Upgrade or buy a new one?

[Cayen]

alright guys this computer im on isnt mine its my mom's boyfriends computer. i own a Comapq Presario 1000 unfortunately they are discontinued and any ram upgrades i have found or any other type of upgrades cost alot since if i remember well its either ddr3 or ddr1 that i need. here are some of the specs i have on it.

Form Factor: Mini Tower

Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2.167 GHz

Chipset: VIA KM400A

Installed Memory: 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

HDD Size: 80 GB

so if anyone can find low priced upgrades for me cuz ive been looking for ever or just buy a new one that can atleast play mw2 on the lowest details since if it cant well then thats wasted money for me. thx for the help

*edit*

if you have any Computers to suggest even if they cost more then 1000$ to buy go ahead im taking ideas

Edited August 23, 2010 by Cayen 1st MRB

[Zachow 1st MRB]

I'm not sure what your budget is but I would suggest a new computer that is a fairly weak gaming rig all around.

[Cayen]

as i just edited i dont really mind the cost right now since when i go to buy something i know will be expensive i take my time so go ahead and suggest some computers i may even accept laptop suggestions. since i want to get a new system aniways

[Ford 1st MRB]

Build your own, price parts on the net, and buy the cheapest ones.

I wouldn't buy a pre-built computer from anywhere.

[Janke 1st MRB]

Build your own, price parts on the net, and buy the cheapest ones.

I wouldn't buy a pre-built computer from anywhere.

I agree with this man, though watch out. Sometimes the cheapest may be shitty and unreliable, read reviews before buying and make sure to look at ratings. I generally don't touch anything with more than 10% of reviews being 1 star (or one egg, in the case of Newegg).

[Dillon 1st MRB]

I agree. Build your own. If you would like, I can give you some recommendations. Do you have any preference of brands of the following:

CPU/Processor:

GPU:

Motherboard

Hard Drive

RAM:

If you don't have one, I'll throw some options out for you. If you have a solid case, DVD drive, keyboard and mouse, I think we can get something really good between $500-$1,000.

I've done somewhere around 100 builds (in person), so we can set up whatever you are looking for. In the last group I played with, I walked a guy through building it and it worked perfect.

I would also recommend you get Windows 7 64-bit at this point. Students can get it for ~$30 right now.

[Cayen]

great idea dillon start suggesting the brand doesnt really bother me. and i have everything u mentioned below

[Ford 1st MRB]

sigh... this is going to start so many arguments lol

My recommendations:

Intel i7 CPU

eVga Motherboard

eVga Nvidia Video Card(s) Pair up nicely with the chipsets on the eVga motherboard, allowing some amazingly easy overclocking.

Antec Power Supply

Mushkin or G Skill Memory

Lian Li Lancool or Antec 900 for a case

Audigy Sound Card, if you get one.

ZeroTherm or Zalman CPU Cooler

Western Digital Hard Drive(s)

Lite On Optical Drive(s), they make a very cheap blu ray player, under 50 bucks.

Samsung LED or LCD High def monitor with HDMI for full 1080p resolution.

I run some eVga cards to my Samsung 23" LED monitor through HDMI cabling. Blu Ray movies look better on my monitor than most tvs I have seen.

[Cayen]

o and btw with the suggestions try to incorporate the costs just incase alot of people suggest things

also give me some basics to start off with then add some flashy stuff

Edited August 24, 2010 by Cayen 1st MRB

[Dillon 1st MRB]

WD Black 1 TB - $89.99

GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $108.99

EVGA 01G-P3-1372-TR GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $239.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH - $119.99

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDX945WFGMBOX - $135.99

Total - $694.95

I did a couple of things here... I went with a GTX460 when you could get away with an ATI 5770. Its a much better card for only ~$60 more.

I went with an AMD cpu because I like the AM3 upgrade path. If you want to upgrade in 2 years, you'll still be able to find a new AMD cpu that will drop right in.

I like Ford's build a lot. The i7 is the best processor right now. However, there is a price premium on the motherboards and then it uses triple channel ram (you have to buy one more stick of ram), and it won't be a socket thats around much past the end of this year. If Intel ever stuck with a socket for longer than 2 years, I"d be down. As it is, I had an AM2+ motherboard that will still accept new processors. Its 4 years old. Great investment.

But, if you go i7, you won't regret it.

[Cayen]

sounds good ill save that in a folder for now

[Le 1st MRB]

Like ford said, build your own. I'll have some suggestions for you up soon. Stay away from pre-built ones, they are made to rip you off and give you trouble. Especially Alienware, overpriced, pieces of shit, and Zachow had problems with cyberpc.com or something like that.

[Ford 1st MRB]

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz = 290.00 CPU

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 = 185.00 Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 = 140.00 Memory

ZEROtherm CORE92 Socket 1156/1366 HDT Cooler = 34.00 CPU Cooler

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower = 110.00 Case

WD Black 1 TB = $90.00 (nice HD Dillon) HD

EVGA 01G-P3-1372-TR GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked (Fermi) 1GB = 240.00 Video Card

LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA = 60.00 Blu-Ray ( I own this and not one complaint)

LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R = 25.00 Burns DVD and CD

SAMSUNG XL2370-1 Charcoal Gray 23" 2ms Full HD HDMI LED = 300.00 I own this monitor as well, love it.

Antec TPQ-850 850W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified = 140.00 Power Suppy

Total = 1512.00 plus shipping.

Without the Monitor, Power supply, BD, DVD/CD, and Case = 877.00 plus shipping.

If I were you, I would start fresh and get everything new. I'm not sure what power supply you currently own, but that video card takes a lot of juice, add in the cpu and you might be in trouble with your current one. Also a mini tower may not hold the video card, its pretty long. It might not hold the motherboards we posted either.

It all depends on how much you have and want to spend.

Now obviously what I posted is a tad higher than what Dillon posted. However, this is a full system minus keyboard and mouse that will rape any game you throw at it. Intel i7 is the only way to go in my opinion. Not that AMD is bad, they just aren't as good.

This system will be valid and upgradeable for quite a while. With a 24GB ram capacity, the ability to upgrade to faster processors and the fact it can run 3 video cards and has a 4th slot for a PhysX card, the motherboard is good for a few years. The Power supply will support two of those video cards without breaking a sweat. All in all, this is a damn fine rig and the price is low considering the capabilities of it and the amount of time it will remain a better than average rig.

You can pick and choose, but don't skimp on the Video cards and cpu if you want to run games with no issues. And personally, the monitor is a key piece to any good gaming rig, why have all those graphics on a less than par monitor. Go big or go home I say.

Add another 140.00 for 12 gigs of memory instead of 6. The motherboard supports up to 24 gigs.

Hope that helps.

[Ford 1st MRB]

Oh and for shits and giggles, if you want to splurge and have the money get one of these amd install Widows 7 on it and nothing else.

Press your power button on your pc and be looking at your windows 7 desktop fully loaded 12 seconds later.

[Janke 1st MRB]

Personally, I think it would be a better idea to just get a standard 1TB 7200RPM HDD than add on another $160 SSD, I'd wait until Solid State comes down in price before buying one, right now I don't think the money's worth the speed, your usual HDD is fast enough.

Either way, I endorse Ford's build.

[Costa 1st MRB]

If you need to skimp on things to save cost cut out things like expensive DVD drives or flashy cases. If you get a ok case you can just take the side off of it to help with cooling/cleaning.

But like Ford said, the major things for a gaming PC are video cards, CPUs, and hard drives. Everything else is more or less icing on the cake.

Also for cases try and get a really roomy one if you plan on upgrading the shit out of it later, I've had to switch my case a few times to keep up with the bricks of video cards and giant heat-sinks for CPUs.

But if you don't want to build your own Best Buy actually sells some fairly decent gaming rigs at a good cost.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

I'd forgotten about this. One of my favorite tech sites has a building guide. It picks 4 price points and builds to it. The levels are:

1. Econobox and the alternative

2. Utility Player and the alternative

3. Sweeter Spot and the alternative

4. Double Stuff Workstation and the alternative

Tech Report's Summer Building Guide

For someone making their first dip into buying components, its really a great read. It builds a $500, $800, and $1200 budget and then ~$3500 for the double stuff.

When it comes time for the operating system, I would definately avoid 32-bit. The limit on memory alone is worth going to 64-bit. For your needs, I'd go with Home Premium. Unless the price is the same (student discount), then I'd go Pro.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Dillon 1st MRB

[Cayen]

a case i get get no problem so are a couple of things mentioned above since my uncleworks in computers. in fact he might be able to get me good prices for the suggestions above to. alright thx guys and if you have more to suggest keep going variety is the key here. Especially since right now i dont really mind about the price.

[Cayen]

im bringing this topic back from the dead O.O

Ford the rig you had posted at the cost of 1512.00 plus shipping had interested me but parts have been discontinued although i might buy it if i can get some help making the rig more recent and around the same price range since well ( im not paying for the parts) i need a rig thats good for 3D animation and the new games that are coming out and such.

- Cayen