Would this be worth upgrading?

by Backwardsman97 Oct 5, 2010 10:34PM PDT

One of my friends was getting rid of some stuff, so they gave me two old computers and a monitor and a bunch of other stuff for $50. The computers were a eMachines w3080 and an s2482. They said the w3080 didn't work, but all it had was a bunch of viruses that I since cleaned off. As far as I can see, it runs pretty well for doing everything except playing games. The onboard video can't handle any kind of games. My question is, what kind of video card would I even be able to put in this thing, and would it be worth spending like $100 for it? Because I know a $100 here and there adds up quickly and I wouldn't want to end up one day spending a few hundred on it when I could have saved up and built a pretty top end one. The only games I am interested in playing is like Counter Strike:Source, Garry's Mod, and GTA:SA.

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by samkh Oct 6, 2010 1:03AM PDT

Mine is no because you'd be buying an AGP with no future and if PC dies for any reason the card is practically useless. Also for around $100 you could be getting PCIe Radeon 5770 or GTX460 by Black Friday.

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It depends on your needs

by Willy Oct 6, 2010 4:54AM PDT

It depends on the video type. If this is that old, then likely AGP type. More than likely try looking for a used video card of at least 256mb or better. The used cost should be reasonable and further, if AGP, it's not going to be transferred to a newer system. But, for initial cost and probably low cost for a video card, it should do OK. I wouldn't spend that much but again, used from eBay, Craigslist or even online Goodwill isn't going to break you. of course, if you plan to play intense gaming, then opt for a better system that supports PCI-e. This rests on you what to do.

tada -----Willy

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Ok.

by Backwardsman97 Oct 6, 2010 5:39AM PDT

I was looking at this card. Would it even be compatible with this computer? It's not too pricey and I'm not worried about future upgrade-ability. But would this computer be able to play those games fine with this card? Here are the specs if it helps. I also was thinking about upgrading the ram to a gig but I'm not sure. I don't really want to sink a whole bunch of money into this but I'd be willing to go up to like $150.

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More for less bucks.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 6, 2010 6:10AM PDT

try:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125281&cm_re=agp_video_card-_-14-125-281-_-Product

It's less money, has more ram and is more current than the outdated card you found.

The machine will need a big power supply.
Bob

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How big?

by Backwardsman97 Oct 6, 2010 11:57AM PDT

This machine only has a 300w power supply I think. But I have a list of parts that I want to get for a new computer and I think I may just save up for that because I almost have enough.

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Try the requirements.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 6, 2010 12:52PM PDT

The card you noted would upset a person that was hoping to play current games. It might be an upgrade to what's in there but I would not do that.
Bob

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I see that...

by Willy Oct 6, 2010 1:05PM PDT

By the specs you've offered, the new AGP card is compatible. You will need to disable the on-board video port and install the new video card. Since, you also want to upgrade the ram, that too is an extra cost, so check with http://www.crucial.com for costs. Add it all up and get the cost +any S/H as well. If you want to pay for all that, its your choice. Also, since you mentioned you have a 300W PSU, that too should be upgraded to a 500W generic PSU or better as a name brand one. Again, added cost. See where this is going. When all is done even with new parts, you're stuck with an old cpu and mtrbd. which maybe capable of running some better gaming, but NOT intense demanding ones. You can goto a local shop and buy a new system for $400, excluding monitor or shop online at that cost. Basically, do you want to sink those costs for an old system when a new system(on sale or bargain) can be had for a few $ more and have all the latest goodies to include maybe win7 as well. enjoy

tada -----Willy

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I agree.

by Backwardsman97 Oct 7, 2010 5:46AM PDT

I'm just going to save up for this build.

HDD:Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB Hard Drive-SATA 7200RPM
PSU:OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V
CPU:AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
RAM:G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Graphics:XFX Radeon HD 4650 1GB
MOBO:GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AMD 790X AM3
Case:COOLER MASTER HAF 932

And I'll probably get Windows 7 for it. I was gonna get the 5850 for the video card but I could save a lot and get this one and always upgrade later. Criticism?

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upgradng computer

by jn4sldnny Oct 11, 2010 1:08AM PDT

I was wondering the same thing. Actually I have an emachine with AMD Athlon Processor 2 GB, 32 bit running vista.
I am using 62 % of memory and it is so slow. I cleaned out all the programs I know for sure I do not need. I do not do music or anything on it.

Also I did not know how to start my own discussion...

Would this be worth upgrading?

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