Help me upgrade my computer!

Sir Big Jugs · 04-19-07, 05:35 AM

First, a note to moderators.

I thought of posting this in the General forum, but since there's mostly politics there, and this forum is far more visited and has more computer-related topics, I posted it here. Move it if You think it still should be there...

Now then...
I got SHIV yesterday, and since it doesn't run too well at all on my current computer, I decided to follow the advice posted HERE and upgrade.
I have ~200€ (maybe, if I try real hard, 250€). It isn't too much, but I hope to get at least something, so I could play SHIV until the summer; when I'll be moving and getting a completely new computer.

My current rig: (Acer's prebuilt, I *think* an Aspire E-something)
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.01GHz processor
1GB RAM
ATI Radeon X700SE 256mb video card
NVIDIA nForce Audio (all the info I could find)
and Windows XP Home Edition (Finnish)

IMO the thing(s) to upgrade is/are the video card (crucial), and if any $$ remains, some more RAM. Of course, if you have any other opinions, I'd be delighted to hear.

My question in short is: so what should I get then? I'm completely lost in this vast jungle of video cards etc. A friend has promised to help out with the installation, but without knowing what to get, it can be hard to install anything!

Thanks for helping out a n00b, looking forward to hearing suggestions!

-Sir Big Jugs

Grothesj2 · 04-19-07, 05:46 AM

Do you have PCI-e slots? AGP? Makes a big difference on what card to get. Also when upgrading your vid card, be sure your power supply is strong enough for your card. Most of the modern cards seem to need 400-450w power supplies. I had to upgrade that when I put in my new vid card. You can usually see what sort of power supply you have if you open up your caes. It should be printed on the side somewhere.

MONOLITH · 04-19-07, 05:55 AM

If you have AGP, I just went through this scenario, last week. And it's hard today to find a good AGP card anymore, everything has gone PCI.

But, luckily the fastest AGP card available is at NewEgg for $224.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102071

I bought it last week and it's great. Plus you can check out reviews at Tom's Hardware, it's the best AGP card you can buy.

Only problem with it is you will definately need a new power supply, at least a 650 watt. I bought a 550 and it wasn't enough. I had to make a frankenstein monster out of my rig, and i currently have both my 550 watt power supply (connected to the MOBO and the VPU) and my old 300 watt connected to all my drives.

I'm on a P4 2.4 ghz with 1 gig ram. Although I run fine with that Ram, that's definately the next thing to upgrade if your MOBO will take more.

Your 2 GHZ CPU is always going to be a bottleneck for you at this point though.

You might consider holding out for some more cash and buying a new PC before too long. You can get a nice AMD 2.6 ghz PCI with 2 gigs ram for about $850.

Chock · 04-19-07, 06:33 AM

If you are not well up on computers, one of the big problems when it comes to upgrading is knowing exactly what you can stick in there and have it work properly.
A useful tool to have in these circumstances is this, a little utility called CPU-Z:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

You can download it for free from the above link (although naturally, they appreciate donations). It analyzes your system and reports on exactly what you've got in there, (motherboard type, RAM speeds etc etc) Which is particularly useful when it comes to upgrading your RAM, as you'll need to get the same type of RAM again if you want your old and newly-purchased RAM to work compatibly alongside one another. Different RAM brands can sometimes prove incompatible even with all the same specifications, so choose the best match you possibly can (look for an identity sticker or name printed on your currently installed RAM (unplug your computer before poking around inside it, you don't want to electrocute yourself, do you? And earth yourself before touching any sensitive components inside your PC to prevent damaging them with static electricity - you can earth yourself by touching something metal like a radiator in your house for example).

When it comes to graphics cards, it can get confusing to know which is which and what one does what, and since most people tend to either strenuously defend either NVidia, or ATI (depending on their personal experiences rather than vast technical expertise), a lot of opinions can be somewhat partisan. While advice is okay from a forum, you're far better off setting aside an hour or so and doing a little research, like this:

Armed with your info gained from CPU-Z, you will know exactly what your motherboard is, with that info you can do a search on it and get an exact spec sheet on what it can handle. With this info you can then search for compatible products with the certainty that what you are looking at buying will work okay. A good time-saving way to do this is by going to a site such as the one linked below (or any other one you prefer for that matter). In addition to listing lots of products in either price order, or name or whatever, each product gets a little spec description, so you can search for stuff in your preferred price range, and then check out that it tallies spec-wise with your motherboard:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/

It's not rocket science, just requires a little methodical research. Good luck with it

Sir Big Jugs · 04-19-07, 08:22 AM

G'Day again. Just checked out my computer from the inside (man, it was dusty) and indeed, the power supply was only 300W. After some more research I'll just drop all thoughts on more RAM (new computer will have ~4GB I hope

), and concentrate on a video card. As I am on a tight budget, the X1950PRO is a bit out of bounds, but would something like a Sapphire Radeon X1600PRO AGP8X 256MB DDR2 DVI + TV-out
be fine? And how powerful would a new power supply have to be? Any chance of fitting those two in the same budget of 200-250€?

Thanks again,
Sir Big Jugs

Chock · 04-19-07, 08:32 AM

I would certainly recommend a heavy-duty power supply in the 500-650 watt range at least, as it has to provide the juice for not just your graphics card, but all the other bits and pieces too. One thing to bear in mind is adequate cooling and ventilation, as you've discovered, it gets dusty in there and that does nothing to help performance, and can, in extreme circumstnces cause your components to fry when the heat can't get away past all that dust!
Most motherboards have plenty of pins spare, from which you can power an auxilluary fan, and these are very inexpensive, so if your PC case has a spare vent grille with no fan using it, you might want to start doing so.

bert8for3 · 04-19-07, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MONOLITH

... Only problem with it is you will definately need a new power supply, at least a 650 watt. I bought a 550 and it wasn't enough. I had to make a frankenstein monster out of my rig, and i currently have both my 550 watt power supply (connected to the MOBO and the VPU) and my old 300 watt connected to all my drives...

I hope I'm not taking this OT or hijacking from the original inquiry, if so plse ignore, but the mention of power supplies was interesting. I picked up a new vid card a couple of weeks ago, only to realize that it needs a more powerful psu. The ATX psu size has changed since I got my comp and they won't fit in my case. So I'm curious about what you said here. Did you rig up the new psu externally? Were the wires long enough to get inside and reach, or is it possible to get extender cables?

Grothesj2 · 04-19-07, 11:04 AM

ATX should fit in an ATX slot. A stronger power supply may be longer but width and hieght should be the same. I got a 600w to replace my 300w and it was over an inch longer but still fit quite comfortably in my case. Maybe you can reposition some things in your case?

bert8for3 · 04-19-07, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grothesj2

ATX should fit in an ATX slot. A stronger power supply may be longer but width and hieght should be the same. I got a 600w to replace my 300w and it was over an inch longer but still fit quite comfortably in my case. Maybe you can reposition some things in your case?

Tks, but that won't fly 'cause the (new) psu would butt up so close to the DVD drive that it would be impossible to plug in the cables.

04-19-07, 05:35 AM	#1
Sir Big Jugs Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 895 Downloads: 59 Uploads: 0	Help me upgrade my computer! First, a note to moderators. I thought of posting this in the General forum, but since there's mostly politics there, and this forum is far more visited and has more computer-related topics, I posted it here. Move it if You think it still should be there... Now then... I got SHIV yesterday, and since it doesn't run too well at all on my current computer, I decided to follow the advice posted HERE and upgrade. I have ~200€ (maybe, if I try real hard, 250€). It isn't too much, but I hope to get at least something, so I could play SHIV until the summer; when I'll be moving and getting a completely new computer. My current rig: (Acer's prebuilt, I think an Aspire E-something) AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.01GHz processor 1GB RAM ATI Radeon X700SE 256mb video card NVIDIA nForce Audio (all the info I could find) and Windows XP Home Edition (Finnish) IMO the thing(s) to upgrade is/are the video card (crucial), and if any $$ remains, some more RAM. Of course, if you have any other opinions, I'd be delighted to hear. My question in short is: so what should I get then? I'm completely lost in this vast jungle of video cards etc. A friend has promised to help out with the installation, but without knowing what to get, it can be hard to install anything! Thanks for helping out a n00b, looking forward to hearing suggestions! -Sir Big Jugs __________________

04-19-07, 05:55 AM	#3
MONOLITH Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 997 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	If you have AGP, I just went through this scenario, last week. And it's hard today to find a good AGP card anymore, everything has gone PCI. But, luckily the fastest AGP card available is at NewEgg for $224. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102071 I bought it last week and it's great. Plus you can check out reviews at Tom's Hardware, it's the best AGP card you can buy. Only problem with it is you will definately need a new power supply, at least a 650 watt. I bought a 550 and it wasn't enough. I had to make a frankenstein monster out of my rig, and i currently have both my 550 watt power supply (connected to the MOBO and the VPU) and my old 300 watt connected to all my drives. I'm on a P4 2.4 ghz with 1 gig ram. Although I run fine with that Ram, that's definately the next thing to upgrade if your MOBO will take more. Your 2 GHZ CPU is always going to be a bottleneck for you at this point though. You might consider holding out for some more cash and buying a new PC before too long. You can get a nice AMD 2.6 ghz PCI with 2 gigs ram for about $850. __________________

04-19-07, 08:22 AM	#5
Sir Big Jugs Grey Wolf Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 895 Downloads: 59 Uploads: 0	G'Day again. Just checked out my computer from the inside (man, it was dusty) and indeed, the power supply was only 300W. After some more research I'll just drop all thoughts on more RAM (new computer will have ~4GB I hope ), and concentrate on a video card. As I am on a tight budget, the X1950PRO is a bit out of bounds, but would something like a Sapphire Radeon X1600PRO AGP8X 256MB DDR2 DVI + TV-out be fine? And how powerful would a new power supply have to be? Any chance of fitting those two in the same budget of 200-250€? Thanks again, Sir Big Jugs __________________

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04-19-07, 05:46 AM	#2
Grothesj2 Medic Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 167 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Do you have PCI-e slots? AGP? Makes a big difference on what card to get. Also when upgrading your vid card, be sure your power supply is strong enough for your card. Most of the modern cards seem to need 400-450w power supplies. I had to upgrade that when I put in my new vid card. You can usually see what sort of power supply you have if you open up your caes. It should be printed on the side somewhere.

04-19-07, 06:33 AM	#4
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	If you are not well up on computers, one of the big problems when it comes to upgrading is knowing exactly what you can stick in there and have it work properly. A useful tool to have in these circumstances is this, a little utility called CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php You can download it for free from the above link (although naturally, they appreciate donations). It analyzes your system and reports on exactly what you've got in there, (motherboard type, RAM speeds etc etc) Which is particularly useful when it comes to upgrading your RAM, as you'll need to get the same type of RAM again if you want your old and newly-purchased RAM to work compatibly alongside one another. Different RAM brands can sometimes prove incompatible even with all the same specifications, so choose the best match you possibly can (look for an identity sticker or name printed on your currently installed RAM (unplug your computer before poking around inside it, you don't want to electrocute yourself, do you? And earth yourself before touching any sensitive components inside your PC to prevent damaging them with static electricity - you can earth yourself by touching something metal like a radiator in your house for example). When it comes to graphics cards, it can get confusing to know which is which and what one does what, and since most people tend to either strenuously defend either NVidia, or ATI (depending on their personal experiences rather than vast technical expertise), a lot of opinions can be somewhat partisan. While advice is okay from a forum, you're far better off setting aside an hour or so and doing a little research, like this: Armed with your info gained from CPU-Z, you will know exactly what your motherboard is, with that info you can do a search on it and get an exact spec sheet on what it can handle. With this info you can then search for compatible products with the certainty that what you are looking at buying will work okay. A good time-saving way to do this is by going to a site such as the one linked below (or any other one you prefer for that matter). In addition to listing lots of products in either price order, or name or whatever, each product gets a little spec description, so you can search for stuff in your preferred price range, and then check out that it tallies spec-wise with your motherboard: http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ It's not rocket science, just requires a little methodical research. Good luck with it

04-19-07, 08:32 AM	#6
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I would certainly recommend a heavy-duty power supply in the 500-650 watt range at least, as it has to provide the juice for not just your graphics card, but all the other bits and pieces too. One thing to bear in mind is adequate cooling and ventilation, as you've discovered, it gets dusty in there and that does nothing to help performance, and can, in extreme circumstnces cause your components to fry when the heat can't get away past all that dust! Most motherboards have plenty of pins spare, from which you can power an auxilluary fan, and these are very inexpensive, so if your PC case has a spare vent grille with no fan using it, you might want to start doing so.

04-19-07, 11:04 AM	#8
Grothesj2 Medic Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 167 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	ATX should fit in an ATX slot. A stronger power supply may be longer but width and hieght should be the same. I got a 600w to replace my 300w and it was over an inch longer but still fit quite comfortably in my case. Maybe you can reposition some things in your case?