buy a license and activate it. If not, go back to your win XP, nothing lost.

For a DX9 AGP card, I'd say Ebay as well. You'd be needing a Geforce 5XXX or above (note 5000 series, not the brand new 500 series, that would be PCI-express only anyway!), or a radeon 9500 or above. Just be careful to check the rating of the seller to make sure they are honest and reliable!

Cheers!