PC upgrade suggestions

Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:00 pm by Ugnaught

Give me some suggestions please.

This is what happened.
My brother-in-law bought a Dell a while ago and it didn't work well for him so he turned around and bought a Gateway. (to me, this is like buying a Toyota and if there was something wrong with it parking it in your garage and buying a Hyundai) I didn't know about it at the time or else I would have stopped him from doing it until I looked at the Dell. Anyway, my dad told me about this story so I called my brother-in-law up and asked what he did with the Dell, and it's sitting in his garage. So I got a hold of it. It had XP Home, which by all accounts sucks, so I reformatted the hard drive and installed Win2000 professional, and then it ran like a champ so I bought it from him for $250. (I probably gave him a little more than it was worth but it's still a good deal for me and I don't want him to think he got ripped off)

I want to get this Dell running good for games. It's a P4 1.6gHz. It's only got 128Mb of RAM so I need to add more, I'm thinking I'll get at least 256Mb or maybe 512Mb. The video card is a 16Mb ATI model on the AGP slot, so I must upgrade it. I already put in a Ethernet card. I'll also need to eventually get a Zip drive, I'm thinking I want a USB model instead of a IDE model.

What would you guys do to this machine and in what priority? Mostly I need suggestions on what video card to buy. I haven't been reading up on them lately.

Let's get those missiles ready to destroy the universe!!

Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:16 pm by lethallarry

more ram ALWAYS helps.

If you can't read this, then you're probably illiterate and have no idea what I'm saying anyway.

Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:47 pm by richard_s

If it's any help my system is a Dell.

P4 1.8, 1GB RAM, GeF 4 128 MB graphics, internal 250 ZIP, Win XP Home. It will handle anything I throw at it.

Yours is probably USB 1.1 so I think an internal ZIP will be faster.

I would go for more memory, initially 512 would be good, and at least a GeF 4 graphics card. If you want to play games, you are going to have to go back to either Win XP or Win 98 as I don't think Win 2000 will allow games, but I might be wrong.

Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:50 pm by Setsuna

Definetely more RAM, but note that if you add a 512MB module to a 128MB module, your memory performance will be as if you had a 256MB module, so try to sell your 128... (ie you sell your 128MB module, add $35 and get a 256, and then get another 256, or something like that)
A new graphics card is in order, if you're goona do some serious gaming. nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB DDR is the current best-buy (MicroStar or Gainward, the choice is yours)

EDIT: Oh, yeah, Windows... You can stay on Win2000, but it may cause probs with some games, and it WILL cause probs with older games
USB 1.1 is much slower than IDE ATA66 not to mention 100 or 133, so... Internal Zip.

Careful what you wish... You might just get it.

Edited by - Chetnik on 22-09-2003 20:52:51

Mon Sep 22, 2003 8:05 pm by force0179

m8...win2000 ROCKS the best i tried, and i used 98, mil ans xp(havent tried2003 .....YET) it really rocks!!!

to kill or to be killed...if it lives, kill it...if it stands, level it to da ground...if in doubt?WIPE IT OUT!

-man that is awesome!beautifull!! P-R-E-T-T-Y!!!!

how do i blow it??!!

Mon Sep 22, 2003 8:07 pm by Deviant

I've never heard of this Prutonium Processorizer. I spoke with my manager, and he says you're probably just some street person coming in talkin' all crazy.

I recommend you get breast implants. That way, people will buy you all kinds of hardware, and you'll never want again.

Mon Sep 22, 2003 9:52 pm by DrumFire67

Hi Ugnaught, sounds like a decent buy.

1st. I would go with the ram. ditch the 128 and go 512mb min. If you have the cash. Get the MB specs and max it out.

2nd. Video card. Also depends on cash, but I use the (PNY Technologies Verto, G-force FX 5200 ultra AGP, 128mb ddr 650mhz.) I got it in the US for under 200. This card support 8x and 4x agp slots. I'm pretty sure most of dells MB are still using 4x.

Hope this helps

" There is no approved solution to a tactical situation".( General patton)

Mon Sep 22, 2003 10:27 pm by Ugnaught

Thanks for the hints.

Let's get those missiles ready to destroy the universe!!

Tue Sep 23, 2003 7:44 am by BlazeME

Never get a Zip drive!

Otherwise Priorities:
1. RAM
2. Graphics
3. Hard Drive

Tue Sep 23, 2003 10:05 am by mustang

I'd get a 512Mb stick and a GF4 Ti and that'd be a really cool budget system.

Why the dislike of XP? I find it to be not that much different from 2000, minus the lollipop GUI of course. Plus 2000 drags it's ass like a lame cow during boot-up.
Although I can't say i've used the home edition all that extensively.

Tue Sep 23, 2003 11:21 pm by Ugnaught

I've got nothing against XP professional, but there was a noticeable difference on this machine between 2000 and XP home with 2000 being a lot faster.

"Never get a Zip drive" ????? I couldn't get by without one. I have to transfer files that are between 1 and 100 MB all the time. It's really tedious to burn them onto CDs and zip disks are a lot more convenient anyway. I know an internal Zip is a lot faster than USB but I only have 4 IDE connections and I may want to add a second hard drive and a DVD drive down the road and an internal zip drive would use up one of my channels.

Let's get those missiles ready to destroy the universe!!

Wed Sep 24, 2003 4:57 pm by DrumFire67

I found that windows Xp pro, is designed for the latest systems. If your Mother board is not ACPI compliant and running ddr memory it will drag, or even crash.
On a non ACPI board. XP will compress your IRQ's all into say IRQ 7 or 5. With being a heavy gamer, this can cause freezing or jumping in game play.

Windows 2000 is designed more the business machine. With most companys still running P2 and P3 machines with PC100/133 ram. 2000 uses these machines resources much better for multi tasking..also better game play.

I installed XP on my AMD900 running 512mb PC133. I had a ton of problems!!
I built a new machine Soyo Ultra Dragon MB (ACPI Compliant) with 1 gig of ddr333 and AMD 2 gig chip. XP purrs like a kitten.....

" There is no approved solution to a tactical situation".( General patton)

Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:40 am by mustang

I installed XP on my AMD900 running 512mb PC133. I had a ton of problems!!

I was running XP pro on a PIII800 and 512Mb PC133 up until a few months ago and I can't say I had any major issues.

@Ug: did you consider a USB drive? helluva lot more convenient than a ZIP drive.

Thu Sep 25, 2003 1:01 am by Stinger

USB 2.0 is faster than a Zip drive, heck it's faster than even firewire. But I digress...

No mention of what the mobo is. But if it's a Dell, it's probably very propietory. Go back to WinXP and use NTFS partition. Win2000 in NOT better than WinXP, that's bordering on laughable, sorry guys. Increase the RAM of course, but be sure you use some decent brand name. Do some research (if you can) on the mobo and see what type of RAM is designed for that board. Throwing in any 'ol RAM is a recipe for unstability. No mention of chipset either, drivers drivers drivers. No mention of AGP port type, assuming it's not Pro. No mention of hard drive specks, but buffer size is important. No mention of PCU specks either, got enough power to run that puppy?

Concentrate on research first before you upgrade. This can be one of the best times you'll have with that computer, upgrading can be VERY rewarding if you put some effort into it. Done properly, it could last for a long time with very minimal costs at this point.

If you have any questions about specific components, post back some more details and I'll make sure to check back, and discredit (descretely) any misinformation.

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Moderator - Lancers Reactor
Creator Privateer FAQ
no good deed will ever go unpunished
Co-Admin Elite Freelancer Server
"Corwin02 spell-checked" for ackuracee

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