Expert: Bobbert - 5/7/2011

Question
Hello Sir,

I am a Engineering student and i love to play games,work with adobe and heavy softwares.
Right now I am having a Intel P4 with 3.0 GHz and 1.5 GB RAM.For past 6 years i am using it. I want to upgarde it. Any recommenndations for good and affordable processor and board.
I have searched about i3 540 with 3.06GHz is that good. Plz reply

Answer
I would need to know more about the applications you'd like to run. The i3 540 would be a substantial upgrade over your Pentium 4 (many times faster, at least four), as well as the newer and faster memory that such a chip and board would bring. Regarding gaming, I would suggest looking at a quality graphics adapter, the Radeon HD 5770 is a popular choice currently, from nVidia I would suggest the GTS 450 or GTS 550. That combination, with 4-6GB of memory, should have no trouble with modern videogames (such as Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Call of Duty: Black Ops, or Red Alert 3). In terms of a motherboard, I like Asus, Intel, and MSI; ensure that the board is compatible with the CPU you've selected, has enough expansion ports for all the devices you'd like to connect (PCI Express x16 for your graphics, Ethernet for your LAN, USB, PCI, FireWire, and so on for any other peripherals you have). I'm guessing you'll need a new power supply for this system as well, I would suggest Enermax, Antec, or Corsair, something in the 500-750W range should be more than suitable. If you're looking at new monitors, I like Samsung, Hannspree/Hannstar, and ViewSonic, but for the most part modern LCDs are "all the same thing" (a very wide array of brand names manufactured by a very small number of companies).

Before you purchase anything, I would talk to your school and see what they suggest, they may have a purchasing agreement with a major manufacturer like Dell or Apple, which could net you a nice discount on new hardware, but at the bare minimum they will be able to tell you what the computer needs to be able to run for your program.

I can't really advise you on the economics, as I'm not located in India and don't know what pricing or availability looks like in your location - but I'd be happy to look at a given component you have questions about.

-bob