Hey, I'm fairly new to PC gaming and I just got this rig a couple of months ago:

Manufacturer: Acer
Processor: AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.2GHz Memory: 3070MB RAM
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000)
Model No. : AM5100-B5302A

I've found a link to it on tigerdirect.com here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...&CatId=3512

Anyways, I'm looking in to upgrading it. What do you guys think could be improved? I know that the video card is lacking, but somebody told me I should make sure that a new graphics card will fit my case when I get it. How would I go about doing this? Thanks!

Video card is all it is really lacking. I don't think that you will have an issue of the video card fitting in your case but you may have an issue of your PSU not having enough power for a new video card.

What is your budget for a new video card and how many watts is your current PSU?

My budget is between $150-$250, but if a new PSU was required, I'd be willing to pay for that separately. My current PSU is only 300 watts, so I'm guessing I'll have to buy a new one of those? Would you have any recommendations on a good video card/PSU? One more thing-I don't have any experience with building PC's, so would I have a hard time installing these new parts? Thanks.

I would go with this combo:

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130318

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139004

The PSU would be a bit trickier than the video card. The key is just remembering to plug everything back in like it was before you started. The unit is only held in with 4 screws so other than that it just plugging it's power cords into the devices.

The video card is simple. It will simply push down into a slot. It will come with documentation (although I doubt you will need it even being a beginner). You will be able to see how you existing card is in place.

One thing to note is the 8800GT requires a power connector and it is easy to miss the need for this power connector as I have the card listed above and it is somewhat hidden.

Installing RAM or an add-on card such as a graphics card is the best way to get your feet wet for building/uprading PCs.

Good luck .

Alright, that's pretty cheap and seems pretty easy. Do you have any idea on how long this would last me? I'd have to have to re-upgrade next year. Also, with this setup, do you think I'd be able to run Crysis on medium settings? Thanks!

I can't speak for Crysis but I am sure there are those here who can. I have a similar set up and I have not had to resort to "medium" setting once. In fact my system handles all games on max setting under a 1900x1200 resolution and always with atleast 2x AA. Some games I run:

Team Fortress 2
Age of Conan
Neverwinter Nights 2 (the biggest hurt on my system)
The Witcher
Unreal Tournement III

to name a few. How often you will need to upgrade will depend on your desire to continue to run on max settings. If you are willing to resort to low setting down the road when needed then a gaming PC can live just as long as a console generation.

This post has been edited by Titan8990: Jun 27 2008, 01:05 PM

Alright, that's pretty good. Thanks for all of your help!

I just thought of something that could be a somewhat big factor that I did not think of before in my prior post. I am running Windows XP and you a running Windows Vista. That will be a performance hit. How large I couldn't really tell you but I am sure someone around here can.