Hi I'm not sure what to upgrade with for Half Life 2 I just upgraded my video card and don't want to have to upgrade it for a while, I'm not really looking for a major upgrade. I have a Radeon 9250 128 mb ram PCI, Intel Celeron 2.6 GHz, Radeon 9250 128mb RAM PCI, and 512 RAM which im planning to max out to 2 gb. Also I was thinking of upgrading my celeron to a pentium 4 but I dont know how much better it runs if i were to upgrade it. Can someone help me on this?

Okay.. Firstly.. You dont need 2 gigs of ram PERIOD.. 1 gig will do it all 2 gigs is a waste of money unless if someone is giving it to you.. Secondly.. If you have no AGP slot.. then just get a whole new rig.. build it yourself.. If you do have a agp slot and if your on abudget the 6200 will perform nicely in HL2. And as I said.. if your stuck with PCI then do not upgrade the processor or anything.. Because that iwll be a major draw back. ( I dont even know if you can play HL2 with ANY PCI card that exsists currently. )

Processor P4@ 2.6 Ghz, FSB@535Mhz
RAM 512MB's PC2700/32001 256 stick of each. Hard Disk Drives 1 40 GB HD 1 10 GB HD CD/DVD Drives CDRW52X

LOL, sorry to break this to you, but the weakest link in your system is the graphics card at this point. Any other upgrade will not help your system perform in HL2 as much as upgrading the gfx card.

Upgrading the Celeron might be a good idea, but if you're gonna do it, you may want to consider upgrading the whole motherboard, CPU, and fan due to the high prices of P4 CPU's, but that's a judgement call. Upgrading the mobo would also allow you to go AGP or PCI-e on your graphics card instead of the horribly outdated PCI interface you have now.

If you want to upgrade your CPU on your current motherboard, I would look at the Celerons based on the Prescott core, since they're p4's with less cache but at a much more reasonable price. Make sure any CPU is compatible with your current motherboard before you buy.

As far as RAM goes, you're wasting your money on 2GB of RAM. You won't see much if any difference between 2GB and 1GB in HL2 or much of anything else for that matter.

"Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and G. Gordon Liddy don't like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man."

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133134

That will play HL2, not great, but it would be better than what he has.

Problem of course with this is you could get a Radeon 9600XT for the same price, but it's AGP. Kinda why upgrading the whole motherboard, CPU, and fan may not be a bad idea. :-/

"Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and G. Gordon Liddy don't like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man."

if you want a good budjet system for gaming, get an amd, they are stronger than the p4's. they are also priced lower.

if you upgrade to a pci-e mobo, and get a 6200, makesure you get a nv43 core so you can mod it to a 6600.

p4 3.0ghz @ 222X15=3330mhz
512mb pc3200 dual channel @222mhz
80gb wd hdd/40gb maxtor when on linux
8x agp geforce 6200 @ 530/585can't unlock extra pipes. plz help if you can
Audigy 2 ZS<b

I agree with the others...

Your video card is the weak link. The Radeon 9250 is a crappy card to begin with, not to mention it's a PCI card. It only supports DX8 & the memory is probably 64-bit. Sorry, but it was simply a poor choice...my guess is you bought it based on price, not performance. Upgrading your RAM is not gonna overcome that, not to mention that 2GB RAM is totally unnecessary.

I don't recommend investing too much in that system, but if you insist on keeping it & wanna use it for gaming, return the video card (if you can), or sell it. If you only have a PCI slot to work with, your choices for a "decent" video card are very limited & they won't be cheap. Make sure the new video card has 128MB @ 128-bit & it supports DX9. The best you're gonna do is a GeForce FX5200, FX5500, or FX5700LE

If you upgrade your RAM, 1GB is plenty

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

I asked a computer store where I live at to tell me a price for a new motherboard and case because I have a gateway and said they will get back to me on Monday. Ok so I will only go to 1 gig for right now,my video card I bought on newegg.com I've had for about 3-4 days now, should I return it? And whats the best video card I can get at the moment thats a pci?

"my video card I bought on newegg.com I've had for about 3-4 days now, should I return it?"

I would....

A new FX5200 128MB/128-bit PCI will probably run about $75...an FX5500 128MB/128-bit PCI about $100. I don't think Newegg carries the FX5700LE PCI anymore, but you might find one in the refurbed section.

I know the word "refurbished" scares a lot of people off, but take your situation as an example. You have a perfectly good card that you're not happy with & return it to newegg. They'll just turn around & sell it as refurbished for a considerable discount. It'll only have a 15-day warranty, but the manufacturer's warranty will still apply.

When looking for a card, make sure the memory interface is listed as 128-bit. Do NOT get a 64-bit card, no matter how attractive the price may be. If the memory interface isn't listed in the specs, don't take a chance, it's probably 64-bit. 128-bit is a selling point & will be mentioned somewhere in the product description.

Here an FX5200 PCI...$21 difference between new & refurbed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145055

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145055R

Here's an FX5500 PCI...about $20 difference between new & refurbed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133134R

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133134

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

"I asked a computer store where I live at to tell me a price for a new motherboard and case because I have a gateway and said they will get back to me on Monday"

If you're gonna go that route, you're gonna have to reconsider everything. Would you just keep the Gateway as-is & build a new system from scratch, or swap parts from the Gateway to the new box?

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

Im going to swap parts.Also the only thing I could find for 5700LE is a 128mb RAM with 64 bit so thats a no go since its 64bit?

Also my budget is about $90 or a lil higher will this be enough to buy a card to run Half Life 2 decently?

Do NOT get a 64-bit card...they are 30-40% slower than a 128-bit card!

I recommended 2 cards to you & provided the links....the rest is up to you. If you're gonna keep the Gateway, buy one of the cards I recommended & add another 512MB of RAM. If you get the refurbed FX5200, you should be able to get the RAM & still hold your cost to about $90.

If you're gonna swap parts to a new system, don't get a PCI video card...it won't be making the trip...lol.

Asus A7N8X-X
1800+ @ 8.5 x 200MHz
768MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro

I just bought a refurbed GeForce FX 5500 with 128 mb RAM and 128 bit for 87 dollars.

Sorry for a second post again but I only have 2 slots and there are 2 256 cards.