Endless Paradigm

I decided it's time to upgrade my workspace a bit. I'm gonna get a new monitor, because even though this one is a great 19", working in standard fullscreen when you're juggling multiple graphics applications is an exercise in frustration, and widescreen just seems more appealing. I'm also getting a second HDD, because of 3 things: 1) My old one is running out of space, 2) My newfound interest in PC gaming will definitely require some more storage, and 3) I want to maybe try to install another OS of some sort, whether it's OSx86 or Ubuntu, or both.

I don't know if I really need to upgrade my other components quite yet, but then again, I'm not so good at this hardware stuff. My specs are:
Windows XP Media Center
Intel Pentium D 2.66Ghz
Nvidia GeForce 7300LE 512 MB (128 MB dedicated)
1GB RAM
Remember, I kinda suck at this whole hardware thing, so can anyone tell me if my specs are any good?

Also, here are the products I've been looking at. Yes, they're cheap, but I can't afford much:
Hard Drives:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822144701
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822148261
Monitors:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6824254028
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6824009094
(I kinda want an Apple cinema display, but those things are fudgeing crazy expensive)

Your graphics card and CPU are piles of steaming turd, though the CPU is just about acceptable the graphics card will not run any of the modern games at an acceptable level.

And go for the seagate HDD, western digital's are loud and fail. Acer make good panels but I prefer CRT.

*sigh* There goes any sort of spare change I might dream of having for, say, the next 6 months.

Okay, what about these?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814130286

Remember, I'm not really made of money, but I am willing to spend a bit. And I do think a new graphics card would benefit my digital art.

The CPU would be a massive improvement over what you have but you will have to double check that you mobo's BIOS can handle it. The graphcis chip is OK, but for that price point I would go with a 512Mb 3850 from AMD-ATi. FAR more power for the same price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814121219

Okay, and how do I check if my BIOS can handle it?

Check the motherboards website.

If you're looking at games, yeah, like other people have pointed out previously, your CPU and GPU are a bit weak.

It really depends on what u want out of games though. If you're looking at getting the most out of the newest games, then yeah, definately need upgrade. If you're looking at just being able to run them, and not worry about turning the graphical settings to anything good, then i say u could probably run most of the games out there.

Dupain Wrote:You would need a good mouse too :P  In games RPG games such as Warcraft, CNC, Starcraft and others the mouse is important.  A keyboard that allows combos too.  Some keyboard don't support some combos of keys.

uhhh.... When did Warcraft and all become RPGs... U mean RTS...

RTS for the win

* boogschd installs CnCGZH

RTS yeah haha i get a little confused about those games :P RPG = Role Playing Game

duhh :P

RTS = Real Time Strategy

World of Warcraft is RPG anyway?