Author Topic: W.T.K. PC UPGRADES (Read 6797 times)

Cowsquad · « **on:** October 13, 2007, 12:27:30 PM »

Looking to upgrade my pc to play some decent pc games. What i need to do/ upgrade? very new to pc gaming

Carigamers · « **on:** October 13, 2007, 12:27:30 PM »

Crixx_Creww · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:33:35 PM »

thats a very general question

saying upgrade, means yu wanna upgrade the components of what you already have

so then it would help us if yu tell us what yu have, and then we will tell you what would be your best upgrades.

Saxito Pau · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:39:50 PM »

I hope the other GATTers agree with me to a point

If you looking for a decent PC, in terms of 'average' requirements, something that should satisfy you for a couple of years:

I would invest up about $1500 minimum behind a video card (covers up to a Geforce 7900/Radeon X1900)
Definitely a dual core CPU (Intel core duo E4300 /Athlon 64 X2 5200+ or higher) about $1000 at least there
a intel or nvidi chipset based motherboard. $600 and much higher... various brands and models..
large hard drive. $500
case with proper cooling $500
definitely a minimum 600W PSU $750 for a hi performance one

anything else i leave to other posters for now

Cowsquad · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:43:45 PM »

Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Processor Speed 2.92 GHz
Memory (RAM) 512 MB
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Operating System Version 5.1.2600

Thats some of the specs i could find

Cowsquad · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:45:15 PM »

btw all that up there is like german to me LOL but i think ill be able to understand if i read it over till i understand.

Carigamers · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:45:15 PM »

Saxito Pau · « **Reply #5 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:55:20 PM »

sorry man... forgot to consider how much PC techie stuff you knew. but it's all good

one of us here will sort you ot

W1nTry · « **Reply #6 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:56:37 PM »

Cow man you need not look very far, yuh know we could handle yuh some decent specs, but the trick is, what kind of games do you want to play (FPS, RPG, MMORPG, etc). What other purpose the machine is going to handle? (video editing, office norms, etc). Also what life span the PC must have (1 yr, 3yrs, 5ys). And last but in no small part least, what PRICE range are you considering? once yuh have some answers for meh I will point yuh in the right direction.

Crixx_Creww · « **Reply #7 on:** October 13, 2007, 12:57:15 PM »

yeah from those specs yu posted, its like crystal clear yu really dont know much about pcs

wouldnt happen to know what core that p4 is would you?

and is it a dell or a custom pc? know which mother board your using?

seems like yu will need to just pretty much buiild a new system with what sax has suggested.

Cowsquad · « **Reply #8 on:** October 13, 2007, 06:13:28 PM »

yeah its a dell 8400,
And to answer W1NTRY: Games i looking to play: FPS., and some RTS

Currently the other purpose of the machine is to download / play music and videos and i also do some dvd creation other than that jus regular internet usage.

, life span: well seeing as i have this pc for like around 4 years already as long as possible

Price range: well........ gimme the Casual pc gamer price range not the "PC IS ALL I PLAY" Pricerange

disciple · « **Reply #9 on:** October 13, 2007, 06:43:12 PM »

hm.. a dell, u say..

nah u go hadda do like wha sax say, for real, and get a full new system..
case, powersupply etc.. all u could salvage from that is the optical drive, the hard drive, and the floppy..lol

u better served keepin it, or spranging it off whole to someone...

u plan on keeping tha monitor too?

but ah now lookin at the 8400.. if is similar cnet review ( of course, urs is a 3.0 gig pentium)

u might be in some luck.. pci-e interface, and ddr2 ? you might be able to get a lil juice outta the 8400 on the cheap..

2 gb ddr2 will set you back 550 (2 * 275*)
a shiny new 8600 is 1050

and if the board is the same one, you might be able to upgrade the cpu to a pentium e2160 or sumthin so, if dell supports it in the bios, i guess

but at the very least, gfx and ram could be your portion

Enishi · « **Reply #10 on:** October 13, 2007, 07:00:14 PM »

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142 - ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Good board with room to upgrade in the future.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115014 - Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Allendale 2.0GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Dual Core is a must

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150228 - XFX PVT84GUDF3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Should do just fine for what you want to play and its DX10.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145023 - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - You could live with 1 gig but may as well go with 2 with games like Crysis on the way.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Good size hard drive for when TSTT finally roll out Blink and the real downloading start.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052 - Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU ATX 12V 2.0 500W Power Supply 115/230 V - Might need someone else to advise you on the powersupply,

And the case could be whatever kinda case style you like, just make sure it big enough and cooled properly.

$4716TT without a case if bought from Newegg, you'll need to add in shipping and such though.
Something like this should handle everything you throw at it and will last you a good while, could always upgrade later on without having to buy a whole new pc again.

Any questions just ask.

Arcmanov · « **Reply #11 on:** October 13, 2007, 07:19:11 PM »

The only issue I have with the above list is the 8600 GTS. While it IS DirectX10 compatible, the performance is actually
BELOW that of DirectX9 video-cards in a similar price range (but I suppose all that is greek too).

New video-cards are releasing within a month or so, so hold off on all that until the prices of the 8800 GTS comes down a bit (and believe me, they will).

Enishi · « **Reply #12 on:** October 13, 2007, 07:28:27 PM »

Quote from: Arcman on October 13, 2007, 07:19:11 PM

The only issue I have with the above list is the 8600 GTS. While it IS DirectX10 compatible, the performance is actually
BELOW that of DirectX9 video-cards in a similar price range (but I suppose all that is greek too).

New video-cards are releasing within a month or so, so hold off on all that until the prices of the 8800 GTS comes down a bit (and believe me, they will).

Yea you make a good point.

Nephilim · « **Reply #13 on:** October 13, 2007, 07:45:21 PM »

seeing as this man not to versed in pcs i think is best to stay simple:

intel p965
intel e4400
2gb (1gb x 2) kingston
Seagate Barracuda 320GB (get two of these)
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5

and get any ps with 500-600 w 25+ amps on the 12 v, PFC and at least 75% efficiency.

I prefer stock and stable, not an o/c no more, and since you say some of this is greek, i think you not planning to o/c. if you are substitute the intel mobo for the gigabyte in the same price range (also will alow you to use alternate cooling solutions, your zalman 100 pound cooler what-you-ma-call-it

) stueps...it had a bleedy 8800 pny for 250 hoss it sell out...

yeah so thats my $0.02.

disciple · « **Reply #14 on:** October 13, 2007, 08:02:39 PM »

still, as wintry had point out earlier..

all of these suggestions will be moot if we doh have a idea of the budget you workin with.....

Cowsquad · « **Reply #15 on:** October 13, 2007, 08:10:47 PM »

actually im starting to understand a bit, ok so ill hold off on the video card until the 8800 gts card prices come down, but every month ill buy one of these items and build it up from scratch should work right?

Cowsquad · « **Reply #16 on:** October 13, 2007, 08:20:51 PM »

btw im more leaning to that more basic set up

intel p965
intel e4400
2gb (1gb x 2) kingston
Seagate Barracuda 320GB (get two of these)
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5

for now. most likely will buy a case (interested in those cube cases but i concerned bout space) and every time i hav some extra mone or get pay occasions i go buy a part or two and slap it in as it reach. plan soundin good fellas?

And when all this put together, ill have to install xp on this? Ill need help with first start up cuz im actually afraid of the thought LOL, i dunno what to expect

Enishi · « **Reply #17 on:** October 13, 2007, 08:57:55 PM »

Yea sounding good, could always get someone to help you build it up and install everything.
Btw, any Halo 3 later?

Cowsquad · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2007, 09:01:25 PM »

yeh definatly

Saxito Pau · « **Reply #19 on:** October 14, 2007, 09:28:10 AM »

I know some men go jump down my throat for this but I'll mention it anyway...

Seeing that you have a Dell dimension 8400, CowSquad...

If you happen to be on a tight budget, and want to game "now", stick in at the very least a pci-express video card and the required RAM (up to 2GB DDR2 PC2-4200 max for about $600) in the dell for now.

It be advisable that at least the Video Card be good enough that you can simply transfer it to the new PC when you are ready, bar that the Dell can actually handle the card.

And you can add some value to the dell when you ready to sell it.

Carigamers · « **Reply #19 on:** October 14, 2007, 09:28:10 AM »

Author Topic: W.T.K. PC UPGRADES (Read 6797 times)

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