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<blockquote data-quote="orbitalfreak" data-source="post: 1204429" data-attributes="member: 1669">My parents and brother are looking at upgrading their computer this Christmas, and we would like some advice.&nbsp;First, let's talk CPU's.&nbsp; Currently, we have a PIII 600MHz processor.&nbsp; This is a Gateway Performance (500 or 600, I believe), from way back in 1998/1999.&nbsp; We're wanting to upgrade to the biggest PIII that we can for under $150 or so.&nbsp; We're still tech newbies on some fronts, and are wondering if we can just switch out PIII's for higher level versions.&nbsp; Also, can we (and if we can, should we) instead go for a Celeron processor in this motherboard?&nbsp; We can get a PIII 1.0GHz, or a Celeron 2.0GHZ.&nbsp; (I think the chipset is an <a href="http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/815p" target="_blank">Intel 815P</a>).&nbsp;Next, what about video cards?&nbsp; Currently, it's crawling along with a TNT2 card, and we're looking at going up to a 128 or 256 meg card.&nbsp; We have an AGP 4x slot.&nbsp; Will an 8x card work in one of these slots?&nbsp; Second, which cards would you recommend?&nbsp; ATI or nVidia?&nbsp; And what's the best one for under $150?&nbsp; We're talking about a gaming and image-editing machine, here.&nbsp;Thanks,--Matt</blockquote>

[QUOTE="orbitalfreak, post: 1204429, member: 1669"] My parents and brother are looking at upgrading their computer this Christmas, and we would like some advice. First, let's talk CPU's. Currently, we have a PIII 600MHz processor. This is a Gateway Performance (500 or 600, I believe), from way back in 1998/1999. We're wanting to upgrade to the biggest PIII that we can for under $150 or so. We're still tech newbies on some fronts, and are wondering if we can just switch out PIII's for higher level versions. Also, can we (and if we can, should we) instead go for a Celeron processor in this motherboard? We can get a PIII 1.0GHz, or a Celeron 2.0GHZ. (I think the chipset is an [url=http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/815p]Intel 815P[/url]). Next, what about video cards? Currently, it's crawling along with a TNT2 card, and we're looking at going up to a 128 or 256 meg card. We have an AGP 4x slot. Will an 8x card work in one of these slots? Second, which cards would you recommend? ATI or nVidia? And what's the best one for under $150? We're talking about a gaming and image-editing machine, here. Thanks, --Matt [/QUOTE]

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