OS Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2

Motherbaord ASRock 939Dual-VSTA

Video card NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT (AGP)

Hard drive IDE\DISKSAMSUNG_SP2514N

Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+

Hard drive IDE SAMSUNG SP2514N (250GB)


I have decided to try and upgrade my PC, perhaps a new motherboard and new case to start with.

Can anyone recommend something for me ?, i want to keep as much of the hardware that i have, the video card and the CPU at least.

I have 2gb of DDR2 to start me off.

A new motherboard will not be an upgrade without a new graphics card.

Most new boards use PCI_E and not AGP.

Also moving from IDE hard drives to SATA would be a vast improvement.

Simply changing to a different AGP motherboard (even if you can find one) is not going to be an upgrade.

On a side note, I'm surprised they have 8600GT for AGP slots. Couldn't seem to find them and I've always thought the latest for AGP is the 6 or 7 series.

ok I looked up the board:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.as...l=939Dual-VSTA

(slow load)

You have both AGP and PCI_E on that board.

Also SATA I & II.

That board is not too bad to begin with.

Might be better to upgrade your graphics card and hard drives rather than the motherboard.

What exactly are you hoping to gain by the upgrade?

The main problem i have is that i dont have enough memory, and DDR1 is so expensive, if you can find it.

I play a lot of graphically intensive games, and usually online, so i think i need to add more memory, as i only have 1GB at the moment.

Maybe i have a reasonable system that needs a few slight tweeks, ie: adding memory and upgrading the video card ?, any suggestion gratefully received .

Regarding the APG card, it`s a PCI card, sorry about that error ...

Wow: I hadn't noticed the RAM. That is so strange that such a board would not have DDR II.

Just out of curiosity have you run RAM scans such as the following:

These popular RAM makers have auto-scanning and/or manual entry RAM wizards to help you determine compatible RAM. For manual entry, enter/select the PC or motherboard make and model number and the wizard will list compatible RAM.

Crucial - Memory Advisor
Corsair - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
GeIL - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Kingston - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
Mushkin - Advisor
OCZ - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Patriot - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
PNY - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
SuperTalent - Memory Finder (manual data entry only)

The following retailers have auto-scanners and manual wizards. They sell brand name and/or "house" brand (re-branded) RAM.

Newegg - Memory Configurator System Tool
MemoryStock - Upgrade Configurator
18004Memory - Configurator

thanks Digerati

Also what is your budget for this upgrade?

I have done a scan from Crucial, and for 2x1GB of memory, they want around £70, whereas i bought 2x1GB of DDR2 recently for £18 (eBay), so if i bought a new mobo to place the memory into, i would be saving money and upgrading.

I suppose i can spend around £150 on upgrading, but as a Yorkshireman, i like to watch the pennies ...

These are the memory sticks i have at the moment.
256MB
DDR PC3200
256MB
DDR PC3200
256MB
DDR PC2100
256MB
DDR PC2100

I'll look around this evening at what cool boards are out there.

In the US I usually use Newegg for research as they have a very detailed filter system on their web site for narrowing down products.

Do you have a favorite or similar web site in the UK?

There is a big store close to me yes, its Scan computers, but they dont have any fancy filter systems ...

Computer Hardware - All - Scan.co.uk

That looks good.

Are you certain you want to use the same CPU?