Computer Parts

ok so i have enough money for some new system parts but only one so im trying to decide what to get at the moment and when christmas arrives i can get a major update.

SYSTEM SPEC.
Pent.3 1.6 Ghz
512 RAM
Radeon 7000 64mb Video card

i dont know which to upgrade for a decent increase in speed

Video card would be a good start for games. More memory would be for everything else but you'd be buying outdated PC100 or PC133.

yes i would buy a new sys. but the problem is that it will take a while for me to save up and my parents arent going to buy me a new sys. either (i dont got job only high school)

well get +512mb ram and new video if u can like um dont know r9800 might be overkill and if u go for one thing only get new video

hmm im not sure can you check w/o actually opening up the case?
well if you can est... i got it about 4-5 yrs ago

oops my bad i got P4 1.7Ghz

If you don't want to open your case right now, go to www.crucial.com. In the middle of the page is a button that reads, "Scan My Computer" (not to worry, this will NOT disable or upload any type of adware to your system.) This scan will tell you some basic information about your PC, such as:
RAM (type of ram installed)
Video card)
Processor
Bus Speed
From here, ther eare further links that can help you see what type and how much RAM you can put in your PC, and what type of vidoe card you can upgrade to.
IMO, if you dont want to do this, I'd suggest upgrading to at least an ATI Radeon 9800 If you're positive your PC doesnt suport PCI express video cards), and at least 1 GB of RAM minimum..

Your video card is, by far, the most outdated item listed. Since you have limited funds to spend, I suggest picking up a cheap ($50?) geforce 6600 or its ati counterpart and you should notice a large performance improvement.

There would be some improvement, but he actually does need a whole new system. Can possibly use the same case, but will need a new motherboard for the new parts, RAM, processor, video, ect. Keep saving, maybe ask neighbors if you can mow their lawn or something, if you dont want to/cant get a part time job after school.

thx that helped a lot my dad agreed to buy me a new MoBo for christ. and a good one and he said that he will upg to 2gb ram for me so

as for the vid card i guess i will go for that because my processor will last for a bit more but what to get?

You might want to wait on the video card; that choice might depend on what kind of motherboard your dad gets (AGP, or PCIe?)
I would recommend reading up on motherboards a bit--grab a few magazines from your local computer store or bookstore (don't buy a "too technical" mag, unless you're computer savvy). You'd have a few decisions to make, not the least is: what CPU do you want to use in the future--Intel, or AMD (yeah, it's pretty important). Once you have a motherboard picked out, THEN you can choose your other components (video card, type of RAM, etc).
Xmas is only 2 months away; just hold on till then...

Here's some absolute advice to anyone looking to upgrade thier machine anytime soon. Basically, DONT! and heres why...

-3 new processors are in alpha (the xeon quad core is very close to release) which will make high-end processors now price drop.
-7 new vid cards (nvidias "x" series and ati's "10k") models are almost out of beta. Each manufacture are soon to offer dual gpu's (with 3d math co-processors built-in to come on the horizon) in one card for the high end models.
-agp machines will be (and are right now) being phased out.
-RAM prices for the new chips are going down in price due to a new manufacturing technique.
-Release of Vista will slam the market with upgrade offers from suppliers, there will soon be so many upgrade paths at low cost that it makes upgrading now a complete waste of money.

Anyway, unless your running a "dog" (3+ years old machine) you'd be totally wasting your money. The highest end machines currently are price dropping and with all the new releases promising low cost alternatives. The high-end models of tommorrow look as though they will be fairly resonable.

That always happens. Waiting for the right moment will cause you to wait forever since they are always coming out with newer hardware.

I'd say, take advantage of the Christmas Sales.

Theres always new hardware coming out so youre never upgraded to the maximum. If u want to upgrade do it there always will be better things to buy regardless of what you have.

ok tanks for the advice gabriel but im not hardcore gamer and i dont realy need such a great machine and the others said that new parts will always be coming out sooooo yes i will hold of til cristmas was planning to anyways... i dont really need to read up on much of the stuff as i knwo how to plan it out pretty fast but i think i will need a new proc for a decent mobo and since dec. is like 90% off month ill just get the stuff then.

If you want to upgrade on a budget, start with the motherboard and RAM.

You can get some really good Asus/AsRock/MSI boards for P4 for around $60. These will allow you to upgrade to DDR. The Asus P4S800D-X normally sells for around $60-65, and is a pretty stable board. It allows processor upgrades up to P4 3.4 GHz. And the price of used P4 chips is making them a bargain, and the "speed deamons" are now dumping them to go to the newest thing.