please help me upgrading

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 22, 2004

im going to upgrade my system. I have about 500$. I was thinking o goin for a 6800nu cause i think ill be cpu limited. O ya i dont wanna upgrade my cpu or anything else cept maybe my ram or video card.

System:
2.0ghz p4
512mb ddr sdram
5700le
1 cdrw/dvd drive
1 hard drive
300wat psu with 18a on the 12v line

Any suggestions?
thx

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 22, 2004

anyone?

jabronidan · Dec 22, 2004

Go with the X800XL when that baby comes out, and get yourself 2x256 ram for like $200. That will run you exactly $500.

V0ltage · Dec 22, 2004

How do I shot web?

I say get a new antec 400W PSU ($60), and a 6600GT AGP ($215). Spend the rest on maybe more ram or a new HD.

mentok1982 · Dec 23, 2004

If you are going to get a current generation graphics card you should get a new PSU.

A quality brand with at least 350 Watts is the minimum you need. Make sure to find out how many molex connectors your new graphics card will require. Enermax is what I got and many consider it the best PSU brand.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

jabronidan said:
Go with the X800XL when that baby comes out, and get yourself 2x256 ram for like $200. That will run you exactly $500.

1 The XL is supposed to be 300 dollars when it comes out. 2 The XL is supposed to be PCI-E only.

Anyway, you'll need a new Power Supply with ANY new card you get. Get a $100 PSU(check the psu sitcky posts) and a 6800GT for $400.

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

well i have a gateway and they use special power supplies (i think) .... the power supply i have is special and cost me 80$... or do they use standard atx?

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

i heard of people using a 6800gt with 250watt no names just fine. and even some with 180watts

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

o ya will 6800gt be cpu and ram limited?

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

i have an idea... i could buy a 6800nu and a good $100 speaker system and an audigy 2 zs. that would total 500$.. is that a good idea..... i have onboard sound at the momen... how much of a deference will there be going to 5.1 and an audigy?

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

anyone?

Zinn · Dec 23, 2004

Well you're not getting any earth shattering upgrades for that machine for $500 ... Maybe you should save your money?

You could get an ECS 915 P-a motherboard for $80 (really a cool mobo)
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-135-157&depa=0

An LGA 775 Pentium 4 3.0 ghz for $180
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-116-184&DEPA=1

You could get a gigabyte of ram for about $135 which brings you up to $395...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-299&depa=1

Then you could get a nice new hard drive or get a new power supply with the rest. (I would personally get the power supply... 300w is crappy) The best part about that motherboard is that it's PCI express and AGP, so you can use your old video card for now but have the option to upgrade to the latest cards later on...

LoneWolf · Dec 23, 2004

ECS, and "cool", IMHO, don't belong in the same sentence. Quality control is poor enough, and I've seen enough of them fail that I wouldn't have one in my system. Also, the original poster has a Gateway system, likely the mainboard upgrade isn't an option without rebuilding completely.

My advice would be to get the Geforce 6800NU you were originally looking at. Done right, you should be able to get one for $200-250 after rebates. Use the remaining money to get a better CPU (if your system is Socket 478 and supports a hyperthreading P4). Look at upgrading RAM when you can, Outpost.com periodically has 2x512MB of Kingston HyperX PC3200 RAM for about $150-160, if you don't mind the value versions of Kingston, Corsair, or Mushkin RAM (which are great if you're not playing around with overclocking) they can be had for a little less yet.

DandyBear · Dec 23, 2004

Your computer is getting a bit outdated. There is really nothing you can do that is going to give you a huge performance boost. Your cpu is going to be really holding you back when it comes to gaming. But if your set on spending the money you have upgrading. I would suggest getting the Nvidia 6600 and another stick of 512mb memory.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

coolxboxgamer said:
i heard of people using a 6800gt with 250watt no names just fine. and even some with 180watts

Gateway does use special PSU's... Especially crappy generic junk that only fits in their systems. Don't count on being so lucky with your PSU and your new GPU. Gateways are already the most unreliable PC brand out there. Even a cheapo 400W psu is going to crap out after a while running a 9800 pro. You need close to 30A on the 12v line for your setup and you'll be looking toward killing whatever equipment you have with a crappy PSU. You really should read the PSU stickys...

You really don't need the better soundcard unless you have some really high end speakers. My old SB Live! 16bit with my DSP speakers sounds better than most people with the Audigy Platinum systems because they tend to go for the cheapo 5.1 speakers thinking more speakers=better sound. It just means flabby bass and harsh highs with flat mids. All those 5.1 speaker systems suck until you get something like $3000 dollar Blue Sky monitors or Alesis DSPs, but they've got onboard DACs so you don't even need a sound card at that point.

In essence, trash the gateway or give it to someone and start from scratch. You've already got 500 dollars which buys a cpu, ram, and PSU.

legcramp · Dec 23, 2004

he doesn't "need" 30A on the 12v..... i am running an athlon 64 3200+@ 2.22ghz and my 6800ultra@ 443/1.12 flawlessly on a Smartpower Antec 450w with a puny 20A on the 12v..

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

Better to have too much and not need it, than have too little and have to buy more in the future. The price difference between 30A and 20A units isn't that much so why not get the best when he's gotta buy new anyway? Now you're just nitpicking. The difference between 18 and 20 A is tiny especially since most crappy generic PSU's put out about 18A on the 12V line. It would help him buy a better one to get the 30A unit because most generic crap (with the exception of the Ultra X connects) don't come close to 30A on the 12V line. YOUR PSU seems a bit weak at 20A @ 450W. There's a basic Enermax unit they use in their cases that has 26A @ 350W.

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

i may be able to muster up about $600-700..... what would that get me... also i like having both agp and pci-e so i like that mobo.... thx.... could u guys show me what parts to buy for a system without graphics card and moniter... thx

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

anyone?

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

Ok well, I just finished a system for a kid for Xmas yesterday so here goes. You'll have to actually find them on www.newegg.com but thats not hard. You really can't get a whole system for 700 dollars without cutting a lot of corners. You're looking at at least 1100 without monitor/kb/speakers/mouse for a truly kick ass system.

The first thing you need is a good case. Look at Lian Li, Coolermaster and Silverstone. They're good brands with high quality builds and they make installing components a breeze. You're looking at about 80-100 dollars for a good case without a PSU.

The power supply is the next thing to get. You'll want to go overkill on the PSU for the reasons I said before. I recommend Enermax or any of the other brands in the PSU section sticky posts. Don't bother cutting corneres here because its probably the most important part in a computer as far as overall reliabiliy goes.

You can get a good socket 478 motherboard for cheap from Gigabyte or MSI, maybe Asus. You'll want an 865 or 875 chipset board with AGP because then you'll be able to use a 6800nu which you can find for about 250 dollars. Its currently the single best buy in graphics cards for the price/performance/availability.

If you've got two identical latency/timings dimms of RAM you can use it in dual channel on your new board. If not you'll want new RAM you can use in Dual Channel. Preferably PC3200 which can be had for cheap on newegg. Corsair, Kingston, Infineon are all good. You're looking at well below 200 dollars for 1GB 2x512MB dimms. Don't bother getting ultra low latency ram because running it in dual channel is fast enough and you don't want to run into reliability/stability issues with some exotic ram thats going to be incompatible and rediculously expensive for marginal performance gain.

A good old 3GHz Northwood core P4 will be easy to find for cheap for now, and with dual channel RAM will scream compared to what you've got. Those will run you about 170-200.

Best Buy has the BEST deals on Hard Drives. After rebate an 80GB Seagate 7200rpm/8mb cache drive is 27 dollars. Get two of those and you're set. Don't bother with serial ATA RAID.

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

how much will that total?

shade · Dec 23, 2004

coolxboxgamer said:
i heard of people using a 6800gt with 250watt no names just fine. and even some with 180watts

ya ur right. some ppl run it just fine till the psu fries and then u lose ur vcard or more with it. then i guess it'll just be fine to take that risk(sarcasm...).

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

can u show me what parts to get..... i think i can muster $1000.... without video card and moniter... thx

LoneWolf · Dec 23, 2004

coolxboxgamer said:
i may be able to muster up about $600-700..... what would that get me... also i like having both agp and pci-e so i like that mobo.... thx.... could u guys show me what parts to buy for a system without graphics card and moniter... thx

I didn't look at the mainboard because it was ECS which already made me leery, but now that I've looked, I'd advise you even more to stay away. The reason is, any current mainboard with AGP and PCIe slots runs the AGP slot through the PCI bus. Not many folks are designing boards like this, because if you use an AGP graphics card, you get around half the performance you would with a system that has a dedicated AGP bus. Dual AGP/PCIe mainboards are a really bad idea, unless someone someday designs a setup that keeps the AGP bus separate.

If you can spend $600-700, I'd sell your current system and start from scratch. This might give you a few hundred extra and you could build a pretty decent setup.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

d34dly · Dec 23, 2004

OK 2 things...

ECS is crap... Never buy them. I was in Fry's the other day and I kid you not 4 people were returning ECS boards. And I talked to my friend who works in the returns department and he said he had 30 ECS returns in one week. Don't even consider it.

Next... you have $1000 to spend you can do very well for yourself. Go Athlon 64, with maybe an Asus A8V or an Abit board. Can't go wrong... plus you can find yourself some RAM for cheap, even some used RAM . I know I am selling some pc3200 so you can find that easy. Anyway then you can spend money on the GPU. Which at this point in time is preference. People will sell you on either nVidia or ATI but it's really up to you. I would upgrade your CPU and mobo first off. The 5700 isn't horrible but tht 2ghz isn't pretty either. Anyway I hope I helped.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

The fact that he asked for links indicates that he's not gonna go hunting for some maybe damaged old RAM. The deals on Newegg override the necessity for getting other peoples used stuff.

Zinn · Dec 23, 2004

d34dly said:
ECS is crap... Never buy them. I was in Fry's the other day and I kid you not 4 people were returning ECS boards. And I talked to my friend who works in the returns department and he said he had 30 ECS returns in one week. Don't even consider it.

odd... I've been running this ECS for months just fine. It has everything I need and has been very stable and reliable. I was nervous at first because I hadn't heard of them, but I've had a good experience with it. If I had a bit more money I would have gotten an Asus or MSI so I could overclock, but thats okay... I can stick to coolbits

d34dly · Dec 23, 2004

BossNoodleKaboodle said:
The fact that he asked for links indicates that he's not gonna go hunting for some maybe damaged old RAM. The deals on Newegg override the necessity for getting other peoples used stuff.

Ok that's fine don't get all worked up... just giving an option. Man...

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 23, 2004

anyone?

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 23, 2004

BossNoodleKaboodle said:
Here are some links to products I'd be happy to use in my systems. ** means I already do.

PSU http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-457&depa=0

Case http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-119-035&DEPA=0
** http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-119-062&depa=0

Mobo ** http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-232&depa=0

CPU http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-116-163&depa=0

HSF for CPU http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-103-128&depa=0 (get some **Arctic Silver 5 off newegg to put on the bottom of that too btw)

RAM http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-423&depa=0

GPU http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-202&depa=0
or go to Best Buy and look for the ** BFG 6800OC on sale for about $250.

Optical Drive ** http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-131-326&depa=0

Get the hard drives at Best Buy on rebate. Try to get **Seagate or **Western Digital. I've had problems with Maxtor in the past so I don't recommend them.

Dude I took like 20 minutes to make that list for you. Did you look at the products?

Erc · Dec 23, 2004

hey , I liked this rig for myself , nice and simple .

BossNoodleKaboodle said:
Ok well, I just finished a system for a kid for Xmas yesterday so here goes. You'll have to actually find them on www.newegg.com but thats not hard. You really can't get a whole system for 700 dollars without cutting a lot of corners. You're looking at at least 1100 without monitor/kb/speakers/mouse for a truly kick ass system.

The first thing you need is a good case. Look at Lian Li, Coolermaster and Silverstone. They're good brands with high quality builds and they make installing components a breeze. You're looking at about 80-100 dollars for a good case without a PSU.

The power supply is the next thing to get. You'll want to go overkill on the PSU for the reasons I said before. I recommend Enermax or any of the other brands in the PSU section sticky posts. Don't bother cutting corneres here because its probably the most important part in a computer as far as overall reliabiliy goes.

You can get a good socket 478 motherboard for cheap from Gigabyte or MSI, maybe Asus. You'll want an 865 or 875 chipset board with AGP because then you'll be able to use a 6800nu which you can find for about 250 dollars. Its currently the single best buy in graphics cards for the price/performance/availability.

If you've got two identical latency/timings dimms of RAM you can use it in dual channel on your new board. If not you'll want new RAM you can use in Dual Channel. Preferably PC3200 which can be had for cheap on newegg. Corsair, Kingston, Infineon are all good. You're looking at well below 200 dollars for 1GB 2x512MB dimms. Don't bother getting ultra low latency ram because running it in dual channel is fast enough and you don't want to run into reliability/stability issues with some exotic ram thats going to be incompatible and rediculously expensive for marginal performance gain.

A good old 3GHz Northwood core P4 will be easy to find for cheap for now, and with dual channel RAM will scream compared to what you've got. Those will run you about 170-200.

Best Buy has the BEST deals on Hard Drives. After rebate an 80GB Seagate 7200rpm/8mb cache drive is 27 dollars. Get two of those and you're set. Don't bother with serial ATA RAID.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 24, 2004

coolxboxgamer said:
anyone?

I dont know why he keeps saying that though.

Bleedblue12345 · Dec 24, 2004

sry.... ya i looked at that list.... it looks good .... thx a lot guys

LoneWolf · Dec 24, 2004

Zinn said:
odd... I've been running this ECS for months just fine. It has everything I need and has been very stable and reliable. I was nervous at first because I hadn't heard of them, but I've had a good experience with it. If I had a bit more money I would have gotten an Asus or MSI so I could overclock, but thats okay... I can stick to coolbits

Not saying you won't get one that works, and if you do, great. But the defect rate is far higher, because quality control is just not at the level of other manufacturers. Note that ECS/Elitegroup either owns, or is owned by (can't remember which) PCChips, and consider that accordingly.

BossNoodleKaboodle · Dec 24, 2004

LoneWolf said:
Not saying you won't get one that works, and if you do, great. But the defect rate is far higher, because quality control is just not at the level of other manufacturers. Note that ECS/Elitegroup either owns, or is owned by (can't remember which) PCChips, and consider that accordingly.

Not to mention that a good motherboard isn't really that much more money than a crappy one. There are some dirt cheap MSI, Gigabyte and other good brand boards out there. Consider the value of getting a good board at a reasonable price, versus getting a terrible board that will die and take your stuff with it for a "great deal". Its not such a great deal if it sucks is it?

please help me upgrading

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