[JoeLo]

How long will my computer remain a competent gaming computer if I can live with low settings?
P4 2.53 GHZ no HT (Back when I bought this hyper threading required 3.06GHZ)
Radeon 9250 256mb edition (limited to PCI bus no AGP or PCI-E slots)
756mb of RAM (Upgradebale to a gb)

And if I should upgrade should I
Build a new system, or get a new mobo with a PCI-E slot?
Finally if I build a new system what should I get on a $600 budget?

[Shade]

I would expect the cpu can hold it's own for a while yet if you turn down settings, and the ram is probably sufficient too with that in mind. HT is really a non-issue for most things, so don't worry about that. Video card might hurt though, but if you want to upgrade you should try to find a cheap AGP card (assuming your mobo supports it), and then you might be able to squeeze 1-2 years out of that machine yet.

If you build a new system, then first of all wait until AMD rolls out their new line of CPUs that use a different cpu slot. Then you either have the option of going with the older kind for rather less money than they cost now but without the ability for further upgrades, or go with the new one and be able to upgrade that for a long time. Either way, you'll want to prioritize video card and ram over pure cpu speed, as those tend to matter more for game performance these days

[JoeLo]

 Thanks, but if I was to upgrade my mobo to a PCI-E compatible one, could I reuse my old procceser or would moving it damage it? I heard touching it can insulate heat or something.

[MatthewPapa]

if youve never done it before i wouldnt attempt it

the cpu u have is basically throwaway though. the better option for you would be to get a good AGP card (mayb a 6600)

[Shade]

Never actually tried seperating a cpu from it's cooler, but I imagine it's a lot trickier than installing them is. Likely would need something to dissolve the thermal compound.

I always tend to keep my motherboard/cpu combo and upgrade everything else around them, then when the system finally can no longer get by with the installed cpu, I build a new one but keep the old system around and hooked up to a LAN. Makes for a good round of starcraft or similar semi-oldies but goodies (carmageddon 2 is another favourite) when some friends come over

[CP5670]

You actually have a pretty good upgrade path for $600:

Sempron 64 3100: $100
Epox 8NPA-SLI motherboard: $90
2x512MB Corsair value select pack: $80
EVGA 7800 GT CO: $290
Fortron 450W power supply: $50
(prices may be a bit different now; this was about a month ago)

If you already have a decent power supply you can fit in a 939 processor and board, but it doesn't have many advantages over 754 if you're on a tight budget; your money would be better spent on the video card. It might be worth waiting for the 7900 line in March, which could cause price drops on the 7800 GTs if it includes a midrange part. I need to make sure I put one of mine on ebay soon, while its value still holds up.

Never actually tried seperating a cpu from it's cooler, but I imagine it's a lot trickier than installing them is. Likely would need something to dissolve the thermal compound.

It can be an issue with the arctic silver 5 compound, which sometimes behaves like glue, but otherwise is simple (and even with AS5 there are some tricks to get it off more easily). I use the ceramique stuff instead to avoid any issues with that. It shouldn't be a problem with the stock AMD thermal pads.

[Nix]

Y'all might think that Arctic Silver's new ArctiClean solution is a silly little thing to buy, as Isopropyl alcohol dissolves the old compounds, but I bought some of it, and I've been really impressed.  It's a two step forumula, the first step dissolves anything that's on the chip, and works way better for getting the pad-style compounds off than alcohol.  The second step polishes the surface much much better than alcohol does, really gets in the grooves and cleans the hell outta any surface.  It's a bit spendy, but if you do a lot of work on rebuilds and such, it's a great purchase.  I highly reccomend that.  I'll never go back to scrubbin with alcohol.  This stuff takes the effort out of the job, which is actually better, because you'll be less likely to lose your grip on it and send it skittering across the table, pins down.  *shudders*

Funny you mention that you use Ceramique.  MaxPC did a comparison between AS5 and Ceramique, and a few others, and Ceramique was actually cooler than the AS5 was, by just one degree.  I've used AS3, Ceramique, and AS5, and for long-term, non-reconfigurable stuff, I'd use Ceramique over AS5.  The compound bonds better than AS, in my opinion.  I had a hell of a time getting it off of a 64 bit chip, even after letting it run for a while to get it heated up.  Even after that it took quite a few coffee filters and alcohol to get the stuff off. If you do a lot of work on your system, and tend to change coolers from time to time, or upgrade a lot, I'd say AS5 works pretty well as it's quite a bit easier to get off.

[CP5670]

You found ceramique to be more sticky than AS5? Most of the comments I've heard say the opposite, and that AS5 is in fact better by about one degree. I haven't had any sticking problems with ceramique anyway. Since it's not conductive, you can also use it on some things where AS5 wouldn't work, like video card memory.

[Descenterace]

I tried both AS5 and Ceramique in my watercooled machine and AS5 gave slightly lower temperatures. I suppose it depends on the temperature range; at high average temps, AS5 doesn't seem to perform as well, but this rig averages about 23°C.
Since the temp difference between the two compounds is on the order of a degree or so anyway, I don't really think it matters which one you use.

[JoeLo]

 Hey everybody guess what? I just found out that I have a Dell Dimension 2400 and that the case\mobo design is propieraty(sp?) which means I an only upgrade to a Dimension 4600 motherboard which only has a P4 slot no dual core and an agp port but no pci-e. I think I'm going to salvage everything I can from my computer RAM\Harddrive\DVD-Burner\Sound card\ and I guess thats really it. That way I only have to buy a mobo\procceser\ and graphics card. Finally is it true that a AMD 3400+ operates at about 3.4 pentium gHZ? Or is that propaganda?

[Descenterace]

Disregarding Hyperthreading (which is a mixed blessing) an Athlon 3400 will perform about as well as a P4 3.4GHz.

While costing about half as much.

[Nuke]

i have a p4 2.4ghz in my linux box, my new machine uses an amd athlon 64 3500+, which has a clockspeed of 2.2ghz, yet it runs circles around the pentium. the computer i have now only cost me about $900. i figure that processor (amd 64) mobo (micro atx with ati chipset) and ram cost (a gig of it) me about 600 of that (probibly get the same stuff now for 500). if you salvage drives and get yourself a cheap case i figure you could buid a pretty good machine with what you got. you might have to wait awhile to get a better video card, but at least you will have the option.

[CP5670]

I think I'm going to salvage everything I can from my computer RAM\Harddrive\DVD-Burner\Sound card\ and I guess thats really it. That way I only have to buy a mobo\procceser\ and graphics card. Finally is it true that a AMD 3400+ operates at about 3.4 pentium gHZ? Or is that propaganda?

That's about right, although the 3400 will be somewhat faster in games. The A64s all perform pretty similarly in games though, so for gaming you are better off going cheap on the processor and heavy on the video card. If you want to overclock, that 3100 also has quite a bit of headroom and the Epox boards are all solid overclocks.

You should be able to keep your hard drive, DVD drive, case and sound card and upgrade the other stuff. The memory may or may not be compatible/optimal though, depending on what speed it runs at and how many sticks there are.

[JoeLo]

  Thanks for all the help. And I have something that could wow any one here, a 512mb budget graphics card. I think I'll use it it seems like a really good deal.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102579 at $259 its not cheap but wow....

[CP5670]

That card sucks for the price actually. 256MB is more than enough for most modern cards, with the 512MB memory providing no increase in performance. Only the best current cards (7800GTX 512MB and X1900XT/XTX) can use the extra memory at all, and even then only in one or two games.