Upgrading a computer

[Hallard]

I bought my computer about a year ago, and now i want to upgrade it a bit. I plan on adding another gig of ram (for a grand total of 2GB), new video card and maybe a tv tuner card.

I have a few questions first, any suggestions for video cards? I'm looking for around 100-150 in price and wondering what exactly i need to look for. I know I have an PCI x16 slot available for it, and wondering what else i need to be aware of besides the memory size (I'm figuring 512mb).

Any suggestions for the Tv tuner would be good too, but that I'm comfortable enough going with ratings on Newegg.com

Finally, is it possible to upgrade your CPU or not without a new motherboard? Seems like a dumb question to me, but I honestly have have no idea. I have an AMD 3800+ right now, and i think it'll be fine for now, but in the future i may want to upgrade and need to know if i have to get a new motherboard to achieve that...

Thats it for now, thanks for the advice...

 

[civverguy]

Memory for the graphics card is not as important as the GPU. Here is an article on video cards. For the CPU, it depends on what socket that your motherboard has. For example, if your motherboard has a 757 socket, you only can use CPUs that are compatible with the 757 socket.

 

[Hallard]

I understand the Socket concept, just wasn't sure if once a CPU was in it was in for good or not... but looking at AMD CPU's out there, I wont be upgrading that for quite awhile...

If GPU's are more important, what ones should i be looking for? I'm not computer illiterate, but I know next to nothing about Graphic cards and what would be good/better/blow your brains out awesome

 

[kuukkeli]

Here's the latest buyer's guide for gaming video cards at Tom's Hardware Guide. In the class of $155 or less the article recommends either Radeon X1950 PRO or GeForce 7900 GS. If you're willing to spend a little more (about $200) the article (and I) recommends Radeon X1950 XT.

P.S. I have two computers in use, older one has GeForce 7900 GS and the newer has Radeon X1950 XT and I chose my cards based on tons of reviews.

 

[civverguy]

Maybe the 7900 GS is a good graphics card.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Got 7900 GS myself, but since I haven't tried the new ATI cards I cannot say if they're better/worse. Reading the reviews may be a little tiresome, but you need to do that if you want the most bang for your buck. If two cards are about the same speed, buy the one with better cooling or smaller power consumption.

 

[kuukkeli]

P.S. I have two computers in use, older one has GeForce 7900 GS and the newer has Radeon X1950 XT and I chose my cards based on tons of reviews.

A little correction. I actually have GeForce 7900 GT on my other computer so I haven't read 'ton of reviews' on GeForce 7900 GS.