Another computer question here. I'm embarrassed to say it, but I'm pretty(very very) ignorant when it comes to computer upgrades now. That happens when ya have very, very little money to use on it I suppose. Anyways, on to the question.

How huge of an upgrade is it going from an old Pentium 4 2.93GHz(which came from a hp pavilion a1220n (http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-pavilion-a1220n-pentium/4505-3118_7-31533902.html)) to something like an Intel Pentium E5200 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072)? And would there be a better choice for something in that price range?

If it helps, my vid card is an Radeon HD 3850 256mb, I have 2gb DDR2 667, a 6ish month old xp installation, and this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138095) is my motherboard. I originally planned on upgrading my cpu soon after my motherboard and video card, but wasn't able to and have had to deal with it. But I should finally be able to do 70-80 for a cpu in a few weeks.

I'm getting a new computer too. Please advise.

I know like a month ago Ainwein got a new computer and there is a lot of good info in his thread. Anyone care to reiterate the key points? I don't want to buy a new/refurbished Dell or from the pre-built PC websites. I'd prefer to just buy the parts on newegg and build it. I don't need a monitor, printer, mouse, keyboard, etc. Just the computer.

San you said getting a dual-core is better than a quad-core. What are some things I should aim for? I'm not looking for top of the line shit. Just want to spend between $500-$1,500 dollars and get a good/decent computer for running WoW.

I don't know anything about harddrives other than bigger the GB numbers = the better. What doe all the RPM numbers have to do with anything? What is a good brand/RPM thing to get?

What are good RAM brands? I have had two computers both with Asus motherboards, so i'd want to get another Asus so the RAM would have to be compatible with that.

Any advice (aside from Fandros hailing AMD) is appreciated! Gerf PM me bro.

Thanks!

As far as the RPM on hard drives are concerned, that's how fast the platters spin. In larger hard drives (>150GB) you want a faster RPM so your data seek time is lessened.

Western Digital is still be best manufacturer of hard drives, but they still cost an arm and a leg.

Atm the moment not much takes true advantage of quadcore, plus your can usually get more bang for your buck getting a higher end dual core. Anything with Core 2 Duo processor in the upper 2.8+ is nice. I have a 3.1 currently and love it. You want a processor with the most L2 cache you can get 8MB is really really nice, if you can find something with L3, even better.

RAM, unless you are going to get 64bit Vista/XP/7 technically anything over 3gigs of RAM is going to waste, and 4gigs is the absolute most you can use on a 32-bit system. As far as brands, TBH unless you are a guy who tries and tweaks every last bit of horsepower out of their PC, i usually get PNY memory I have had it in 4 systems now and never had a problem with latency.

HDD, 7200 seems to be the standard, I try for the 9600+ RPM's, there are some Raptor HDD's that are fast as crap but you pay a premium for them.

Graphics cards, IMO 8800 GTX by Nvidia is probably the most stable and tested a billion times card to get. THough ATI has some new cards coming out that a amazing, but you again are paying a premium. The 8800 have finally dropped in price after the 9XXX series has hit production.

Thanks Grey :)

I know the video card is always another hot topic for debate. I would prefer to get Nvidia so your suggestion works out great. I am hoping to get the 'hot video card from last year' because I don't see the point in paying big bucks for something that is obsolete in 3 months. So you would suggest just comparing prices of 8800s to 9xxx? Anyone else have suggestions?


Graphics cards, IMO 8800 GTX by Nvidia is probably the most stable and tested a billion times card to get. THough ATI has some new cards coming out that a amazing, but you again are paying a premium. The 8800 have finally dropped in price after the 9XXX series has hit production.

What about power supplies? And what types of compatibilities do I need to search for in motherboards?

Again thanks! Hopefully later I can post a bunch of component links and let me know if its all compatible :p

power supplies again, unless your a freakish computer junkie, off brand is fine, you need ATLEAST 400 watts. With power supplies there is never too much, the more cd-roms, and things you plug into your computer the more power it uses, so keep that in mind.

Could anyone advise me on a motherboard? What are some key characteristics to look for in a mother board? Just to be sure it is compatible with the Processor i am interested in?

yeah make sure the sockets match 775 is a very popular socket atm.

You want a 16x PCI-e Video card slot, you want it to support ATLEAST 4gigs of ram. Because later in life you may want to upgrade to 64bit and then get more ram, but if your mobo doesnt your screwed.

you want SATA HD's (kind of connection) be sure to get a mobo that supports 2 HD's again for future upgrades. Chipsets anything nforce is typically nice and easily maintained via constant software upgrades.

You want it to support DDR2 ram (DDR3 if your willing to shell out the cash) the higher the ram speed the better.

ASUS makes decent stuff I always look there first then i start searching for same thing but cheaper.

Ended up spending a little over $850 (includes shipping).

I spent most of my money on the graphics card. My main savings I feel came from a good deal on the power supply. It was like 50% off and it had 700 positive reviews! Otherwise this whole thing would have been about $1,000 even.

Case 65.00 APEVIA X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW Beige Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 420W power supply for AMD/Intel Power Supply - Retail
Mother Board 125.00 20.00 ASUS P5Q-E LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Power Supply 100.00 20.00 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Processor 188.00 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
Harddrive 70.00 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
RAM 80.00 OCZ ReaperX HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPX800EB4GK - Retail
DVD/CD 25.00 LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM
Graphics Card 180.00 20.00 EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Totals

833.00 60.00

Well this posted like total shit from my spreadsheet. If anyone cares to read it good luck!

Thanks for your help! :eek: :)

I wouldn't go with an off brand PSU - when those go, they tend to take the PC with them, especially the cheap ones. One area to splurge a little is a decent PSU. Look past frills like lighting or 'special' cables and look at the build and what it supplies in terms of power. Spend time calculating out what your power needs will be.

For a motherboard, use Newegg's features to shop. I wanted one with a minimum 8 gig/4 slots for RAM, although I only run four currently. I also wanted a certain number of USB slots (or card slots for a USB card), graphics slots as mentioned above, and spent time reading reviews to see what others said. One common issue I saw on a few mobos was systems which could only handle SP2 of WinXP, or some such oddity. Just be well informed, which Newegg is good for.

I wouldn't go with an off brand PSU - when those go, they tend to take the PC with them, especially the cheap ones. One area to splurge a little is a decent PSU. Look past frills like lighting or 'special' cables and look at the build and what it supplies in terms of power. Spend time calculating out what your power needs will be.


Ya I spent a long time looking at power supplies to find a good one.

anyone used a 64 bit chip? what has been your compatibility issues?

I have not experienced any compat issues on 64bit platform for games. On the contrary, 32bit Vista users with DirectX 10 and LOTRO have had issues (http://lotro.com/support/vista32. Some design software had issues early on and one old tablet device (drawing pad) had some driver issues at first but now most of my devices and software are ok with 64bit arch.

anyone used a 64 bit chip? what has been your compatibility issues?

While not true 64 bit chips in the sense that an Itanium is, any recent Intel or AMD chip is 64 bit capable. It will function either way depending on the OS you install.

Long as your components aren't ancient, 64 bit works fine these days and is quite a bit faster in some circumstances. I'd say it's definitely the way to go on any new PC that may someday have more than 3GB of RAM installed.

Isn't all of Vista in 64-bit?



Long as your components aren't ancient, 64 bit works fine these days and is quite a bit faster in some circumstances. I'd say it's definitely the way to go on any new PC that may someday have more than 3GB of RAM installed.

So if I got a new computer I should install Vista? How can I be sure I am getting the 64 bit one?

You can get Vista (and Win7 in the future) in both x86 and x64. Only the Ultimate edition of Vista comes with x64 media, but the licenses for all versions are good for both. You can order the x64 media from Microsoft for just the shipping cost.

Sanche(c)k,

What is the difference between Vista Basic, Vista Premium and Vista Ultimate? The Ultimate edition is like 100 more than the other two versions. It seems stupidly expensive (200 dollars). Which version is best to get if all I need to use it for is normal everday computer use?

They should have some version comparison chart on the site somewhere. Premium is probably the best deal.

They should have some version comparison chart on the site somewhere. Premium is probably the best deal.

That's what I found too. Mainly Ultimate has the Bitlocker technology which doesn't do me any good! Premium it is. THX U SIR