Not sure what to upgrade

[sprandel17]

We have a computer here that has the following:

Windows XP, the lastest SP (sorry, I don't know the number)
504 MB RAM
2.4 GHZ CPU
250GB HD
80GB HD
Soundblaster Audigy
Onboard Video

I'm thinking we should get a dedicated video card to put it in, RAM is also on my mind though. What would be the better upgrade? The video card I'm thinking of isn't big, maybe 256mb, can pick one up for $40 and I think it might be a good buy.

 

[LinkedKube]

I'd say get 2 gigs of ram unless you're actually playing games on your pc, otherwise spend 90 bucks to get a 256mb video card and some ram

Do you know the model of your mobo, then we can tell what kind of ram you may need and also what kind of video card you can use.

 

[sprandel17]

NBGV - Northwood/Brookdale-G Validation Board

I believe its a 2 slot board with only 1 512MB installed.

 

[LinkedKube]

Looks like the mobo supports up to 1 gig of ram and seems you have a celeron 2.4. With DDR ram. With a pci slot, There are pci video cards you can buy

Personally I'd say upgrade to a low end newer pc even for a huge increase in performance compared to what you have now

Or you could try finding a northwood pentium 4 to replace the celeron.

 

[sprandel17]

When you say the board supports 1 gig, do you mean per slot or total? I have an AMD at 2.7 ghz, 1.5 GB RAM and it runs very well, so if we could bring this up to 1.5 I think we would be set.

 

[poteljito]

1 GB total. Wait now you're saying you have 1.5 GB RAM? :S I thought you said 512MB? Anyways buy another stick of 512MB RAM DDR and maybe a new PCI graphics card. Or you could change the mobo and add a new CPU. How much money do you plan on spending?

 

[sprandel17]

Sorry, that's a different computer that has 1.5. We're not planning on spending much money at all, only enough for one upgrade right now.

Edit: This is an HP Pavillion 563w that needs an upgrade. It looks like it can hold 2.0 GB

http://www.memorystock.com/memory/HewlettPackardPavilion563w.html

So we'll buy a gig and if it doesn't work I'll swap out a 512 MB from the AMD computer and bring that up to 2.0, and this one to 1.0 with a second 512, compatibility rules.