UPGRADE! W00T!

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Ok all you computer guru's. My wife just Ok'd an upgrade. Apparetnly last night I was playing on the CS Source server and at points there was 25 plus people playing and when a swarm of people met it was a huge fire fight and my computer was choping up one me and I was apparetny saying some choice words about my computer. She came in to see the comotion and watched over my shoulder. She asks me. Why is it so jumpy. I replied becasue my POS slow comp can't process the new engine well. She lovingly replied OK baby take about 500 dollars and upgrade what you can.

Currently I have:
1.4 GHz AMD Thunderbird Processor
ABIT KX7 333R mother board
512k PC2100 ram (OCZ)
GForce 4 Ti 4200 (128mb)
Maxtor 40 gig 7800 rpm hard drive.
Sound Blaster sound card (old 32 bit)
I have a sweet case and tons of fans with pretty LED's everywhere so I have the cooling capability (Thermaltake Volcano 9 on the cpu right now)

What should I get. All comments, Ideas, thoughts, suggestions, hints, desires, wishes, recommendations, etc are welcome. Thanks. Hurry up because I want to order tonight.

[[uGa] Saint]

my suggestion, and this is from someone who just likes to mess around with computers not so much one who knows them a ton, is to upgrade the proc (which would mean motherboard too) and graphics card. Just my opinion. i think [H]ard OPC had an article about upgrading a computer for 500 bucks... ill try and find it

[[uGa] Saint]

found it.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjU5

just for ideas

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Yeah, I would keep the case (especially if you like it). I recently purchased a gig of ram, a 2.4P4, a 120 GB HD, a CD Burner, floppy, keyboard and mouse for right around 500 after shipping.

Going AMD will save you some money (not much), but anything will help. And definately...get a new video card.

Just my $.02

[LA_MERC_Onji]

Just some quick suggestions on what to upgrade and what you dont really have to right now. If you agree with this, and want help piecing some stuff together let me know. And are you leaning more towards amd or intel for the processor. And are you leaning more towards nvida, or ati for the vid card?


1.4 GHz AMD Thunderbird Processor
--UPGRADE FOR SURE--

ABIT KX7 333R mother board
--YOU CAN GO UP TO A ATHLON XP 1500+ ~ 2100+ WITH THIS BOARD, BUT I SUGGEST GETTING A NEW BOARD THAT'LL SUPPORT MORE--

512k PC2100 ram (OCZ) -
--GET NEW RAM FOR SURE, ATLEAST 512--

GForce 4 Ti 4200 (128mb)
--UPGRADE FOR SURE

Maxtor 40 gig 7800 rpm hard drive.
--CAN BE SALVAGED IF YOU DONT SEE YOURSELF FILLING IT UP SOON--

Sound Blaster sound card (old 32 bit)
--EVEN IF THE BOARD YOU CHOOSE TO GET HAS ONBOARD SOUND, YOU WILL NEVER REGRET GETTING A PCI SB AUDIGY, OR EVEN LIVE. THE SOUND QUALITY DIFFERENCE IS AMAZING, EVEN IF YOUR JUST USING HEADPHONES (ONBOARD SOUNDS SUX!!)( unless its an nforce with soundstream onboard audio)--

I have a sweet case and tons of fans with pretty LED's everywhere so I have the cooling capability (Thermaltake Volcano 9 on the cpu right now)
--KEEP THE CASE, BUT WHAT SIZE IS YOUR PSU?--

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

--KEEP THE CASE, BUT WHAT SIZE IS YOUR PSU?--

LMAO Andy has like the Antec blue power 500! His case also runs the microwave and hair dryer for the wife!

[LA_MERC_Sabre]

lol....sounds like the general opinion is that your pc blows andy....hehehe

[LA_MERC_Onji]

LMAO Andy has like the Antec blue power 500!
Sweet, one less thing for him to have to buy

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

yeah - I'd say new Mobo, CPU and Vid card...w/ HDD possible for maximum performance - get a SATA drive, pref. a 10,000 RPM one.

AMD or Intel - up to you...

[LA_MERC_Mercy]

amd 64 3400+ is the way to go...of course, that is $500 smackers by itself...

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

a really good price/performance option would be the 3000+ Athlon 64

[LA_MERC_Mercy]

yeah its not bad and you can overclock them fairly easy if you get a good board...i would recommend one of the Asus boards...very nice and very customizable

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

']a really good price/performance option would be the 3000+ Athlon 64


yeah look at that hard Andy, nice processor
Now your mission should you choose to accept it Andy,
As they say, when you get an inch take a yard..kk
so figurre out how to take that 500 and turn it into 700
in round numbers..
proc-200
mobo-100
vid card-200
ram-100
sound-100
;)

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Thanks for the responses guys. Robby is right, as far as case power supply and accecories I have upgraded nicely over the last six months. I have an Antec True Blue 480 watt power supply, very nice very reliable, and plenty of juice which is needed becuase I have plenty of 80 mm and some 120 mm fans (Blue led) running along with viper ide cables with neon blue LED's as well. The case is a Chieftec w/ Acrylic window. I prefer AMD and Nvidia. It's what I have now and has done great for me. It seems like if I beg for a few more dollars I can really get a sweet machine and will be trying that tomight, keep the suggestions coming. I'll let eveyone know befoer I buy to get responses. Thanks.

[LA_MERC_Mercy]

just no overclocking for you andy...we dont want to repeat the glowing motherboard again now do we?

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

:work3 :booyah: :owned

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

NewEgg has the AMD64 3000+ for like $165-170 and the 3200+ for like $210
those are nice prices.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

yup those are awesome prices...

[SaBeR512]

def upgrade your memory and video card

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

While I don't think it's in your budget, some of the higher end Nvidia cards take extra molex connectors. Your power supply can handle it but just make sure you have a free molex or two if you go the Nvidia way.

I have an Asus board and I think it's great, it has the onboard Soundstorm audio which is about as good as the SB Audigy. So you can save some cash if you get an Nforce3 chipset because you won't need a sound card. If you only upgrade every couple of years then you should probably get an AMD 64 bit processor so it will last you longer. Not positive when 64 bit games are going to come out but I've read in the next year or two, might not be that early though.

Get atleast 512 of RAM, DDR 3400 if possible. I'm not sure of the prices of DDR2 or if it's out yet but it's supposed to be faster then DDR. So be sure to check out the prices and compatable motherboards and get what you can.

I might check out some stuff at Newegg just for the heck of it.

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

I'm a little partial to Asus but I would go for this....

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-498&depa=1

AMD Athlon 64 processors get retail box for the warranty, even if you don't use the heatsink and fan....

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-486&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-483&depa=1

Video card......

cheapest newest technology
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-096&depa=1

there are others brands about the same price but they are out of stock right now
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-072&depa=1
I believe the second one takes up 2 PCI slots, an extra molex connector, and is really loud. Maybe even both cards, I'm not real up to date on Nvidia, I'm an ATI guy myself.

512 RAM

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-141-424&DEPA=1

Most of the items have free shipping or only $5 shipping so that shouldn't add much to your overall cost.

Low end you are looking at ...
$135 for mobo
$ 82 for 512 RAM those two are pretty static, it's the processor and video card that will mash your budget.
$164 for AMD 64 bit 3000+
$180 for ChainTech FX5900XT 128 RAM

$561 Total

OR

High end
$135 for mobo
$ 82 for RAM
$204 for AMD 64 bit 3200+
$273 for ChainTech 6800 128 RAM

$694 Total

Ofcourse you can always mix and match lower processor and the better video card, which if I had the money is what I would probably do. But I would check out some reviewing sites before I bought anything, mainly on the motherboards and video cards. Some of them perform differently even though they are built on the same chipset.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Tell me what you think about these:
1.AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor Socket 754 $164
2.Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro nForce3 250 Motherboard AMD Socket 754 $103
3.Gigabyte nVidia GeForce FX5900XT 128 MB DDR, 256 bit DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP Modle GV-N59X128D Video Card $178
4.Corsair 184 pin 512 MB ECC DDR PC-3200 Model CM72SD512RLP-3200 Memory $115 for a total of 560 plus shipping.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Looks good, man. With that, you can always use your old HD and upgrade it later. You will probably have to format it (unless I can find that registry hax that makes it so you don't have to...will keep looking).

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Oh, and make sure you have a heatsink/fan (that the CPU is retail)...just an FYI

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

Looks good Andy.

OEM processor has a 1 year warranty, while the retail box has a 3 year warranty.

Do it. Do it.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Does all that seem compatible. What do you mean Scott I will have to format hard drive. That shouldn't be a problem though. Will my Volcano 9 work on that 64 processor. I have plenty of fans and cooling in my case. Somewhere in the range of 7 80mm fans and 2 120mm fans.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

I'm not sure if the Volcano will work or not...will check here in a bit.

As for the format: Using a new motherboard will use (probably) a different IDE controller and different mobo drivers than the ones that you have. Because you're using a new ide controller, the OS (I'm assuming WinXP) will be trying to use the old IDE controller and won't see the HD. You get a nice BSoD and you have to format.

Ok, I found the registry fix: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314082 If you do that, you won't have to format (supposedly). I've done it that way for about 6 computers and have never had a problem...but, there's always the first time.

Oh, and I should have thought of that...the Volcano won't work. The A64 chips have a different socket than the Socket A chips and use a different retention bracket to hold the heatsink and fan down (kinda like the P4's do)

Hope that helps.

[LA_MERC_Mercy]

no the volcano wont work...it wont fit on the amd64...i tried that and ended up having to get a thermaltake heatsink...it works good..you dont realize the size difference in the chips and the board until you get them...

you will have to get a heatsink and fan specifically for the AMD64

this is the one i got

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-036&depa=1

[LA_MERC_Onji]

or instead of an oem cpu, get a retail, and it'll come with the fan also

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

The deal on newegg is for a retail 64 chip. 164 dollars for a 64 3000+ retail and comes with fan and heat sink.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Thanks for the Tech support guys, Done deal. I got the retail Athlon 64 bit 3000+ AMD processor Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro Retail motherboard, Gigabyte FX5900XT 128 MB 256 bit retail vid card and the Corsair 512 ECC DDR 400 3200 memory also retail. Woot 560 was the total and everything is retail with 3 year warranty and the processor comes with heat sink and fan. Will have in about 4 days so look for me to be out of the dark ages early next week.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

w00t...congrats!!!

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

woohoo..no more pee breaks between 40K rounds waiting for Andy :p:

[SnAkEbItE]

OMG Hax, I'm so jealous now.....mabey I can talk the wifey into letting me upgrade? Nah probably not.......

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Question, since I'm running Windows XP Pro with the latest service pack will I be able to just plug in the new equipment and boot up. Scott you mentioned something about a file to run to update my windows to run 64 bit processors on 32 bit OS. Any known issues guys. Thanks.

[SnAkEbItE]

Well Andy in theory yes you could and when you reboot XP would find a new chipset and install the drivers it needs from your XP CD.

Reality: I have tried this in the past and have found that it works for awhile but in the long run things just hose up. I would recomend a fresh install.

Now for the 64 vs. 32 I can't help you there I have not done any research really into that realm yet.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Andy, if you look at one of my other posts in this thread, I link you to the WinXP registry fix that you need to do before you port the HD to a new computer.

As for the 64 thing, I don't think you'll have a problem. There is no real 64 OS out there (that I'm aware of, anyway), so you would be running a 32bit OS regardless

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

I read the link Scott but it sounded like you need to do that if you get the specified error message. Is there a chance I wouldn't get that error message or to make things simpler I do not mind formatting the hard drive and re-installing windows if that makes it any easier. The link seemed easy enough though copy paste merge but what do you think has the most success. Thanks.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

after seeing all the adware and spyware that onji found on your computer at the lan, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to just go ahead and format :)

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

lmao...
Well, if there are issues with spyware and stuff...a good old F&RI wouldn't hurt (I format my computer once a year for that very reason). The thing I pasted was also usable if you are going to move your HD to a new machine so you DIDN'T see that message.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Hey guys, the new stuff is in and I pick it up on the way home from work today. I have backedup all my improtant stuff on cd's and I'm about to do a fresh format and install. DO I still need to do the thing you referenced Scott or will a fresh format and install do the trick. I also need a valid CD key for my copy of Windows XP Pro with SP1 I have my CD but like the uber delete that I am I never wrote the key down from the post Toby had it on when I first installed it like 3 years ago. Someone send me a valid CD key for Windows, lol.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

With a fresh format, you won't have to worry about that link I posted. Just do the F&RI thing, and you should be fine. As for the CD Key, I don't have one here at work that you can use (all the ones here are 2k)...sorry.

[LA_MERC_Onji]

andy i sent you a pm

[Nyc.Coqui]

I have a hacked version of windows no key involved....!!!!! try looking up serialz that prog has every cd key u can think of

[npor]

Heh, I get all my software from my dads work in the military. All legal versions of all Windows, Symantec AV Corporate, ect.

Anyways, if you still need a key, I have a couple around here somewhere.

[LA_MERC_Andyconda]

Woohoo. Got all the new hardware installed and everything is going pretty good, Thanks for the keys Darren. Just going throught the motions of getting everything re-installed but she sure is running fast. I should be up and running fuill speed by tomorrow night. Woohoo.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

glad it's working good for ya!

[[C.O.P.S] InfectioN]

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

w00t! Congrats Andy!!!