What should I upgrade?

I

ikermalli

New Member
Well I decided to not get a laptop and what I have in my comp right now is this:

AMD Athalon 64 X2 5200+
Nvidia 7600 GT
160 GB SATA 2 HDD
EPoX A550PRO
1GB Kingston PC6400 RAM
Integrated Sound Card
Qpower 350 watt PSU
Windows XP Pro SP2
Let me know if I am missing something
So what will I need to upgrade because I was running Firefox with MS Word today and my computer was lagging like crazy! Also I just reformatted today, usually I need to run IM, Mozilla with 5-12 tabs, MS Word or Powerpoint, Limewire and iTunes sometimes along with BitSpirit. I know that is a lot but I need to use my computer more now that the school year has begun to get harder and also I need some music and movies on my comp too for later (BitSpirit, Limewire, iTunes). So what should I make better? Also what graphics card would be able to run most games smoothly that won't break my wallet. I know I need at least another gig of RAM, correct? Also I can only get stuff from Tigerdirect.ca and I have $323.14 to spend
 
you should get one more gig of ram and if your lagging that bad, with those specs. you should either clean your harddrive or buy another one and put all of your stuff on it
 
It's not HUGE time lag, it's just enough to bother me. Because i switch between programs quick between writing a doc, to changing my song, to talking to people, to using facebook to researching and it lags up a bit sometimes, it worked fine until one of my gigs of ram got screwed, so I think I will get another gig or two of RAM. Also I am pretty sure it is PC6400 from my memory but is there a way I can check? I looked at my RAM and there was nothing saying what PC it is.
 
You are correct about a good need to see another 1gb of memory added in or replacing what a pair of 512s with a pair of 1gb dimms. The increase from 1gb to 2gb will see a big gain there as well as smooth things out in Windows as a rule especially for multitasking.

The 7600GT is certainly old news at this time while a 9800 or 4800 series ATI card wouldn't be advised anyways since those are 2.0 not 1.0-1.1 cards there. An ATI X1950 or even the Radeon HD 2600XT mid range card will work. The problem is the only video card in stock at TigerDirect CA. for less then $100CA is the X1300Pro low end card seeing a $55 price at http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1892411&CatId=28 You wouldn't be any better off then running what you have now. Another Canadien vendor? would be the thought on that.

If you need additional drive space and decide to add in a second hard drive you might want to consider a slightly larger power supply as well. 350w is on the small side while covering only the basics. Once you start upgrading various hardwares as well as adding anything new in like a second drive for space a good 430-450w until the next build would be an additional expense.
 
# Maximum Memory Capacity: 16777216 MB
# Currently Installed Memory: 1024 MB
# Available Memory Slots: 3
# Number of Banks: 4
# Dual Channel Support: N.A.
# CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
# CPU Family: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ Model 3, Stepping 2
# CPU Speed: 2612 MHz

There are my results. It doesn't say anything about what PC number I should get though. I was really hoping to get a new case, are there any you could recommend from tigerdirect.ca ?

I was looking at this case:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2877840&CatId=1520

And this RAM:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4083499&CatId=1872

Could windows xp pro sp2 handle 4GBs of that?

So the total would be: 237.97 before taxes.

Also what video card should I get to run COD World at war when it comes out? Also if it can be run with under 4 GBs of RAM would let me spend 141.16 on a gpu instead of 85.17 also that is without tax.

So with tax it would be 268.91 for the 4 GB of RAM + the new case or I can just leave my old stick of ram in and get the case and the new 2GBs of RAM leaving me with 3GBs of RAM and leaving me with $117.50 to spend on my gpu. I could probably get another 40-50 dollars if absolutely needed to play games. I just want a good comp that will last me a while.

Oh and it takes DDR2 RAM
 
The case I am getting is going to have a 450 watt psu and I can get an ATI Radeon HD 3470 ruby with the change from nVidia to ATI connector for $120 from my friend, is that a good deal?
 
well im guessing your computer takes 6400 because thats what most systems take, and yes windows xp can take 4 gigs but thats the max

that ram looks good
but you should just take out your 1 gig stick you have in there now and get this set of ram
4 gigs for the same price 49.99

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3404049&Sku=O261-8038

and its dual channel so if you have dual channel on your mobo you can do that which will increse its speed

ok now for the case
that case looks a lil expensive for that price i would go with something cheaper, if you did that then you can get a nice graphics card

go with somthing like this im guessing you want a side window so
theres this for a really nice looking case thats strong to - 69.98
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3433320&CatId=1520

or theres this if you wanted that power supply but the power suply's that come with cases are not that good-69.98
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2549301&CatId=1520
 
XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, HDTV, VGA Support
129.99

looks like a awesome video card better then the one your friend is offering you for 10 dollors more

but that 450 power supply isnt going to cut it if you have this card,

if you wana save some money and not get a new power supply go with this one

this card is really good for its price
EVGA GeForce 9600 GSO - 384MB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, HDCP,
DX10 69.99
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...?EdpNo=4185304&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs
 
Ok, I will definitely do that, thanks! I will go out this weekend and do it. That case is nice, but after adding all the new stuff will a 350 watt psu be good enough? I know it will be fine if I just add some more RAM, but the video card...? Also look at the reviews for the case you recommended, should I still get it?
 
sorry didnt see your post
no the 9800 is better

9800 uses G92 and beats 8800 in about everything

9800gtx got 14k in 3dmark06
8880gtx got 12k in 3dmark06
 
Also, what about the RAM? And no need for shipping, tigerdirect is only 15 minutes away, I can just put stuff on hold.
 
Oh, alright so the same one I saw before, cool. $293.77 is after taxes. But there is only one problem now... I had built my computer with some assitance from a friend and it didnt take too long, and the case I have right now everything or at least most things are screwed in, how hard would it be to take all the stuff out and put it in the new case? I can get a picture of the inside if needed.
 
it should be fairly easy, just dont slip and nock the motherbored or anything, the only thing ive ever had a problem with removing are the things in the 5 inch bays, but yeah just a phillups head screwdriver and it's pretty easy,
 
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