what to do......

T

topdragon147

Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
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I will be running into 500-1000 dollars within the next month, so its time to upgrade my computer. It has been around 14 months since i started appreciating computer hardware, so i know quite a bit about hardware. But with Doom 3 coming out shortly, PCI-E, etc. I am confused about what to get. My current system would need so more money that i am think about building something completely new.

Here are my specs:

Antec Lanboy (not Super Lanboy)
Thermaltake 420 watt, no PFC
Abit IS7-E
[email protected] every day
Geil (i know..) 256MB PC3200. one of the sticks died, it was part of a dual channel kit
PNY Geforce FX 5200..if thats not bad enough...its PCI
Thermaltake Spark 7
1x6GB WD hard drive 5400RPM 2MB ATA33
1x40GB Wd hard drive 5400ROM 2MB ATA66 or 100
52x24x52 CD-Burner

Thanks in advance.
 
a) get an X800 XT/ 6800 somethin..
b) Get 1GB of RAM

That should fit in your $1000ish budget... if not get one or the other...
 
I'd agree with upgrading your video card to 6800U or x800xtpe...and then get some more RAM. Don't mess with getting a PCI-E card yet, the AGP version should be fine for you. But once you do those two things your system should be ready for DOOM3, and will be able to run it fine.

And you may want to look at getting an SATA hdd, should help with your load and boot times.
 
more ram, either another 256stick or 2 new 512's

newer video card, as said above either a x800 or geforce 6 of some sort. at the very least a 9800pro.

newer hard drives, what are 5400rpm drives doing in a system like that, newegg has hitachi 160gb 7200rpm sata drives for under $100

also, is it 500 or 1000. thats a pretty huge difference, you might want to consider saving alittle bit more say 200-300 more and just build a newer system and leave the other one as is for a second comptuer.
 
Wow, that's a bad PC there. 5400 RPM? LOL. 1) Video Card 2) RAM 3) Hard Drive.

Why didn't you RMA the RAM? What caused the RAM to die? Could it be your PSU?

-J.
 
"Why didn't you RMA the RAM? What caused the RAM to die? Could it be your PSU?"

uh, i dont know. i was wanting to get rid of the geil altogether. the ram was giving me problems before i switched out the PSU. does anyone know if the IS7 series is picky with RAM?

anyway, wouldn't the x800xt or a 6800ultra bottleneck my CPU. i was thinking more along the lines of a x800 pro or a 6800NU/GT if i was to get a next gen video card
 
acascianelli said:
also, is it 500 or 1000. thats a pretty huge difference, you might want to consider saving alittle bit more say 200-300 more and just build a newer system and leave the other one as is for a second comptuer.
Click to expand...

just say 750 then. does anyone think i should sell this computer. would it be worth it?
 
well, to be "up-to-date" youd need...

new motherboard, i875 chipset for that 2.4c
more ram, at least 1gb.
faster video card, your choice there, 9800pro at least.
bigger/faster hdd's, 5400 2mb cache drives are a big bottleneck.

if you were to improve on those keeping your 2.4c, hopefully you can hit 3.2ghz with that 2.4c.
 
Selling this whole PC wouldn't do good. The value would be dropped drastically to the low hundred bucks, especially for those craptastic hard drives, ha.

If you did sell it, and you have like a $1,000 dollars max, you'd actually get a *better* PC gaming box. So, go for it if you wish. Not sure but would you go for an A64 build? :)

Other than that, just upgrade your Video card to an X800 Pro and overclock and the RAM too (at least another 256 MB).

The IS7-- I've heard *some* cases of it not working with some brands of RAM but I don't know if that has anything to do with your PC build (as it appears to do fine).

-J.
 
Don't worry about the vid card bottlenecking your CPU. It will some, but the faster cards will still be faster overall. Besides, a 3.0 GHz P4 isn't considered slow. The fastest one they make is what, 3.6?
#1. Get more ram. 256 just isn't enough. I find this more painful than the 5200. The 5200 PCI makes games hurt, the 256 makes everything hurt.
#2. New Vid card. I'd look at: 9800pro, 6800, 6800GT, 6800Ultra, and X800XT.
#3. New hard drive. 46GB of 5400 rpm drives... ugh.

If you've got $500 I'd probably get a 9800pro, gig of ram, and a new HD. In the $500 range a gig of fancy ram is gonna kill the HD budget, and I think a new HD would make a much bigger diff than Corsair XMS, etc. vs say regular Crucial mem.

For a grand, you should be able to get a gig of nice ram, a high end vid card, and a nice new HDD easy. Hmm... you could probably fit a DVD burner into the budget too.
 
Estimate Price List Off The Top Of My Head:
R9800Pro - $200.
WD80GBSE - $65.
CorsairXLXMS1GB(512X2) - $340.
Total - $605.

Well...

For a grand, you should be able to get a gig of nice ram, a high end vid card, and a nice new HDD easy. Hmm... you could probably fit a DVD burner into the budget too.
Click to expand...

Just about right. :)

-J.
 
GeForceX said:
CorsairXLXMS1GB(512X2) - $340.
Click to expand...

he could get some cheaper ram, not stuff that xtreme and use the money he saves for an i875 board.
 
Whoopsie then-- how about some Corsair Value Select 256 MB PC-3200 @ $45 a pop?

Edit:

Estimate Price List Off The Top Of My Head:
R9800Pro - $200.
WD80GBSE - $65.
CorsairValSelPC-3200(256x4) - $180.
Total - $445.

Very well... :p

Add the i875 board (Abit) @ $110+ dollars...

$555 dollars...

Oh, plus shipping too. :p

-J.
 
acascianelli said:
he could get some cheaper ram, not stuff that xtreme and use the money he saves for an i875 board.
Click to expand...


The Is7 should be fine, rather than spending money on a new motherboard I think he should get some PC4000 ram so he can run a 1:1 250 fsb with that 2.4C at 3.0.

From newegg
for 2 x 512 sticks of PC4000
Geil $288 (this is what i have been using for a year now with out problems but since you have had bad luck with geil you may want a different brand)
Kingston $316
Corsair $320

Definitely get a new hard drive since it seems like your storage needs arent that high just get a $65 80gig WD or go with a raptor for the increased speed.

As for video a 9800 pro would be fairly good and you can get one now for sure. But if i were you id try to get a current gen card such as the 6800 GT Im not sure they are readily aviable though. (ive heard evga.com has them in stock) 400 for a 6800 gt.

So 65 + 288 + 400 would be $753 right in the middle of your specified price range. Plus a little shipping possibly.
 
topdragon147 said:
how about an a64 instead?
Click to expand...


Your current CPU and motherboard setup are the least of your worries.

I say get a new video card some new ram a new hard drive then start evaluating your need for a faster processor. a 3Ghz p4 at a 1000mhz fsb is quite a good cpu for now.
 
Man, that's more than good. Owns my PC already. :p

Good luck with the system. Come back if you have any problems.

-J.
 
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