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I do some gaming, but my rig is getting old. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to extend its gaming life? I mostly do some TF2, but would like to try oblivion and some others.

I have:
Athlon 64 3500+ (not overclocked)
1 gig of DDR ram
Radeon 9800 Pro (AGP card)

I really don't see much in the way of deals for DDR ram right now. That and finding a good AGP card is difficult. The best shot for one of those would be ebay or trading on a forum. I would like a new machine, but I don't have the money to do it right. I've been wanting to make a little more powerful rig this time. If I did make a cheap rig, I would spend a little extra to get one of those AM2/AM3 boards, so I could do some more upgrading once I have more money.

Looks like Oblivion should run fine to me.. not high settings and full res, but it'll definitely run. Your system seems well balanced for gaming. RAM is low for non-gaming applications, but for gaming it's in line with your CPU and GPU.

I think your machine's fine. Squeeze it for all it's worth and build a new machine when it's no longer cutting it.

There really isn't much you can do with a machine like that. You can't get a new video card (worth getting) because it's AGP. The DDR1 RAM is probably 2-3x more expensive than DDR2. You probably can't do much better on the CPU either.

I'd say just sit on it and keep your money. Any money invested into this machine is just money taken out of your new system for minimal gain.

Originally Posted by Kayden There really isn't much you can do with a machine like that. You can't get a new video card (worth getting) because it's AGP. The DDR1 RAM is probably 2-3x more expensive than DDR2. You probably can't do much better on the CPU either. I'd say just sit on it and keep your money. Any money invested into this machine is just money taken out of your new system for minimal gain.

agreed

Originally Posted by Kayden There really isn't much you can do with a machine like that. You can't get a new video card (worth getting) because it's AGP. The DDR1 RAM is probably 2-3x more expensive than DDR2. You probably can't do much better on the CPU either. I'd say just sit on it and keep your money. Any money invested into this machine is just money taken out of your new system for minimal gain.

That's what I was thinking.

That's just about the same rig I was gaming on two years ago (I had a 3400+, 9800 pro, and 1 GB ram). I upgraded the video card to a Radeon X850 Pro and I saw a very large performance improvement (at least 1.5-2 times as fast in games). Other than upgrading the video card I would just wait until you have enough money like Kayden said. If you reuse the case, dvd drives, and hard drives on your current computer it doesn't have to cost more than $300 to build a decent computer.

What is the highest processor your board can accept? If it's lower than a dual-core, I would just save up money to start over. The Elder Scrolls series is pretty CPU and memory hungry. I had trouble running Morrowind smoothly on a 3800 and I fear you'll struggle with Oblivion.

The parts you would need to upgrade are pretty old, ebay would be your best bet. You could also ask around if your friends do any pc gaming, If they do I'm sure some have some old parts you can have or get cheap.

I probably won't put much more into this computer. I think I will try to get a Radeon X850 Pro off of ebay for cheap if I can. It's been bugging me that I can't play my LE copy of Bioshock.

Originally Posted by erehwon I probably won't put much more into this computer. I think I will try to get a Radeon X850 Pro off of ebay for cheap if I can. It's been bugging me that I can't play my LE copy of Bioshock.

You would probably have to put in some kind of patch to make Bioshock work with an X850 pro since I think Bioshock only supports shader model 3.0 and the X850 was one of the last cards to only support 2.0.

what kind of settings do you use for tf2? I have an older computer with a 9600 pro and am simply curious how they compare. I can play on medium settings at a 1280x1024 res, no aa, very smoothly with solid frame rate. start putting things higher and get some fps drop.

Honostly you probably wont do that bad on returns so dont let the thought of upgrading an outdated system scare you. Hell my 8800GTX is worth about $125 today and i paid $600 2 years ago so hows that for a return? All computer tech sucks. The fact that you're buying older stuff for an outdated spec thats already bottomed out can only serve to aid you when you go to resell it.

Spending as little as possible for the biggest performance return i'd get the best AGP card you can find within reason since your main problem right now for any games is that nearly 7 year old videocard you've got currently. The X850 Pro was a good choice in its day, but now its outdated and impossible to find new. A more recent AGP compatable card that is leagues better than your 9700 [and better than the X850 Pro to boot] would be the HD3850 which does indeed come in AGP flavors. Excellent card that can be easily found for less than $200. If you have any spare memory slots getting any extra memory you can, up to 2GB, would help substantially as well.

You should be pretty pleased with the results of doing these two things. It will be a substantial increase in performance that will cost you a hell of a lot less than gutting the whole thing and starting from scratch.

Originally Posted by crystalklear64 what kind of settings do you use for tf2? I have an older computer with a 9600 pro and am simply curious how they compare. I can play on medium settings at a 1280x1024 res, no aa, very smoothly with solid frame rate. start putting things higher and get some fps drop.

For TF2, my performance is usally good. I run it in windowed mode, no aa, high character models with most of the others on low or medium. It works okay for me.

As far as reselling my old parts, that isn't something I'm planning. Once I can build a new system, my current one will be dedicated solely as a pvr. I currently use this machine for gaming, TV recording, and everything else. It will be nice to have a separate computer for TV recording.

When I do build my next computer, I'm planning on not reusing much from this computer. The DVD and hard drive are IDE drives and I don't want to reuse those for the next one. I want to go all SATA. The hard drives are also old.

I'm not employed at the moment, so that's why I'm really trying to be cheap.

My current PC came with what you have (939 socket Athlon 64 3500+, 1 gig DDR, on-board nvidia 6200) except mine had a PCIe slot. I added a 7600GT 256mb PCIe card and ran Oblivion & Rainbow Six Vegas at 1440 resolution at decent framerates.

Some of your options:
--Try and find an x2 (dual core) processor. If you have a socket 939 chip, (you probably do) then forget it. I had a tough time finding one 15 months ago, since AMD went to the new AM2 socket, sunsetting the once-loved 939s.

--Upgrade the video card.. You can still get an AGP ATI 3650 512mb video card for $80 to $110 from NewEgg or MicroCenter. A friend got one for an older Pentium 4 and is playing COD4 at 1440 resolution at decent framerates. Note that you MAY need to upgrade the powersupply. If you need to do this, go up to the next level for what you need (get a 500 watt unit if you need a 300 watt) so you can take it oput and use it for a new machine in 6 months, putting the old one back in to use this machine for basic tasks. Adding a video card is fairly easy, a power supply a bit more cmplicated with all of the various wiring to the case and motherboard.

--Add memory. You may get a bit of a boost from adding ram, but it's pouring money in a sinking ship. DDR3 is the new hotness, DDR2 is cheap as hell, and 2 1gb sticks of DDR PC3200 is about 70 bucks (- rebates). Probably not worth it.

--Add a SATA PCI controller card and add a SATA hard drive and / or DVD drive. a controller card can be had for under 20 bucks, so you can get a SATA drive for this machine, and move it to a new one if you are planning opn building / buying a new one. a 500gb SATA drive should run you about 60 bucks.

--Backup and reinstall Windows. This is the cheapest way to get better performance out of an old machine. Dig through your start menu, jot down the programs you still need tio use, download current versions of the programs (like Firefox, iTunes, Windows XP sservice pack 2 and 3, graphics drivers, etc) and after backing up your bookmarks and music/photos/documents/etc, reinstall XP. You will be surprised at the performance boost if you havent done this in a while.

--Save up for a new machine. If you are careful about what you get, you can pick up a last-months model new pc (HP/Acer/Gateway) on clearance for 400 bucks or so, add a 120 dollar PCIe video card like an ATI 4830 and have some good performance for most modern games.

You didn't mention what you have for a monitor. If you have a 19" widescreen LCD (1440x900 resolution, about 140 bucks) then you should be fine with most games and an ATI 3650. going to a 20" or 22" wide LCD (1680x1050) will put more strain on the system. One cheap way to get a big picture is using a 720p LCD HDTV as a SECOND monitor using the dual output of the video card, and a long VGA cable to the TV. A good 26" LCD can be had for $450, $100 more for a 32".The resolution of 1366x768 is easy on the video card, and you are running at the same resolution as most console gamers, with the bonus of mouse and keyboard controls. If you are also looking to get a TV, think about this route before spending alot of money on a desktop monitor.

Originally Posted by NewOrderrr My current PC came with what you have (939 socket Athlon 64 3500+, 1 gig DDR, on-board nvidia 6200) except mine had a PCIe slot. I added a 7600GT 256mb PCIe card and ran Oblivion & Rainbow Six Vegas at 1440 resolution at decent framerates. Some of your options: --Try and find an x2 (dual core) processor. If you have a socket 939 chip, (you probably do) then forget it. I had a tough time finding one 15 months ago, since AMD went to the new AM2 socket, sunsetting the once-loved 939s. --Upgrade the video card.. You can still get an AGP ATI 3650 512mb video card for $80 to $110 from NewEgg or MicroCenter. A friend got one for an older Pentium 4 and is playing COD4 at 1440 resolution at decent framerates. Note that you MAY need to upgrade the powersupply. If you need to do this, go up to the next level for what you need (get a 500 watt unit if you need a 300 watt) so you can take it oput and use it for a new machine in 6 months, putting the old one back in to use this machine for basic tasks. Adding a video card is fairly easy, a power supply a bit more cmplicated with all of the various wiring to the case and motherboard. --Add memory. You may get a bit of a boost from adding ram, but it's pouring money in a sinking ship. DDR3 is the new hotness, DDR2 is cheap as hell, and 2 1gb sticks of DDR PC3200 is about 70 bucks (- rebates). Probably not worth it. --Add a SATA PCI controller card and add a SATA hard drive and / or DVD drive. a controller card can be had for under 20 bucks, so you can get a SATA drive for this machine, and move it to a new one if you are planning opn building / buying a new one. a 500gb SATA drive should run you about 60 bucks. --Backup and reinstall Windows. This is the cheapest way to get better performance out of an old machine. Dig through your start menu, jot down the programs you still need tio use, download current versions of the programs (like Firefox, iTunes, Windows XP sservice pack 2 and 3, graphics drivers, etc) and after backing up your bookmarks and music/photos/documents/etc, reinstall XP. You will be surprised at the performance boost if you havent done this in a while. --Save up for a new machine. If you are careful about what you get, you can pick up a last-months model new pc (HP/Acer/Gateway) on clearance for 400 bucks or so, add a 120 dollar PCIe video card like an ATI 4830 and have some good performance for most modern games. You didn't mention what you have for a monitor. If you have a 19" widescreen LCD (1440x900 resolution, about 140 bucks) then you should be fine with most games and an ATI 3650. going to a 20" or 22" wide LCD (1680x1050) will put more strain on the system. One cheap way to get a big picture is using a 720p LCD HDTV as a SECOND monitor using the dual output of the video card, and a long VGA cable to the TV. A good 26" LCD can be had for $450, $100 more for a 32".The resolution of 1366x768 is easy on the video card, and you are running at the same resolution as most console gamers, with the bonus of mouse and keyboard controls. If you are also looking to get a TV, think about this route before spending alot of money on a desktop monitor.

As far as upgrading the cpu, ram, or video card goes, I'm not quite certain how much luck I'll have. I don't have a job at the moment, so I have to be really cheap. I put an ad in freecycle for ram or a video card. I'm also going to watch craigslist. This is probably my best option since we really don't have any good used computer parts stores in town anymore.

I wasn't really planning on looking for a cpu. I figured finding one of those would be harder to find than a video card. Ram I will upgrade whether or not I'm able to get a new video card. I plan on turning this computer into a dedicated pvr box once I have a new computer. I do have a nice Samsung SyncMaster 930B LCD monitor.

My compute does have a sata drive in it, along with two IDE hard drives. I'm not moving the sata drive since that is the one housing my Recorded TV shows.

Saving for a new machine is what I should do. I won't buy one though. For myself, I build them. With no job at the moment, that will be difficult.

I've already been through backing up and reinstalling windows a couple weeks ago. I installed the beta for Windows 7. I thought it was nice for the little I used it. Shortly after installing 7, I put on the latest Debian linux to try as well. The two of those really screwed up the bootloader. I wasn't able to restore the bootloader, even after deleting the new operating systems. I had to reformat the all drives and reinstall XP. Good thing I backed up all my data before installing the windows beta. Lesson learned. Don't install new OS to your main system without investigating its boot process and how it acts with other OSs. I did learn that ERD commander, Ultimate Boot CD, and Super Grub disk are some good tools to have on hand, though.