Hello, first time visiting a tech forum~

Ive been interested in future games coming out, namely the new TES game, and my aging computer seems to definatly need an upgrade.

Im running a Gateway computer, made about 2 years ago. It has a P4 with 1.8ghz, an El Paso 2 motherboard, currently with 256 MB of RAM. I upgraded the video card to a 9600 XT a couple of months ago.

I was wondering what I really need to start running new games smooth. HL2 wasnt horrible, but it wasnt as great as it could have been running. A friend suggested I upgrade my CPU to a faster one, and I was wondering what that entails. Will I need a new motherboard? If so, since my vid card is AGP, what should I go for. Is there mobo with both AGP and PCI support? Im not very keen on upgrading my video card since it feels like I just did not to long ago. What CPU and motherboard should I look into buying? Im not in the market for the best, as Im on somewhat of a budget, but id like to get the most bang for my buck, along with something that will be upgradeable in the future for like a PCI video card, or something along those lines. I will definatly get more RAM, but will the RAM I have now even be compatible with a new mobo if that is necesarry?

Thanks for your time and support.

Your system looks pretty good except for the ram. You may not need a new CPU or mobo, just more ram. Your video card is great and can be overclocked to run the newest games. I havn't seen what the requirments for TES will be, so it's hard to say what you'll need, but if I had to guess after looking at the screen shots, I'd say it would be somewhere like:

1 Ghz CPU or higher (1.5 Ghz Recomended)
256MB RAM (512MB Recomended)
ATI Radeon 9550 or GeForce FX series
Video Card with 64MB of VRAM or higher (128MB Recomended)

If you feel that you need to upgrade your CPU, then you need to list your mobo make and model number so that we can see if you need a new one or not. You may just be able to put a new CPU in there, but remember, it's your ram that is slowing you down right now.

ASUS A8N-SLI
A64 3000+@220x9
1gig Corsair XMS
LEADTEK PX6600GT TDH
Enermax 535W
Dual 80gig WD.

First off WELCOME!
The problem: Your 1.8 P4 runs on a 100Mhz FSB which is a huge bottleneck for any modern games. In comparison, the newest P4s run on 264FSB. This is native to your motherboard as well and the memory in your rig is likely synced to run at those low speeds. In a nutshell it will mean upgrading the mobo, proc AND ram which in turn will mean upgrading your power pack as well. Basically a new computer if you think about it. If you're still interested then ask further, but be prepared to spend some money.

"Intel El Paso 2 Motherboard
Form Factor microATX (9.6 × 9.6 inches)
Processor Support for an Intel Pentium 4 processor
400 MHz system data bus

Memory Two DIMM slots
Support for up to 1-GB memory using DDR DIMMs

Chipset Intel 82845 Chipset consisting of:
Intel 82845 MCH
Intel 82801BA ICH2
Intel 82802AB 4-megabit FWH

Integrated Ethernet Intel Kinnereth 10/100 LAN with standard RJ-45 connector
Audio Chipset ADI 1885 integrated digital audio codec (analog output only)
I/O Control SMSC LPC47M142 LPC bus I/O controller
Video AGP connector supporting 1.5 V 4X AGP cards
Peripheral interfaces Six USB 1.1 compatible ports
One serial port
One parallel port
Two IDE interfaces with Ultra DMA, ATA-33/66/100 support
One disk drive interface
PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports

Expansion capabilities Three PCI bus add-in card connectors (SMBus routed to PCI bus connector 2)
BIOS Intel/AMI BIOS (resident in the Intel 82802AB 4-megabit FWH)
Support for APM, ACPI, Plug and Play, and SMBIOS

Instantly Available PC Support for PCI Local Bus Specification Revision 2.2
Suspend to RAM support
Wake on PCI, CNR, RS-232, front panel, PS/2 keyboard, and USB ports

Enhanced thermal monitor and fan control device Two fan speed and thermal sense inputs

Power consumption
Mode AC power
APCI S0 163 W
APCI S1 26 W
APCI S3 2 W"

Finally found specs on the Motherboard, there you have it. Thank you for the help.

Ah, I see. So a new Mobo, Proc, and Memory is in order if im looking for an upgrade. Im still very interested in what Ill need to look into. It seems cheaper to upgrade my existing computer then buying an entire new one since I have a fairly good graphics card and good DVD/CDR-W drives, Harddrive ect.

Well, with that mobo, the higest CPU you would be able to get would be a 2.0ghz.

Honestly, unless you have the money, I wouldn't upgrade just yet. If you upgrade now, you'll just be upgrading again in another year or two because of your video card.

You dont want to upgrade your card and I understand why, but to be "future proff" you will need to get a mobo with PCI-E and those wont support the out dated AGP interface. (Ok, there are a couple of boards that do this, but they are CRAP)

Just stick with what you have, get more ram, clean out Windows and dust out your PC and leave it as is for another year. Save your money and then really upgrade to the latest hardware then.

ASUS A8N-SLI
A64 3000+@220x9
1gig Corsair XMS
LEADTEK PX6600GT TDH
Enermax 535W
Dual 80gig WD.

OK, Thankyou for the help.

One more question, sorry for the double posting.

Is there a certain type of RAM I will need to purchase, I know there are different types, but I have very little idea on what type is suited for my computer. Thankyou.

DDR PC2100 Ram is what you need.
Also, dont mix and match your ram. Buy 2 sticks of 256 ram, same brand, and get rid of the old ram (or keep it as back up). When you mix ram, bad things can happen.

ASUS A8N-SLI
A64 3000+@220x9
1gig Corsair XMS
LEADTEK PX6600GT TDH
Enermax 535W
Dual 80gig WD.

Would you suggest buying a higher amount of ram or just sticking with 512 total? I was thinking of buying a stick of 512 to go with the 256, but mixing memory brand sounds bad now.

I'd stick with the 512, there really isn't any reason for you to go higher. You could go 1gig if you wanted, it wouldn't hurt anything, but it really wouldn't help either.

ASUS A8N-SLI
A64 3000+@220x9
1gig Corsair XMS
LEADTEK PX6600GT TDH
Enermax 535W
Dual 80gig WD.

If you're gaming (and you are), you'd notice a big difference between 512MB and 1GB of RAM.

I agree with Lantz: up your RAM and see if you're satisfied. If not, pony up the $ and build a new computer.