Help Datajack upgrading his PC

Datajack Franit · February 23, 2003, 14:16

My current system is P3-700 128RAM 19GBHD

What gives the best performances? Should I replace just the chip or is ram more important? Feel free to post some prices, as I haven't the slightest idea about what amount I'm going to invest (invest! in a computer!

)

Note that Datajack wants to go to Athens to see the olympics and has to buy the volleyball tournament tickets in may (in the country where Paiticakes lives...

) so he cannot spend more than 500€/$

MRT144 · February 23, 2003, 14:20

damn, everyone has a computer thread now!

youre really better off just going for a total system makeover with everything except for the HD and CD drive. you probably can get a P4 system for 500 provided you do use your old things in tandem with the new.

Mercator · February 23, 2003, 15:04

Buy as much RAM as you can or want to get for it. You should be able to get well over 1G (if not 2) with your €500.

MRT144 · February 23, 2003, 15:15

the question is though will his mobo support it? and it depends on what OS hes running also. if its 98se then he has a limit of 999.

Datajack Franit · February 23, 2003, 15:43

It is 98 MRT

MRT144 · February 23, 2003, 15:47

what kind of ram do you have? i am assuming it is SDRAM. i could actually sell you two sticks of 256 MB pc133 ram...for like 20 bucks a stick. that would boost performance to an extent.

have you any experience building your own computer?

Datajack Franit · February 23, 2003, 15:52

I definitely don't want to mess with my computer as I still remember the time I overclocked my old Apple Macintosh (self-combust the very next day)

MRT144 · February 23, 2003, 16:01

well how are you going to go about upgrading your computer then? did you buy a nerd slave from india? you should consult the person doing the upgrade to your computer...

personally id get a p4 2 ghz, an intel 845 mobo, stick of 512 ddr ram and win xp... that should weigh in at less than 500 bucks. and maybe a new power supply unit. that might push it to 550.

Datajack Franit · February 23, 2003, 16:11

what's a mobo again?

and nope, I'm taking it to the guy who sold it to me and seeking his advice, just don't want to go there like a stupid

MRT144 · February 23, 2003, 16:20

mobo=motherboard.

yeah, ask about a RAM upgrade, and a video card upgrade.

Provost Harrison · February 23, 2003, 17:19

I will get my computer upgraded, but I think I will wait for Doom 3

Datajack Franit · February 23, 2003, 18:48

Don't forget Tomb Raider 7

alva · February 23, 2003, 19:57

If you're running win98se, don't go for more ram then 256 as it is a complete waste and money. You could even get lower perfonce then you have now.

I still have an AMD 1400tb lying around here somewhere, interested?

Urban Ranger · February 23, 2003, 23:06

It depends on what you want to do.

If you only play TBS, you don't need an upgrade, perhaps just add another 128MB RAM.

BTW, what is your graphics card?

P.S. Why are you refering to yourself in the third person?

Datajack Franit · February 24, 2003, 09:06

My graphic card is a Voodoo3

Maybe I'll just add some RAM and replace the chip? What's the cost of a P4?

Datajack thanks you, you may now go as He needs to rest

MRT144 · February 24, 2003, 09:10

well theres a lot more to just replacing the chip. you need a new motherboard...and possibly new ram to go with it. 2 gig p4s costs about 100 bucks.

Traianvs · February 24, 2003, 09:29

well, datajack, you might want to get an AMD, which is a bit cheaper than p4, of course, you will need a different mobo for that (socket A) but hell you'll need a new mobo anyway me thinks... you could get a Abit MB Socket A (5 PCI, 1 AGP) ATX (NF7)

which has a network card+ soundcard in it already so you don't have to buy those anyway... i got it for €138, and an AMD2100+ processor for €113

you should definately get 512 ram... i got DDRam 512 MB 400 MHZ - PC3200 for €174, but that was pretty expensive ram, there is much cheaper ram (but not at 400mhz then)

then you should get a gef2 or so (they are very cheap now, while the gef4 etc are still nasty) and you will be okay.. you could sell that gef2 on ebay later on, and upgrade to a better graphics card if you have more money...

I think the rest you already have (case, monitor, speakers, mouse, HD, cddrive etc...) and with these new trinkets you will be around €500 i reckon

Giovanni Wine · February 24, 2003, 11:05

Yup

AMD works very well too

Saluti

Urban Ranger · February 24, 2003, 11:06

I say just add more RAM and replace the video card. Your system can still handle most games.

alva · February 24, 2003, 11:23

Upgrade the OS too.

How high did the P3 go?, maybe try to buy one second hand.

Urban Ranger · February 24, 2003, 11:29

P3 goes to 1.4GHz, something like that. W98 is fine with games, you don't want XP to slow you down.

alva · February 24, 2003, 11:35

W98 is fine, but more modern want lot's of memory. That's where w98 breaks down.

Urban Ranger · February 24, 2003, 11:45

Games? Nah, games don't need much memory.

Paul Hanson · February 24, 2003, 12:24

I'm holding out that the university will forget I owe them £950 in residence fees. If they do, then I'm buying me a new computer to replace my P166.

Provost Harrison · February 24, 2003, 13:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul Hanson
I'm holding out that the university will forget I owe them £950 in residence fees. If they do, then I'm buying me a new computer to replace my P166.

Hull Uni is usually very good at forgetting things, but they have just remembered I "owe" them £1345...well if they will pay sums of money into my bank account I never asked for, what do they expect?

Which reminds me, I need another advice thread

Datajack Franit · February 25, 2003, 09:05

Quote:

Games? Nah, games don't need much memory.

I'm more confused now than before posting this thread

Traianvs · February 25, 2003, 09:24

Hmm, games require lots of RAM and cpu power, I reckon UB is thinking of games such as civ3 etc? There you might not need that much, but if you are going to play games that were released this year, a p700 will not suffice

It's true that nowadays the graphics card does most of the work in games, but nevertheless your cpu is still important.. as I said, if you want to play games that were released this year, you will have much lag with a p700... besides, a cpu (amd anyway) doesn't cost much compared to the rest

I told ya, i bought a 2100+ AMD for just €113
Of course you will also need a new mobo, but at least you will have the latest technology so you can go on again for a few years.... i think upgrading all the time is not worth it, because you will pay just as much, and you will have to keep buying stuff and installing them constantly, which is annoying imo
And, you will never have a good (optimal) system anyway...

Urban Ranger · February 25, 2003, 10:43

No, most games don't need much memory. 128MB is a lot, and 256MB is more than sufficient.

alva · February 25, 2003, 12:04

Even civs can make swap files up to 500Mb, so having some extra Ram is quite usefull.

I'd say 256 is a minimum nowadays.

Traianvs · February 25, 2003, 12:39

256 is an absolute minimum i would even say..

On top of that: having loads of ram simply boosts your computers performance on the whole, did ya even know bad ram can cause computers to crash more frequently?? hehe I didn't know until quite recently someone told me!

But everything depends of course on what you are going to play, and if you want it to look all nice and sweet, or perhaps that doesn't matter that much for you, and you can do without too many trinkets...