What do you think I should start to update first, my first update though has to be below £70, I was going to buy the X-540 speakers but my pc really needs updating in terms of hardware.
Specs:
Intel Pentium 4 3.06Ghz, old I know.
1 GB of RAM
HD 2600XT, update from the original old 6200, still want it updating though, again
Don't know what exact model mobo but I will list the two the computer may have, they fitted some models with a different one thats all:
Sunshine DDR2 (GA-81915PMD) Ver 0.1
Or
Sunshine (GA-81915PM) Ver 1.1

I was thinking of doing the updates in this order:
Mobo Asus P5K or Abit IP35
Processor - Quad Core
Ram - 3 or 4GB
Graphics card - A 8800GT or 9800GTX
then a bigger PSU

After I have got the updates I will then just put them into the case because if I get a new mobo all the updates I would of got I will have to take back out and put back into the new mobo.

So what do you think I should update first?

First I have to say that you shouldn't upgrade such an old computer, it isn't worth it. You might as well save the money and invest in a new computer, which is what you really want according to the list in your post. I hope you take my advice, as I upgraded an old computer of mine a couple years ago, and that was really made a big mistake.

That being said, if you really must upgrade, you should add more RAM. You will notice a difference right away, going from 1 GB to 2GB for example.

I was thinking of saving up for a new PC but I will have the money sat there doing nothing and it will hard not to spend it. I think I will save up, see what others say, proberly say the same thing.

There isn't much point upgrading the mobo, as you then will probably have to get new parts to fit it. And if you keep the existing parts, you won't see any difference in performance.

What do you use your PC for mainly? If it's gaming, go with a new GPU. If it's image/movie editing, or something similar, go with a new CPU (if the mobo will take a new one). For a general upgrade, upgrade the RAM. There's really nothing like a shot of RAM to give a system a boost. 1GB is OK, but at least 2GB is recommended nowadays.

You won't be able to do the whole lot on £70, but if you want to do everything you'd be best

GPU: About the best you'll get for ~£70, not sure how much it will be with shipping and all, but you could probably find it cheaper somewhere else anyway...

I couldn't find anything on the mobo, so I can't say what a good CPU would be. As for RAM, any DDR2 SDRAM would fit it (check first that it actually is DDR2 SDRAM though ), check the motherboard's specs to see what kind of speeds it supports, and go for the best you can afford.

Hope that helps a little anyway

I was thinking of getting some ram or a new processor first, the Q6600 should drop down soon anway.
I might scrap the upgrade idea and get some X-540 Speakers then save up for a system along these lines:
Quad Core Q6600 or Q9450
4GB of Ram
Asus P5K
9800 GTX/GX2 or maybe if I can stretch that far a 280 GTX
22" Monitor
and the other needed hardware you need, stops me from listing it all.
all in all proberly will have to save around £800 for just the tower, time I would of saved up that much new hardware will be out, need to get a job first and not many places employ 15 year olds have to wait until your 16, that only around 6 months for me.

That's almost the exact system I've just ordered, and from scratch, it's cost just under €750, for everything, including shipping. Specs attached.

You'll need to check exactly what socket your mobo is before getting a new CPU, as even though it's P4, it could be the older type. My old Dell at home has a socket 478 P4 @ 2.6Ghz for example, but the Q6600 is socket 778.

It's very cheap to get a new PC, if you're willing to build it, as I've just discovered. To buy a Dell version of the same specs I posted would be well over €1000, the XPS I was looking at was €1000, but had half the power of this one

Patience. You can stretch your computer's life with more ram and a *good* video card. I've used a P4 3.4 GHz computer with a Radeon X850XT and 1GB RAM, and it was quite good for games. The video card is key for games. You can get a good one like the X850 for around 50 pounds on ebay. Video card and RAM are they only upgrades I recommed for your computer.

If you don't have a job then there's no point in planning to buy a new computer, you're just setting yourself up for a big disappointment. Again, I'm speaking from experience, it's just the way life is sometimes.

I know what everything does in a computer and what things are good for what I was just wondering what would you update first.
I am going to ask around to see if anyone will give me a job on the summer holidays so I can get the money together for a new computer and may just be able to get the money off of someone so I can get a 22" screen because my screen is to small.

What size screen do you have?? I have a 19", and it is just perfect. What do you have, cataracts? (Jokes )

What kind of FPS do you get in LFS for instance? If it's OK, there isn't much point in getting a brand new PC. A well planned out upgrade would be just as effective, yet at a fraction of the cost

Quote from dougie-lampkin :

What size screen do you have?? I have a 19", and it is just perfect. What do you have, cataracts? (Jokes )

What kind of FPS do you get in LFS for instance? If it's OK, there isn't much point in getting a brand new PC. A well planned out upgrade would be just as effective, yet at a fraction of the cost

A 17" monitor but it isn't widescreen, I watch movies a lot and do other stuff besides playing games so a big screen comes in handy.

I get around 60-85FPS with about 5 cars near me, on a full grid on the starting line around 20FPS. Also my pc has got a lot louder when I am open a program and has never made as much noise as it is at the moment.
I need a new PC anyway so little upgrades wont really do much for it.
I have told me dad but he says there is nothing wrong with it but I have even said if I buy the newest GPU's, CPU's etc is will last for a few more years and as it will have good hardware in you can just update the hardware when a new peice comes out, but you know parents don't always understand lol.

60-85FPS really doesn't warrant a brand new PC to be honest. If you were getting less than 20 in the same conditions, fair enough, but a new graphics card, and preferably some good RAM, would bring it up to the same level as a new PC.

As for the noise, find out where it's coming from, and see what the problem is. It's probably just a fan, in which case you most certainly don't want a 9800GTX

Quote from dougie-lampkin :

60-85FPS really doesn't warrant a brand new PC to be honest. If you were getting less than 20 in the same conditions, fair enough, but a new graphics card, and preferably some good RAM, would bring it up to the same level as a new PC.

As for the noise, find out where it's coming from, and see what the problem is. It's probably just a fan, in which case you most certainly don't want a 9800GTX

The noise is coming from the computer lol. It does sound like it's the fan but I would prefer a new pc because you will buy the upgrades and they something else will go wrong, think it would just be best to buy a new pc, well build it myself just buy the parts for it.

At the end of the day, all anyone here can do is advise you. It's just that you will be disappointed at the extra gain to be got from a new PC, compared to a couple of new parts for your current one. The reason I'm getting a new PC is because half of my current one is over 6 years old by now, and it's just as cheap for me to build a new one as it is to upgrade the old one.

If you're short on cash, a new PC mightn't be the best choice. If you wanted to, you could get some parts for a new PC (new PSU, RAM, GPU) and put them into your current PC for now. Then as you get the rest of the parts for a new PC over time, you could make the changeover.

The 9800GTX you were looking at would fit your current PC, any PSU would work (but get the one you would want for a new PC. I'm going for a Corsair VX550W, which is ideal), and a decent RAM would all work on your current system. Then you'd have a good PC to use while saving up for the remainder of the parts, or if you change your mind about a new PC, you'd have a kick-ass upgraded one...Seems like the best option to me anyway

I'll sleep on it, don't know what to do yet, as my Dad doesn't really like buying me new pc's, so I am going to save up money and build one, would prefer building one then upgrading an already built one.
Well lke I said I will sleep on it, phone a few people up to see if they will give me a job for a few hours a week because I think under 16's can only work something like 36 hours a week and then decide from there.

I've been working summers for the last 4 years (including this one), with the same employer. Depends what's near to you. You can only officially work 36 hours or whatever, but as you're 15, you won't be an official worker, if you know what I mean...I've been paid cash on hand for the last 4 years anyway, so I can work as long as I like

Think I may go with getting a new system.
Put this together today and might just try and get together around £800 to buy the system. The time I would of got £800 together new versions of the products will be out, that means I will then be able to get the newer versions because it will proberly take me a year to save up because not a lot of saturday and sunday jobs pay over £15 for the weekend do they?

do you really need the case? could you post pics of your current one.

why get one HDD @ 1TB (16mb cache) for £99 when 2 500GB segates (32mb cache each) will be cheaper?

The case I have included in the system I put together is a lot better then my current case.
My Current pc isn't very up to date as you can tell from the specs of my system I included, My current system is a Packard Bell Imedia H1509 with the only updating being is the GPU from a 6200 LE to a HD 2600XT

Quote from dadge :

why get one HDD @ 1TB (16mb cache) for £99 when 2 500GB segates (32mb cache each) will be cheaper?

Then I would have to put them into Raid wouldn't I, and plus I would rather just have one HDD in the pc, I might go with a 750GB hard driver then after a while just get a 250GB drive.
I think Jakg said once that even though the Asus P5K Mobo says it supports Raid I think he said it actually doesn't.

The P5K (JUST the P5K) has RAID between one of the onboard SATA's and one of the external eSATA connections, which is useless - on a P35 board you need an ICH9R southbridge to have RAID, rather than the ICH9 which the P5K has.

BTW - The Samsung F1 1TB drive is the fastest single non-Raptor HDD and comes in at arond £90.

Quote from Jakg :

The P5K (JUST the P5K) has RAID between one of the onboard SATA's and one of the external eSATA connections, which is useless - on a P35 board you need an ICH9R southbridge to have RAID, rather than the ICH9 which the P5K has.

BTW - The Samsung F1 1TB drive is the fastest single non-Raptor HDD and comes in at arond £90.

Ok cheers, could you provide be with links where it explains stuff like ICH9R and all that so when I am picking my pieces of hardware I know what piece of hardware is the best to get?

Also is the 9800GX2 1GB better then the 48xx ATI Series cards or not?

There really is no "page", just find something you think is good and then google "{product name} review" and look at a few of the proper review sites (who specialise in hardware) and see what they say.

just because you have 2 hard drives it doesn't mean you have to raid them. just connect them and run them as seperate hard drives. this way you don't lose everything if one fails. a bit like not putting all your eggs into one basket.

I currently have 1 hard drive partitioned into 2 as that is the way the PC was sold and I don't like the way it is as I would rather have everything on one drive.