Need some advise on PC parts.

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GamerDaddy85

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I currently own a Compaq Presario SR1103WM (look it up on Google, it's ooooooold...) It was purchased in 2002 I believe. Anyhow, I was curious as to what I can do to run Left 4 Dead (as well as any future games). I don't want to spend too much on it though, with Christmas around and Black Friday. Right now I'm stuck with a PCI Radeon 9250. I can play CS:S & HL2 pretty well, but it does lag in spots... and loading is long. I know for a fact the card I own is at it's best for PCI cards (since PCI is dead). What can I do to get an AGP or PCI-Express card in my computer? (I'm not too savvy on building computers, but I do know what the parts are). My current specs are:

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System Information
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Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: PC182A-ABA SR1103WM NA430
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.53GHz
Memory: 760MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c

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Display Devices
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Card name: RADEON 9250
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 9250 (0x5960)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1152 x 864 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: COMPAQ FS7600 Color Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024

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Sound Capture Devices
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Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
Click to expand...

I would really appreciate if a techy could direct me in teh right path of either upgrading, or purchasing a new PC. If this PC is able to be upgraded into a gaming PC, I would love to do just that since I know the layout of this PC.
 
First thing I noticed is that your are running it at a really weird resolution :p

To upgrade you would need to replace every single significant part. AGP is also a few years outdated. To get a PCI-E you would need a new motherboard, then new ram and a processor. An easy way to get a cheap gaming PC is to wait for a deal on something with a Core 2 Duo at Bestbuy or another big box store (make sure it has a PCI-E slot) then throw in a graphics card.
 
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00191902

No AGP slots even. So you can't even upgrade the video card. It looks like it's mATX too.

Much easier just to start with a new system to build. You'd require a motherboard swap as well as likely a PSU upgrade, new memory, and a new processor...

To be cheap, I'd build a system around these parts:
*$140 Radeon 4850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272
(note: I like this ASUS model because its fan is pretty quiet)

*$90 Gigabyte motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

*Integrated sound (included on motherboard)... or try to find a deal on the XFi XtremeGamer (at times, they can be found for ~$60)

* $120 Intel E7200 or E7300 (depends on overclocking preferences): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132

So about $350 for the basic components... then memory is cheap... reuse HDs if you have them... look for a deal on a case/powersupply (try to stick with decent brands) and you can build a system for $500-$600 that will handle modern games.
 
if you want a decent current gaming pc, don't waste time or money trying to upgrade your current PC. Get a whole new computer (trying to upgrade your computer to today's standards would be basically like buying a whole new computer anyway since every single component of your current PC is outdated)

No point in wanting AGP since it's crappier and it's also more expensive nowadays
 
Yeah, you need a whole new motherboard but I can tell you Compaqs are shit for upgrading because of way too many proprietary things...I had a Presario where the fucking HDD and CD-ROM were a selfcontained unit that could not even be removed and no space inside the nonstandard case to put in a second HDD and just not use the first anymore. Chances are your power supply would be the next to not be adequate after you got a new PCI-e card and discovered you didn't have enough wattage.

If you're up for it, buy all the parts you'd need separate on Newegg and build a rig yourself. Installing parts is not a problem since almost all of them (plugs included) are keyed so they can only go in the correct way. This way you can always upgrade piece by piece as needed in the future and potentially save 50% off what you would pay buying a prebuilt from a bigbox store, leaving spare cash you would have spent to shift towards more powerful components if you really wanted to build a beastly machine.

Not being savvy shouldn't hold you back. There is a virtual library online to help you find out what you need and do things like install a CPU (specifically thermal compound & heatsink) and set the BIOS up correctly. If you got stuck you could get answers inside 10 minutes on any kind of forum frequented by overclocking enthusiasts.
 
You would be better off just getting a new computer.

Dell has a Inspiron 530 Core 2 Quad / 3GB / 500GB for $449 (or $35 more for 4GBs of RAM)

http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1376258-10566872

Intel® Core™2 Quad processor Q6600 (8MB L2, 2.4GHz, 1066FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Service Pack 1
Microsoft Works 9.0
1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis
No Monitor
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Click to expand...

Get a $150ish 8800GT to put in it and you'll have a pretty good rig.
 
Thank you everyone that has responded. Lots of useful information here. I've decided after visiting your links and viewing the websites, I'll end up getting that Dell Inspiron (Sporadic posted).
 
To get out cheap you could build it yourself, and cheap with even cheap parts and be better off than PreBoxed (Dell/HP/Etc) stuff.

You could get the following from Newegg.com

ECS/ASROCK/FoxConn(Winfast) AM2 mobo around 50
AMD X2 5000+ around 50
2 gigs of ram around 70
Newegg has a good Corsair 400watt for 29.99 shell shocker price today.
Pick the best Nvidia or ATI card that fits your budget
and if you don't want to use onboard sound I would sell you an SB audigy 2 zs 7.1 surround card for dirt cheap and Creative P7800 7.1 surround Speaker Set for about 30$ plus whatever it cost to ship (probally 20ish$ to ship it???? maybe)


I really don't game on PCs anymore, I learned to use the gamepad to play FPS and do all my gaming on Xbox360 (starting at 200$ now). To me the Advantages of Console Gaming (xbox360/PS3) and Market Support outweigh the advantages PC gaming has. I have even switched from Windows on my main machine to Ubuntu now and learning PHP/Mysql/Apache instead of doing ASP.NET for my personal and side stuff, also causes a break from my day job while I still get to learn.
 
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