Should I keep my desktop or notebook?

Which of the following should I keep/sell?

Notebook: AMD Turion 64 X2 1.6GHz, 1GB of ram, 100GB hard drive, nVidia Geforce Go 6150 512MB (integrated)

or

Desktop: Intel Pentium 4 HT 530 3.0GHz, 512MB of ram, 200GB hard drive, intel integrated graphics

Should I keep the notebook and add 2GB of ram (which video card uses up) or should I opt to upgrade my desktop with 2GB of ram, new power supply, and a nvidia/ or ati 256-512MB video card? Buying a new PC is completely out of the question at the moment. I want to stick with a PC that will give me good performence. My desktop is several years old and I got my notebook last year.

Would it be a waste spending money on more ram, a new power supply, wireless card adapter,and a video card for a desktop with a P4?peanut_Breath

IMO it would. Unless you are emotionally attached to it, or something. If you need all of those components, you'd be better off building new. Maybe an AMD rig, with an X1900GT...to keep the cost low. :)

Would it be a waste spending money on more ram, a new power supply, wireless card adapter,and a video card for a desktop with a P4?peanut_Breath

Unless you upgrade your mobo to something that supports p4/core 2 duo (you will be obliged to upgrade your ram) get a new video card (it has to be pci express) and then get a core 2 duo.

IMO it would. Unless you are emotionally attached to it, or something. If you need all of those components, you'd be better off building new. Maybe an AMD rig, with an X1900GT...to keep the cost low. :)

Sentinel672002

I'm actually saving money right now, which is why buying a completely new machine or building my own machine is completely out of the question. I actually just recieved the 3GHz P4 PC because my parents were about to trash it until I claimed it.

I'm pretty sure a few upgrades will statisfy me. I wanted to added 2GB of ram, a wireless adapter card, 500 power-supply, and a 256MB/or 512MB ati/ geforce card. I wanted to ask here before I did anything as I don't know how much of a boost it will give.

I usually work with photoshop and entry-level 3d apps such as Blender. The most up-to-date PC game Ilast purchasedwas Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, which ran on low resolutions with most effects turned off. This should give you the idea that I'm not really a hardcore PC gamer, however, I do pick up a game every so often- but usually it's a console version.

I can relate to your predicament. I was in very much the same boat last year. I managed to cobble a system together in September. Like you I use Photoshop quite a bit, as well as video encoding. Your next rig should probably be designed around a quad core proc of some kind. My Q6600 cut my Photoshop batch processing time nearly in half. But, thats for the future. If you give me some idea of your upgrade budget, I'll see what I can find in your price range.:)

Edit - Is your motherboard sporting AGP, or PCIE? In fact, your rig's entire stats would be helpful. If you don't know 'em, download PCWizard. It'll ID your exact hardware.

As for now what should I do? Should I upgrade my desktop (or not even waste the time) or closet it and upgrade RAM on my notebook?

Edit - Is your motherboard sporting AGP, or PCIE? In fact, your rig's entire stats would be helpful. If you don't know 'em, download PCWizard. It'll ID your exact hardware.

Sentinel672002

I'm not on my desktop, since it doesn't have internet access and I am away from it's location. However, I do know the motherboard has 2 PCI. 1 PCI express x1, and 1 PCI express x16.

I'd really don't have anything to demanding in mind in terms of video cards. Just something that tops my notebook's card, a geforce go 6150 256MB, which seems to play most newer games fine at low resolutions and with most options turned down.

Also, I'm not sure what type of RAM the PCI-ex16 slot uses. The specs for my desktop are here and the specs for my notebook here.

I'd really don't have anything to demanding in mind in terms of video cards. Just something that tops my notebook's card, a geforce go 6150 256MB, which seems to play most newer games fine at low resolutions and with most options turned down.

Also, I'm not sure what type of RAM the PCI-ex16 slot uses. The specs for my desktop are here and the specs for my notebook here.

peanut_Breath

NOW we're getting somewhere! Ok, the rig uses DDR400 (AKA PC3200) RAM. It has 512MB installed, with a 2GB maximum limit. You need to pick up three 512MB sticks of DDR400, to max it at 2GB and still run dual channel. Matches the processor, so no worries there...and you will notice a performance difference, over the stock amount of memory. I doubt Gateway used performance sticks, so something like this is what you need...

Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 $26.99 each (x3 $80.97) Good at stock speed. Not for overclocking.

On to the vid card. You want something to out perform a nVidia 6150? My old 6600GT in AGP trim could do that, but I think we can do better. This is the best one for under $100 currently.

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 $89.99 It runs rings around a 6150. :P

Finally, you'll need that PSU you mentioned. About 500Watts? Ok...

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU ATX 12V 2.0 500Watt $69.99

or

Antec Basiq BP500U ATX12V Version 2.01 500Watt $69.99

Total upgrade cost, $240.95. Not too big a hit and it should play the games you like with some eye candy as well. :D If you sell the laptop, it would more than cover this project. You should be able to get at least $300 for it.

Thanks for doing all that for me! Very helpful! However, is $240.95 too much to spend on a outdated desktop? Is it really worth all the trouble just to play something along the lines of Half-Life 2, Dreamfall, Tomb Raider Legend, and The Sims 2? peanut_Breath

LOL! You want your cake and want to eat it too??? d00d, you said you couldn't build right now. Your laptop is more versatile, but not upgradable vid card wise. The desktop is your only viable option. Unless you don't want to do anything and choose to save your cash. Up to you. :roll: