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Post by kat (PC) on Jun 19, 2011 6:50:26 GMT
Right, so me thinks the time has come to think about upgrading. This has nothing to do with my reply in the NFS Run thread, to be honest, my interest level in Run is about 1/10. So i'm looking more as an overal upgrade. I'm not looking at state-of-the-art, about to run the next space mission type of PC. I'm not much into gaming to warrant that kind of upgrade...or money. So here's what i have *gets out piece of paper to read from...lol*; Intel E6750, 775 Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz with 4MB cache Asus motherboard P5N-E-SLI Socket 775 QuadCore 2xPCIEx16, RAID 4GB RAM (only using 3.2 because of Windows XP) It originally came with 2GB (says DDR, 800). And when i added the extra 2 (2 sticks of 1GB), it says it's DDR 2, so i'm guessing what was in there originally is also DDR 2? Hard drive SATAII 500GB 16MB 1GB Geforce 8800GT 256-bit DDR3 Windows XP service pack 3 (no idea if it's 32 or 64 bit - how do you check it?) So most of that i have no idea what it is or what it does, but it's in there, so im sure it does something, lol. Now what i'm thinking is going to an I5 , or budget-permitting, the I7. Bit i've noticed most the new I5 and I7 have either the same or less GHz than i do now. So i don't really understand that. And as much as i love Windows XP, how much longer is it going to be continued to be supported? Either way, i know sooner or later i'm looking at Windows 7. Just the standard Home version is good enough. I don't need Word, Speadsheets etc. 4GB? Is that enough these days? I don't have a lot of applications on the computer, and the games i dont use, get uninstalled, so there's really no more than maybe 3 games on there at a time. And i try to clean things up often. And for the hard drive, do i need more than 500GB? Now, my graphics card, i'm actually quite happy with, and i don't want to spend money on something that will only be a slight improvement. But niether do i have the cash to go to the newest NVidea cards. So i don't really know. To be honest, i don't want to spend more than $500 (Aust. dollars), though i know i'm pushing my luck here. So fire away
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Post by Grnkjr0 on Jun 19, 2011 7:27:47 GMT
I love searching for the best hardware combo deal, so please tell me if you have any preferable online sites in Australia you want to buy from, or are we talking local hardware store?
Poul
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Post by Grnkjr0 on Jun 19, 2011 7:58:26 GMT
Another thing; will you be able to install a new motherboard, RAM, CPU yourself?
Poul
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Post by Bandit (PC/PS3/4) on Jun 19, 2011 10:58:29 GMT
Mwoah it isn't that bad i think.. I think you should first try and see what your system does with a fresh graphics card and a 64bit OS.. So perhaps look between a Geforce GT(x) 550 and a Radeon HD6870; And then either Windows XP 64bit or Windows 7 64bit.. That should spice things up alot i think? Good luck, Bandit
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Post by kat (PC) on Jun 20, 2011 3:56:13 GMT
Paul - i know online would probably be cheapest, but i have no way of paying for it. It'll have to be somewhere i can call and send a cheque/money order or something to, so must be in Australia. They must be able to take orders over the phone so i can send them some money. Memory, graphics card, those things i can do myself. We're talking pull one out, and shove another in. But whole operating systems, motherboards etc...nup. So i think it's best for me to get the stuff and give it to someone to put together. I know it will be expensive paying for labour, but hey, such is life. Bandit - yeah, it's not that bad. It's a decent PC. Think sooner or later i'll have to go Win 7 Graphics cards are the killers, they are expensive. The newer NVidea would probably take out most of my budget just on it's own, lol. But at least it's a start, thanks I had no idea where to start really. Ok, so i can pick up Windows 7 here from the local paper. Unused, just someone selling it. How do i check if my Win is 32 or 64? I've been through multiple menues, looking at system info, and can't find anything.
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Post by Bandit (PC/PS3/4) on Jun 20, 2011 6:20:22 GMT
Usually it'll say 64 bit when you actually have it.. And since it's only using 3.2 GB of the 4 GB memory installed, it's 32 bit Make sure you're picking up a 64 bit version when you buy it, especially second hand.. It should say on the DVD casing as well as the DVD itself i believe...
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Post by Grnkjr0 on Jun 21, 2011 19:06:53 GMT
Hey Kat... After spending quite some time browsing through a lot of Australian PC hardware online sites, I am sure this is the best deal you will find. I think you should upgrade to the LGA 1155 socket. This means you will need a motherboard, CPU, memory and I guess you want to be doing some gaming I found some suggestions at www.megabuy.comA new motherboard would be: Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 This has the latest Z68 chipset and even supports 2-Way ATI CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI technology, so adding another graphics card at some point later on will not be a problem. Further more it has 2 of the new SATA 6Gb/s connectors and better still also supports Intel´s Smart Response Technology. www.megabuy.com.au/gigabyte-b3-gigabyte-ga-z68ma-d2h-b3-mb-intel-z68-chipset-socket-1155-4x-ddr3-s-sub-hdmi-p266526.htmlYou need new memory: Corsair 2x2GB(XMS3) 1600MHz PC-12800 Kit RAM Nothing to say except it´s cheap and fast. This is only 2x2 GB, but you have four slots, so you can upgrade with 4GB later on. www.megabuy.com.au/corsair-2x2gbxms3-1600mhz-pc-12800-kit-ram-p144353.htmlYou need of course a new processor. And the best deal at the moment is Intel´s Core i5 2400 3.10GHz. Nothing to say about it, except it´s damn fast at this price level. www.megabuy.com.au/intel-core-i5-2400-310ghz-6mb-cache-p221076.htmlYou also need a new and faster graphics card. What about an Asus ENGTX550 TI. Now this particular card is not in stock, but it says can be ordered. I looked at the specifications, and a 1015 MHz core clock, 2030 shader clock and a memory clock running 4200 MHz is just plain sick. I have no idea why it´s so damn fast, but you want it. It will be as fast as my GTX460, running those clocks. www.megabuy.com.au/asus-engtx550-ti-dcdi1gd5-geforce-gtx550-ti-1gb-192bit-gddr5-2x-dvi-hdmi-p257206.htmlNow all this is $553.70 (Australian of course) and you do not want to change any of these suggestions, unless it´s a matter of spending this much money. Now of course this means you will have to keep everything else from your old PC - but that is really not a problem. Your case should fit these things just fine, and your hard disk, PSU and DVD and whatever else - can easily be replaced at a very little cost. A spinning harddisk and a DVD writer is so damn cheap these days, it´s everything else that is expensive. Now I know people think replacing a motherboard is difficult, well it´s not. Just go look at the old motherboard and see how the cables run and then take a picture or make a drawing so that you remember where all the cables go, and into what. As you said above kat, replacing memory and graphics card is just "pull one out, and shove another in" - well it´s the same with the motherboard. I can guide you through replacing the motherboard and take pictures of how you need to do things. What about Windows 7 you say? Well, I can find a "free" version for you, if you know how to download it and burn it onto a blank DVD. This is the best price/performance combo I can think of, and if you do not have all that money right now, then wait until you do. Poul
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Post by Grnkjr0 on Jun 21, 2011 19:29:17 GMT
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Post by kat (PC) on Jun 22, 2011 7:04:33 GMT
Oh wow! You've done so much work! It sounds good (or the bits i can understand anyway ) $550 is do-able! Now the motherboard, i have no idea what any of that means. 2-way crossfire...smart response technology...what??? Are we building a PC or a fighter jet? hehe Do i need all that? What's it all do? And if i don't have it what will or won't work? My monitor can't do the resolution of that graphics card, lol. It can do max 1920x1080. What about cooling? And power? Yes, i see what you mean. I can download and write to a CD/DVD with what i have now I wouldn't want to replace my DVD drive. I don't do enough with it to warrant a new one. So 'if the plug will fit', it stays. New hard drive? Why? There's nothing else in there except USB slots in the front (which don't work for some reason), hole for headset/mic, and slot for memory card reader (like off a camera). Like i said, i don't do that much with the PC.
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Post by Bandit (PC/PS3/4) on Jun 22, 2011 15:04:55 GMT
...Like i said, i don't do that much with the PC. ... If you don't mind me asking, why would you want to upgrade it then?
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Post by dimitrikhoz on Jun 22, 2011 15:41:14 GMT
...Like i said, i don't do that much with the PC. ... If you don't mind me asking, why would you want to upgrade it then? Bandit, the answer is here: isrc2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=1135&page=2And, if you do not want to click on that link, I copy/pasted it here for you: Some more news about NFS Run:San Francisco->New York. From developers: “Frostbite 2 is primarily developed for DX11. XP & DX9 is _not_ supported, 64-bit OS is recommended. Lots of time to upgrade if you haven't!” Oh i missed this bit...that counts me out then No idea why i added that smilie, it's not really something to be happy about, but i'm feeling in a wierd mood today, so yeah!
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Scud (PC)
ISRC Rookie
I'm like a half Robin Hood; I steal from the rich 'n keep it!
Posts: 89
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Post by Scud (PC) on Jun 22, 2011 17:20:44 GMT
Right, so me thinks the time has come to think about upgrading. This has nothing to do with my reply in the NFS Run thread, to be honest, my interest level in Run is about 1/10. Dimitri, did you read the first post? The description seems kinda scientific and she even breaks out the math. I am - by no means - an expert in rocket science or code language, nor do I claim to understand the female psyche... ...or Kat's for that matter. But if I had to make an educated guess I'd say it's a type of expression that nice people tend to use when they're trying to show a general disinterest - or as I'd like to call it - don't give a shit. ...Like i said, i don't do that much with the PC. ... If you don't mind me asking, why would you want to upgrade it then? Because otherwise she's gonna end up like me, not playing anything.
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Post by dimitrikhoz on Jun 22, 2011 18:04:47 GMT
Scud, I understand your point, and I red the first/original post by Kat. But Kat is a female. And me, having some fraud investigations background, I found it very suspicious, that the post about PC upgrades was written just 20 min after being kinda upset about the fact that new games are switching to the DX11. And look careful, I did not mention NFS Run in my previous post
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Post by Bandit (PC/PS3/4) on Jun 22, 2011 18:36:59 GMT
If that where the case, then she should be 'enough off' with my initial suggestion?
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Post by Grnkjr0 on Jun 22, 2011 23:10:06 GMT
If that where the case, then she should be 'enough off' with my initial suggestion? I will be buy this, just for the fun of it. Poul
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