Upgrading to Vista OS

[Django]

I want to upgrade from XP to Vista Business. I already know that I have to change out my current hardware in order to use the new OS. I haven't been keeping up with all the updates in the PC world.
I plan to reuse some of my current hardware such as the optical drives, chassis and power supply...........that is if it can work with the new motherboard which is yet to be decided on.

Parts to be upgraded as listed

1. Processor
2. RAM
3. Videocard
4. Power supply............that is if the existing one cannot work with the new mobo
5. Motherboard

So let's hear what brand parts you recommend that I get to run the new OS.

[qazwsx]

Whats your budget? it's tricky to reccomened things otherwise

[simple_inhibition]

from what i see, the power supply, sata hdd, case and opticals will all be re-usable. just let us know how much $ your willing to spend

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by Django

Parts to be upgraded as listed

1. Processor
2. RAM
3. Videocard
4. Power supply............that is if the existing one cannot work with the new mobo
5. Motherboard

So let's hear what brand parts you recommend that I get to run the new OS.

1. Right now, anything Intel and it depends on your budget. For dual core, anything E8400 or higher. For quad core, anything Q6600 and higher.
2. depends on motherboard. If you are looking to save a few dollars, you can get a board that uses DDR2. To go all out get DDR3 with a compatible motherboard.
3. ATI HD3870 or nvidia 8800GT or better
4. it is suggested to get a newer power supply as yours may have the 20-pin connector and may not have the 6pin video card power plug.
5. Varies, depends on your budget. For a slightly lower budget, something like a Gigabyte EP35. For a higher budget, X38 or X48 is the way to go. Only if you will be using SLI is it suggested to go with a nvidia chipset based board with the 790i.

[Django]

Originally Posted by simple_inhibition

from what i see, the power supply, sata hdd, case and opticals will all be re-usable. just let us know how much $ your willing to spend

well my budget is around 500 bucks........my main ussage is mostly work, web browsing, photo editing, listening to music and movies no gaming.

[screwballl]

ok so the no gaming frees up some $$$ for more memory or something else....

that means for the video card you could get by with an 8600GT or a 8800GTS 320MB (or even lower) but these will open the door to more options in the future if you do decide to do some gaming or video encoding.

[Stormcrow]

Processor- Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - CPUs / Processors
-$169.99

Motherboard- Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
-$99.99

RAM- Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
-$44.99

GPU- Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N741-LR GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics
-$69.99

OS- Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Business for System Builders Single Pack DVD - Operating Systems
-$139.99

Total before shipping: $514.95

Assuming you live in the US, of course the same models should be able to be found in other countries for roughly the same price including taxes/tariffs.

That there would be one sweet system even at stock speeds, and not much of a power consumer so the PSU can be reused. HDD, opticals and chassis as well. The 8500GT is more then enough for photo editing and watching movies, if AGP was still around I'd recommend keeping the FX 5900 as even my wimpy 5200 can do all of that flawless. The 8500GT also features the newest rendition of PureVideo, which offloads processing hi-def content from the processor to the GPU for better viewing and freeing up resources.

For music, onboard is usually fine. I recommend trying out the sound that comes with the board first before factoring in a sound card, if it's not up to par then a card can be added later.

[polobunny]

Try to find a cheap E8200 maybe? It's hard recommending a E6550 when the E8200 should be priced somewhat the same.

[Stormcrow]

The E8200 completely slipped my mind, thanks Polo. Newegg has them for around $180 OEM. so about $200 for the proc and a HSF. Cheapest I've seen is about $170 unless you know a site that selling them lower then that. Or in stock for that matter.

[gvblake22]

Or you could just run Vista on the machine you have listed in your sig, it should run just fine. Obviously new/better hardware will be a bit faster, but if you are strapped for cash and have to upgrade, then you might as well try it out on your current system and see how it goes. Any particular reason you are getting the Business version over Home Premium?