General Upgrade Question

[m0ttz]

Alright so I'm getting my 2GB of ram today (its on the truck being delivered later today), but now I'm thinking about what to upgrade next;

Currently I have;
P4 2.6GHz
120GB 7200RPM HD
2GB Corsair DDR
256MB X1300 PRO (AGP)
300W PSU (Yes I know it is incredibly low).

First off I know my computer is extremely old school right now, I have no PCI-E slots and barely any power.

So what I was thinking about was to upgrade the power supply to maybe 650W - 700W and add an X800 or Geforce 7900GS for my video card.

However, I recently had a 7900GS installed but my computer would randomly restart and everything and the fan would just shut off on the card sometimes, could this be because of the lack of power? (I think it requires 300-350W). If it is because of the power, I guess it would be fine once I upgrade the PSU right?

Any other recommended upgrades would be appreciated (don't want to buy a new system as i'm getting a new one sometime in 2008).

Thanks.

[=98=]

Personally, i wouldn't upgrade anything. Your basically just flogging a dead horse. If you get a new graphics card, it'll only be bottlenecked by the CPU and maybe the PSU.

You need to save for a complete re-doing. I'd say that machine is 2 years old, and due for a upgrade.

[JustMe0171]

im kinda in agreement with alex there, but if you insist if it were me i'd go with the 7900GS topped with a 400W 26a PSU, and if possible if the board willl take it go up to 3.0 or highst possible cpu or you will be bottlenecked for sure.

you allready had 2 gig of ram, WTF did you need 2 more for? 1 more would of been plenty, not to mention if its xp 4gb ram will only mess things up, i know one guy his game would run for shat , he took out 1gb ram & ran good.
xp+4gig ram is waste a money & a waste of resource.

[KillerStickMan]

im kinda in agreement with alex there, but if you insist if it were me i'd go with the 7900GS topped with a 400W 26a PSU, and if possible if the board willl take it go up to 3.0 or highst possible cpu or you will be bottlenecked for sure.

you allready had 2 gig of ram, WTF did you need 2 more for? 1 more would of been plenty, not to mention if its xp 4gb ram will only mess things up, i know one guy his game would run for shat , he took out 1gb ram & ran good.
xp+4gig ram is waste a money & a waste of resource.

That's because the most ram that xp can use is 4 gig, but this includes you video card ram and that's what messes it up.

[m0ttz]

Sorry the misunderstanding, but I put the 2GB there as I'm putting it in later today when the delivery guy delivers it. I have 1GB right now, taking that out and replacing it with 2x1GB sticks.

[JustMe0171]

Sorry the misunderstanding, but I put the 2GB there as I'm putting it in later today when the delivery guy delivers it. I have 1GB right now, taking that out and replacing it with 2x1GB sticks.

oh ok, the gig you have now you cant use it 2 make u 3 gig?
i mean if its the same size & speed it will work if you have the banks anyway.

KillerStickMan Quote:

That's because the most ram that xp can use is 4 gig, but this includes you video card ram and that's what messes it up.

Oh cool, ok, thanks for info, i never thought about the card ram. i just know with normal xp that 4 gig is a waste.:salute: