Upgrade motherboard or graphics card?

[Androskik]

I have an old PC I'm working on. I need to upgrade the graphics card so I'm told for windows media center to run right. I'm wondering is it worth it to buy an AGP graphics card cUse thats all the board will take or upgrade the motherboard to something newer that I can harvest my old components from and add to the new board to save money? Why do I need to upgrade the card? What is that going to do for the computer and what will more memory on a graphics cars do?

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

If you move to something newer, your old components might not work. Not only that but you'll still end up getting a graphics card, whether it's discreet or integrated, and it'll be more expensive to buy a new motherboard. How do you figure that you'll save money buying a new motherboard?

I have no idea why you would need to upgrade your card; you've only told us that someone else told you you need to upgrade your card. I can't say why they think you do, or if they're even right. Maybe you'll want to explain your issue in detail.

 

[Androskik]

I just put windows 7 ultimate on it and when I opened windows media center it said I needed a graphics card with more than 64 MB of RAM.

The board is old and has limited upgradeability. I can't add USB 3.0, no pci e slots and so on. I want to build this to be a home server and DVR for my home network. I'm starting to think that building a whole new computer may be a better idea. My current socket is a 462 and I'm finding out that this is a dinosaur and will have a hard time finding one and it probably won't be any if much better than what I have. I was just thinking that if I buy a board with intergrated graphics card for the same price as the agp card then the board my give me some added bonuses for the same price such as more slots or anything.

 

[mailpup]

I agree that a whole new computer is a better idea. The number of slots you get on a motherboard is more dependent on the form factor of the motherboard. An ATX form factor will get you a maximum of seven expansion slots although many will just give you six. If you use a micro ATX form factor, you will get a maximum of 4 expansion slots. For your purposes a micro ATX motherboard would be enough and you can use a smaller micro ATX computer case. Which form factor you choose is completely up to you, however. Either will work just fine.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Hmm but you'll most likely have to replace a good deal of your old parts anyway, so it won't be cheap.

 

[Tedster]

bottom line- if you're going to spend more than $300 - get a new computer.
I've seen ready to go computers from the store for around $475