My PC

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 13 Dec 2005, 07:02

The specs for my PC are as follows-

Intel
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Pentium 4 central processing unit 2.4ghz
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PC2700 DDR333 ram 512mb + 512mb, 1.024Gb ram total
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Microsoft Windows XP Home edition 2002 (Service pack 2)
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80Gb Hard drive (94% used)
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LG DVD writer
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Winfast Nividia Geforce4 Ti4800 special edition graphics card (Titanium core) AGP 8x, 128mb memory, Core - 300mHz, Memory - 600MHz, overclocked via coolbits registry edit
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Flatscreen 17" doodle Smith Electronics monitor (Maximum 1280x1024 resolution)
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Logitec X-530 5:1 sound system (5 Satalite speakers and 1 subwoofer) 70 watts RMS total
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A decent amount of fans
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Average cheap keyboard and scroll mouse

What I am hoping to know, is what would be my next best step at improving my PC's hardware? I am mainly looking for better preformance or graphics in gaming, but I don't want to rob the bank, I just wan't the next best thing my computer should have. Im even looking for just convinent hardware updates, like maybe a TV tuner card. I think ill get a webcam for the sake of it too.

I was thinking about overclocking my CPU a little bit, but I can't be bothered adding more cooling solutions or risking my PC's saftey. Sould I still go ahead? Is there really much of a risk involved with overclocking the CPU?

In other words, if you owned my PC, what would be your next steps at upgrading it?

EuroRacer · Post by **EuroRacer** » 13 Dec 2005, 08:28

hmm... How can you have 512+ 488MB Ram? Try to get 2 memory modules of the same kind and size, it's always better than several different modules. Also, I'd say that you perhaps should get a new graphics card, although yours is a very fast card, it doesn't support DirectX 9 so I'd get a Nvidia GeForce 6600GT or 6800(Ultra). Looks like you need a new hard drive too, but you have to decide wether you really need one or not. About the overclocking: I don't know much about overclocking Intel processors.

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 13 Dec 2005, 08:41

I updated the ram bit.

Ill look into the Nvidia GeForce 6600GT and 6800(Ultra) cards, which one would you say is better? I hope we arn't talking too much money. Maybe I could sell my card to some sucker.

Im sure I can make do with my hard drive, ive got alot of unnecassary data around, and numerous whole game backups.

Thanks for the help.

PSZeTa · Post by **PSZeTa** » 13 Dec 2005, 17:00

The 6800 Ultra is obviously better than the 6600 series, but if you plan on a 6800 one, take the GS.

Or try to snatch a 7800GT if you got the cash.

Edit: Oh wait, I forgot you have AGP.

God, just get a new system by saving money.

EuroRacer · Post by **EuroRacer** » 13 Dec 2005, 17:10

AGP will do fine for the next few years, if you put in a new graphics card, it should be capable of running the latest games easily for another year or 2. Depending on your budget you'll have to decide which graphics card it will be, you can also go for an Ati X800GTO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814142052). If you want to know which card is faster, do some googling, you'll find loads of benchmarks.

^Sparco^ · Post by **^Sparco^** » 13 Dec 2005, 17:14

Tunerfreak wrote:Winfast Nividia Geforce4 Ti4800 special edition graphics card (Titanium core) AGP 8x, 128mb memory, Core - 300mHz, Memory - 600MHz, overclocked via coolbits registry edit

Sell it to me.

How much?

RenoVado · Post by **RenoVado** » 13 Dec 2005, 17:52

i recomend a new pc.. but thats just me..

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 13 Dec 2005, 22:41

Wow, after some research ive found that graphics cards are getting ridiculously cheap these days. With the amount of work ive been doing over the holidays, im sure I could aford just about any of the cards you suggested beforehand, but for a PCI express card do I need a specific motherboad? Becuase I have a few free PCI slots...

Im not looking for a new system, id just like to upgrade a bit more, its fine if it only plays the latest games for a few years.

Sparco, what do you suggest is a resonable price? It used to be worth a fortune

EuroRacer · Post by **EuroRacer** » 13 Dec 2005, 23:01

a graphics card has to be installed into a AGP or a PCI-Express slot. The card mentioned above are all still availabe as AGP 8x cards. Please do not confuse pci-express with pci because it's something totally different. For your processor there are no PCI-Express motherboards available, but the difference between AGP and PCI-Express is still rather small cuz these cards aren't able to make full use of the advantages of PCI-Express. An AGP card should do just fine for at least 2 years, and in that time you can easily save up for a new pc

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 13 Dec 2005, 23:30

Kool, thanks for clearing that up, now I just have to decide whcih one to go with.

^Sparco^ · Post by **^Sparco^** » 14 Dec 2005, 00:35

Tunerfreak wrote:Sparco, what do you suggest is a resonable price? It used to be worth a fortune

30â‚¬

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 14 Dec 2005, 01:12

Lol, I have no idea how much that is in New Zealand dollars

PSZeTa · Post by **PSZeTa** » 14 Dec 2005, 01:54

^Sparco^ wrote:
Tunerfreak wrote:Sparco, what do you suggest is a resonable price? It used to be worth a fortune
30â‚¬

You can get atleast 3 times the price you've given.

Tunerfreak · Post by **Tunerfreak** » 14 Dec 2005, 02:37

Yes I think so, I came up with $50NZ = 30EURO, I belive I can get more.

^Sparco^ · Post by **^Sparco^** » 14 Dec 2005, 14:41

40â‚¬.

You pay the shipping costs obviously =)

....

OK, OK 50â‚¬. I've seen a ATI 9800pro for 70â‚¬ so.......

Post by **Pabl0z** » 14 Dec 2005, 14:48

Tunerfreak:
I suggest you get more hd-space too

.
HD's are really cheap these days and keep on getting cheaper.
I could use some more space too but i decided a long time ago i wouldn't update my pc in any way anymore.
I'm going to buy a whole new pc altogether.
I have about 800â‚¬ now so i could get some kind of a pc already but i'm thinking of buying at least a 1000â‚¬ pc (without a monitor, only the case and the stuff in it).

Peabody · Post by **Peabody** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:47

Amd64 4000 w/ Thermalright XP-90 & Thermaltake UFO 90mm
Asus A8N SLI-Deluxe
2-512mb Corsair Xms Xperts
2-WD Raptors in Raid-0
EVGA 7800gt
Soundblaster X-fi "xtreamemusic"
Ultra X-connect 500w PS
ViewSonic VP171b
Logitech Z-5500 5.1

The pics. of the pc is when i had 2 6600gt's, but sold them and got hte 7800gt.
and that is the current ride in MostWanted just got the game and likeing it

Peabody · Post by **Peabody** » 14 Dec 2005, 16:02

if i could get that moved to the "post O great system specs" thought i was there sorry if i messed up the thread.

RenoVado · Post by **RenoVado** » 14 Dec 2005, 18:07

Peabody wrote:if i could get that moved to the "post O great system specs" thought i was there sorry if i messed up the thread.

quote your own post but remove the quote tabs and copy and paste, then edit this post to say somthing else..

^Sparco^ · Post by **^Sparco^** » 14 Dec 2005, 23:47

50 â‚¬ . Otherwise Im not interested on buying it. Cmon you can buy MW with the bills.

underoath285 · Post by **underoath285** » 06 Jan 2006, 02:31

Hey huys i kind of have the same question......my specs are posted below and i'm wondering if it would be a better choice just to buy a brand new comp, build my own, or just keep upgrading this....it works OK now but i'm looking for more

and remember i'm 16 and i make $6.50/hr and i'm going to have to start paying for a car soon so i'm a little low on cash...but i could sell this system for money if i was to build a new one or buy a new one...just let me know what you think!

:

Field Value
Computer
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name NES-N6JDXM5YVL7
User Name Masek

Motherboard
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2666 MHz (20 x 133)
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 4600i
Motherboard Chipset Intel Springdale-G i865G
System Memory 768 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (11/06/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display
Video Adapter RADEON 9550 Secondary (256 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON 9550 (256 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon 9550 (RV350)
Monitor Xerox XL-775D [17" LCD] (7)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-2/A-3]

Storage
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 6E040L0 (40 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Optical Drive SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F (48x/24x/48x CD-RW)
Optical Drive SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616E (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
C: (NTFS) 39197 MB (2645 MB free)

Input
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network
Network Adapter Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection (64.233.227.235)
Modem BCM V.90 56K Modem

Peripherals
Printer Brother HL-1240
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB Device USB Cable Modem

Problems & Suggestions
Problem Disk free space is only 7% on drive C:.

PSZeTa · Post by **PSZeTa** » 06 Jan 2006, 02:36

Sell it, get a completely new system.

EuroRacer · Post by **EuroRacer** » 06 Jan 2006, 02:36

First thing I notice is the graphics card, a the radeon 9550 isn't really a good card for gaming, you should look for a good AGP graphics card, for example the GeForce 6600GT or the Ati Radeon x800GTO...

You could upgrade the memory, depends on the way you use it, if you do a lot of multitasking 1GB might be a good choise, although 768MB is already quite a lot...

Looks like you need a new hard disk too!

Good luck with your PC dude!

underoath285 · Post by **underoath285** » 06 Jan 2006, 02:45

lol yeah...well we bought this about 3 years ago and got a hell of a deal on it...and the only thing i've done to it is the 9550 and a 512MB stick of ram because it only came with 256....but i was looking at the ATI radeon x800GTO and it seems like a good card, would it be worth the $175 to upgrade to that...

btw the 9550 IS an AGP card, but i know it still sucks...it IS a hell of alot better than my onboard though...

PSZeTa · Post by **PSZeTa** » 06 Jan 2006, 03:05

You want a relatively fast graphics card. I'd sell the current system and save up for a better one because: Pentium 4 = Worst thing for gaming. -> Paying 175 dollars for a good graphics card but running on a Pentium 4 that performs like shiznit in games is useless.

If you have patience: New sockets for AMD are coming out later this year, with DDR2 support I think, but socket 939 is still good to go.

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