Hey all.

my ps3 died recently and I figured I'd just wait till that comes out, but in the mean time I have my PC hooked up to my tv and I've been gaming on it.

Here's what I'm working with right now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motherboard: ASUS P5Q SE

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz

Memory: 5118MB RAM

Hard Drive: 468GB

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768mb

OS: Vista Ultimate (6.0 build 6002)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm wanting to get more RAM because the number it's at right now is weird, but my motherboard I think can only use DDR2 sticks and I believe we're all on DDR3? Also forgive my PC ignorance, So I think I'm just looking for a new motherboard and some RAM, but if you guys need more info I'll be happy to supply that, I'm looking for some education in this area, me and my dad put this thing together a while back and now I live on my own so I want to get into it and understand what I'm doing.

Anyway, thank you in advance and hopefully I'm not breaking any board rules here.

If you're on a motherboard that uses the LGA775 chipset and DDR2 memory, it'd probably be a better bet to just get all new. You probably won't notice much of a difference if you stay on that motherboard with new components.

So go in and change out all my innards? I'm all for that too, I'd just like to get this thing a little more modern running with my PC.

That looks pretty much like my current computer when I first bought it 3.5 years ago with a slightly worse video card. I now have GTX 560 Ti and while it's still a pretty good video card by today's standards, the Core2 just isn't a good processor anymore with some of the most intense games. You might be able to get by with a video card update but it won't last for long. In the long run, you're better off with a whole new build because a new video card on that rig would probably only extend the life of your PC until next generation games come out which will likely be within a year.

haha yeah, This machines been around for about that long, interesting yeah I figured it was going to need an overhaul I wasn't sure if it need completely rebuilt or if I could get by, but i'd rather not have to update for another little while.

yeah thats old , no point upgrading any individual component, total new pc time bro , you could keep your case i guess ..

At this point, everything would have to be replaced to replace anything but the video card, and that would be held back by everything else. Come up with a budget and we can help you figure out a new PC, if you still want to go forward with it. Even a relatively cheap PC at this point would get you much further than this one. That's pretty damn old... lol.

'I'm wanting to get more RAM because the number it's at right now is weird..."

Haha, yeah, I was actually thinking that. Do as @mordeaniischaossuggests and let us know how much you're willing to spend to make your machine playable. Fair warning: it'll likely cost you around $800 on the lower end.

If you are willing to build a new computer, go for it. But if you want to keep the price low, I would say that you can get by with a new graphics card, nothing too crazy that would not benefit you if the rest of the computer is not up to par. And just lower the games settings as required, that is, if you are trying to save money.

Yep around $800 was what I was shooting for, I'm not really look for going crazy just enough to make my games look pretty and run well for a while before I have to make it better again 8)

Both your processor and graphics card are really old, and if you replace either one of them, it will bottleneck the other.

So you have to change both, or at least get a 2xx or 3xx, or 4xxx/5xxx graphics card.

I suggest a 280.

Wow, my old rig was almost those exact same specs. I tried a few times to upgrade it, and never really felt a huge change in preformance. I ended up just buying a new set up. The stuff you have is about 4-5 years old, which is pretty much the life of enthusiast computers, sadly.

I'll say what everyone else has: Don't waste money on upgrading that computer, start saving up for a new one.

@birthwild: Sorry, I meant to post this sooner, but if I were to buy some components in the $800 range, here's what I'd likely buy:

This is assuming you have a case you can use, a hard drive, and a copy of Windows.

If you wanted to bump up your graphics card to a 660 Ti, you could do that. I'd also recommend an SSD (like this one), but that's another non-vital expense.

But yeah, there you go. Hopefully that's a good starting point for you.