I'm looking for a faster system for home use, and cannot decide if it's going to be cheaper to buy a new PC, or to upgrade the one I have at the moment.

The only trouble is, I have NO IDEA what will and will not fit into my machine, if I can just upgrade my processor without a new motherboard etc etc.

Can any of you kind (and knowledgeable!) souls help me out?

My system:

CPU Intel® Celeron® 2.3 GHz
Motherboard TriGem IM845GL (Imperial)
***Memory 256 MB DDR RAM - PC2100***
Hard Drive 80GB Seagate ST380022A
CD / DVD Drive Samsung SM-348B
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
***Video / Graphics Card Intel 845G integrated graphics***
Sound Card Avance AC'97
Modem Conexant™ 56K PCI WinModem
Network Card RealTek 8100L (onboard - RTL8139)


***The only changes I've made is to put two 512mb strips of DDR RAM in there, and my graphics card is now an NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 (PCI, 128mb)***

I'm looking for something at least a 3.0 ghz processor, and a DVD-RW. A new fast graphics card would be nice, but not essential right away...

ANY info and help would be gratefully recommended!

I can't claim to be an expert, but i was in a similar position last year. I decided that it would work out cheaper in the long run to get a new machine (one which would cope with Windows XP and also a good braodband connection). I bought a great machine off Ebay for a really good price.

What we usually say is buy a new PC but save money by scavenging a few parts from your old one. If you bring it into my shop in hillsborough (Very PC langsett rd) I should be able to have a closer look and advise you.

I slowly upgraded my machine bit by bit as I could afford it, motherboard and CPU first.

I believe you're stuck with a celery processor with that motherboard, so a new motherboard and CPU is your first port of call I reckon.

I dont see why you couldnt keep the rest of the machine though. I'd probably replace the memory next.

Originally posted by Pete1024
What we usually say is buy a new PC but save money by scavenging a few parts from your old one. If you bring it into my shop in hillsborough (Very PC langsett rd) I should be able to have a closer look and advise you.


how much do you charge for putting a old computer in a new tower as my old one is a bit batterd

Vary's depending on the tower you pick, some are easy and some are difficult to install into. towers start from £20 and transferring all your stuff can be from £20-£40 depending on th awkwardness of the tower!

What do you do that requires a faster processor?

For the general home user.. Your current spec seems more than sufficient.

Unless you're dealing alot in viedo editing, large games etc etc.. I'd stick to what you already have and save the cash.

Originally posted by Pete1024
Vary's depending on the tower you pick, some are easy and some are difficult to install into. towers start from £20 and transferring all your stuff can be from £20-£40 depending on th awkwardness of the tower!


I am in the wrong job, £40 for using a screwdriver :wow:

Originally posted by Skatiechik
I am in the wrong job, £40 for using a screwdriver :wow:

Not that simple.. It's easy to damage the prcessor/heat sink when transferring everything over.

Tower's are pretty easy, seeing as they have a bit of space.. but desktop cases are a pain!

Ebuyer.

Case - 20 quid inc psu

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=86512

motherboard - 20 quid. takes 3.2ghz chip and ddr 400. has usb2 and 6 channel sound

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=51760

Processor 3.2ghz - 38 quid

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=7546292009&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=72522

512DDR 400 RAM - 34 quid

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=46420

hard drive 80Gb - 30 quid (don't buy a Maxtor one)

Mouse and keyboard and speakers will cost about a fifteen quid, then spend as much as you can on a video card if you want it for games.

:)

Something similar anyway...
Only thing not listed is windows but sure you can use your old one ;)

That's a very sorry excuse for a case and PSu.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=7548611879&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=72294

That's what you want to be looking at for a higher spec PSU and Case. This is a TOP brand PSU maker and the case has recieved fantastic reviews. It's definately would the extra £20. Never judge a PSU on it's power output, what do you think a 480W Tagan costs £70 and a Ebuyer value 500W costs £12...it's all about WHERE the power is allocated along the various rails, the build quality and the stability of the voltages. You're likely to have problems with a low quality PSU in the long run.

At the end of the day I still don't see why Gremlin needs a faster computer for home use? :confused:

I run a 1.4Ghz, 512Mb ram at home, it doesn't struggle on anything I use it for.

That's a very sorry excuse for a case and PSu.

The chap wanted a cheap Computer, I was pointing him in the direction of bits to make a cheap computer. It's a case, it holds all the required components and sits on the floor. People seem very concerned that because its cheap it's going to be crap. I know loads of people who have used these cases and power supplies and none of them have had any problems, I am sure Gremlin can see the other items and if he wants spend a bit more.

Never judge a PSU on it's power output,

I could go abroad and buy 10000 £10 quid PSU's, stick them in posh boxes, stick a high quality sticker on them and flog them for £70 each. It's does not make them any better.

Originally posted by Skatiechik
At the end of the day I still don't see why Gremlin needs a faster computer for home use? :confused:

I run a 1.4Ghz, 512Mb ram at home, it doesn't struggle on anything I use it for.

I'm a (wannabe!)hardcore online gamer :headbang: I've got a need for speed!!

Getting framerates of around 20 is NOT good if you wanna live in the online gaming world....

I'm also into my digital photography, so a faster machine is good for when I'm messing about in Photoshop.

Cheers for the info guys and gals. I'll have a better look tonight when I get in....

Oh, and Neeeeeeek!, none of your links are working :(

Originally posted by gremlin_mick
Oh, and Neeeeeeek!, none of your links are working :(


Work fine here;).

The links are now working here at home.

Must have been my crappy work firewall having a laugh...

Oh, and that link to the processor is for a 1.5ghz :suspect: :)

End of the day if you want a decent PC spec you need to be prepared to spend a bit of cash. I pretty much know what I'm talking about with PCs - probably more than most people who sell them, including specialist PC store staff.

If you want a high quality gaming PC you should be looking at these brands:

Hard drive = Seagate / Samsung Brand

Suggest ATA133, ignore SATA as it's more trouble tha it's worth at though unless you opt for SATA2

CD/DVD Rom = I've been VERY impressed with the access time, speed and low noise level of the Samsung drive I have

Motherboard = ASUS for top quality, GIGABYTE, ABIT and MSI are also very good brands. Make sure it's PCI-Express and Socket 939, ignore SLI it's not cost effective.

Graphics Card = 6600GT for budget, 6800GT for top performance without being silly, X800XT PE is you want the best. Suggest waiting a few months if you seriously want top end as new/better cards are due soon. Make sure any card is PCI-Express.

Case / PSU = Tagan / Antec. The Antec deal above is adequate for a budget. If you want seriously cheap though but a casecom case and 500W Ebuyer Value PSU ...costs about £20 at www.ebuyer.com

CPU = Cheap Athlon 64 3000+ Venice, mid range Athlon 64 3500+ Venice or Athlon 64 3700+ San Deiago, Athlon FX 55 Top Range. Can I also add if you're wanting a decent gaming setup DO NOT buy Intel, AMD Sempron, or AMD XP. Make sure the processor is socket 939.

RAM = If you're not overclocking get Dabs Value £55 for 1Gb of RAM and CAS2.5 (latency timing. 2 is the best you can get, 3 is average, 2.5 is good). If you're overclocking go for some Geil, Corsair XMS or something.

If someone suggests a budget to me I'll happily put the best gaming box together you will get for the budget. Minimum you want to spend on the box is approximately £400 for gaming purposes. This would run half life 2 at a decent frame rate at 1280x1024 (the size of most all flat screen monitors at 17" or 19"). Monitor would cost between £130 for a cheap 17" to £200 for a cheap 19"

The processor link should have been for a 3.2ghz! Doh!
Anyway, good to see a selection of opinions. Have to say though, it's all good and well Cptwhite suggesting all these brands that are regarded as the best etc, but you are looking for a high spec budget PC. From experience, buying the latest Asus board and CAS 2 ram is all good and well if you are loaded and want to get an extra 50 marks in 3D mark, but in the real world, it will make no real difference and the amount of money you can save by getting the PC chips board or similar, a cheap case that is functional, CAS 2.5 or 3 RAM and almost any DVD / CD ROM / writer ETC can all be put towards a better graphics card. Focus on the Graphics card and don't worry about PCI express, it's not worth the money.
Only things I would say are get branded RAM, Crucial or Kingston or something and don't get a Maxtor hard drive, they have had a few problems.

Post links to the stuff you are thinking about buying and I am sure me and others will give you our opinions, like it or not!!
:)

I picked up a pretty good Asus P4 board for just over £30 last week:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=7398&GroupID=526

Originally posted by neeeeeeeeeek
The processor link should have been for a 3.2ghz! Doh!
Anyway, good to see a selection of opinions. Have to say though, it's all good and well Cptwhite suggesting all these brands that are regarded as the best etc, but you are looking for a high spec budget PC. From experience, buying the latest Asus board and CAS 2 ram is all good and well if you are loaded and want to get an extra 50 marks in 3D mark, but in the real world, it will make no real difference and the amount of money you can save by getting the PC chips board or similar, a cheap case that is functional, CAS 2.5 or 3 RAM and almost any DVD / CD ROM / writer ETC can all be put towards a better graphics card. Focus on the Graphics card and don't worry about PCI express, it's not worth the money.
Only things I would say are get branded RAM, Crucial or Kingston or something and don't get a Maxtor hard drive, they have had a few problems.

Post links to the stuff you are thinking about buying and I am sure me and others will give you our opinions, like it or not!!
:)

Few points:

I'm not talking about the latest ASUS board, I'm talking about something like the Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 budget Nforce 4 board. It'll cost an extra £40 but has the latest technology and is a quality branded package. The PC chips board you linked to is Socket A for the processor and AGP for the Graphics card. Both of these are old technology and will allow minimal upgradability. Max processor being an Athlon XP 3200+ and whatever the final AGP card they release is. It's a fair point but would you rather spend £40 now or have to buy a whole new system when you want a new graphics card / processor in the future. Beyond that we're talking about a reputable, trusted manufacturer with decent support, the ability to use faster processors...the words budget in terms of your spec are not suitable for a gaming machine the parts you outlined are great for a general user but not for gaming.

I'm not trying to be funny but anyone will tell you Semprons are a no no for a gaming machine. There's a reason they're cheap - they're budget processors and wont provide enough grunt for intensive applications such as games.

My RAM recommendation is strictly budget, but Dabs Value is a trusted budget range and the price I've given is cheap. You'd be hard pushed to find somewhere that sells 2 x 512Mb single sided CAs2.5 memory at a cheaper price. In fact you'd be lucky to find anyway that sells 2x512Mb PC3200 RAM for less than £45-50.

CD DVD Rom Drives / Hard Drives are all with £10 of each other anyway so you might as well get a brand that has a good reputation and that I can personally vouch for.

I can give or take branded RAM, generally I'd agree but the Dabs Value range is trustworthy to save some money.

I agree about Maxtor hard drives though ;)


Ebuyer.co.uk

Samsung 16x16x DVD R/RW (Black)
Antec SLK1650/mt 350w Smart ATX Black Case
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2Ghz 512kb Skt939) Retail

£264.77 Delivered

Scan.co.uk

Gigabyte GV-NX66T128VP (GeForce 6600GT) - Silent Cooling
80Gb Seagate Barraccuda ATA-100

£172.50 Delivered (or get Samsung Spinpoint with 8Mb cache for +£5)

Dabs

2 x 512Mb RAM (1 Gb total)
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 Socket 939 nForce 4-4X PCI-E ATX Motherbaord

£135 Delivered approx

= £600.00 approx. If you wanted to cut corners.

- 20 for cheapo case
- 100 for Athlon 64 3000+ instead of 3500+
- 25 for 512Mb RAM instead of 1GB
- 20 for DVD/CD Reader only (not writer)

= £435 Approx. Sounds expensive but then we're talking about a decent spec machine you're after.


If you what something really cheap then neeeeeeeeeek solution is the way to go. I'd recommend an ATI Radeon 9800pro, Sempron 2500-3000 processor and 512Mb RAM it'd do for most situation as long as you don't bump up the res and detail levels...say run at 1024x768 with 2xAA and 2xAF instead of 1280x1024 with 4xAA and 4XAF with the above spec would probably run fine.

That was a long post :P Ok I'm done with this topic :D

Upgrade the memory from 256Mb DDR to 512Mb DDR, open the case and look for an agp slot, if there is one stick a graphics card in . A nvidia or ATI graphics card with at least 64Mb of ram (memory).
Your proccesor looks ok. This will speed up the computer with out to much cost. If you have the motherboard manual this will give you all the info you need i.e memory type and how much it will take
, cpu make, agp slot, and so on.

Cheers guys.

Some nice ideas there.

I reckon I'm just going to go for a brand new system, rather than upgrade mine.

I've seen this system online:

http://flyingelvis.bulldoghome.com/photos/BDRES/flyingelvis_bulldoghome_com/Specs.gif

Retailing for £339. Seems good to me, but is there anything in there thats weak or un-neccessary?

Same place is also offering this one for £375
http://flyingelvis.bulldoghome.com/photos/BDRES/flyingelvis_bulldoghome_com/Specs2.gif
http://flyingelvis.bulldoghome.com/photos/BDRES/flyingelvis_bulldoghome_com/Specs3.gif

Links aren't working for me.

Originally posted by GazB
What do you do that requires a faster processor?

For the general home user.. Your current spec seems more than sufficient.

Unless you're dealing alot in viedo editing, large games etc etc.. I'd stick to what you already have and save the cash.

I was just about to say the same thing!
For general home use, your computer is well over the top. If you came into our shop we'd sell you a lower spec one:o

If your computer does all the tasks you need it for, why upgrade? That's what I say.

p.s. I'm typing this on a ZX81 with a 16k RAM pack :hihi:

Basically when you buy a graphics card, to get decent performance you need one of the following: Starting with the worst

Radeon 9800 Pro 128Mb (Important, must be 256bit MEMORY INTERFACE, not to be confused with 256Mb Memory) - Note AGP connection only
Radeon 9800 XT - Note AGP connection only
Geforce 6800 LE (avoid LE, I can't guarantee it's performance)
Radeon X700 PRO
Geforce 6600 GT (note it MUST be the GT version for better bang for your buck, it's 50% faster than the non GT version)
Geforce 6800 (no letters, referred to as 'vanilla' or plain)
Geforce 6800 GTo
Radeon X800XL - note anything beyond (and including) this is a high spec card
Geforce 6800 GT
Radeon X800XT
Radeon X850XT
Geforce 6800 Ultra
Radeon X800XT PE
Radeon X850XT PE - the fastest card currently available


You will notice the spec from the links is an X300 - this is a budget graphics card, i.e. wont play games well. As is the Geforce 6200

Avoid any Geforce 5**** FX cards as they're not cost effective anymore (they were a bit of a dud range, Radeon's ruled last year) Avoid any Radeon below 9800 and any model with SE after it such as 9800SE. If it's not in my list it's not with considering for a modern gaming machine. If you're on a seriously strict budget Get a Radeon 9700pro (must be pro) or 9800pro.

There are two types of graphics interface (where they click into the main Motherboard) AGP - the old type being phased out, PCI-E - the new type being phased in. A seriously strict budget doesn't allow you to consider PCI-E solutions, note if I haven't marked it as AGP or PCI-E it's because you can get that type of card it both variations. Check the motherboard you get it APG or PCI-E (it's either one or the other).

I've been quoted £115 for a 6600GT to be added to either of those systems I posted up there.

Value for money?

(I WOULD surf the prices myself, but I;m stuck at work behind a VERY restrictive firewall :( )

Oh, and thanks for all the advice!

The Radeon 9800 Pro is ok. I've had mine about a year and i think nowadays it's less than £100. Of course there are better cards on the market, there always will be but i've had few problems with this card that updated drivers havn't fixed.

If they're saying £115 for a replacement, don't bother - get the system and buy one yourself assuming you're ok to fit it - will cost you about £135 delivered

Recommend this:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=164948 - it's the best card in the range.

Take out the X300 and stick it in the paper for £40.00 as brand new. If you can be bothered it would save you £20.00

I want to upgrade my laptop - i need a new graphics card and driver etc. How much should I expect to pay and where should i go?

Will this wipe my hard drive??

Originally posted by xsarx
I want to upgrade my laptop - i need a new graphics card and driver etc. How much should I expect to pay and where should i go?

Will this wipe my hard drive??
You can't upgrade a laptop graphics card... it's built into the system.

Just to note Mick... Cplwhite pretty much took the recommendation out of my mouth..

A socket 939 AMD 3000 or so will do the job and the motherboard he's recommended would allow you a very good upgrade in 2 or 3 years time (if not sooner).

If you want to save yourself a few pennies in the long run, my recommendation would be to go with his baseline system and pick a reasonable graphics card from the list without going into the top level..

Topping out at around £450 or so would get you a decent system that would mean saving you forking out £300 more in 2 years...


The obvious upgrade in the future will be taking in a dual core 4800 CPU and doubling/tripling your RAM for about a third of the current market prices..

That's what I'm doing for myself and various clients...

see, http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk/

it has example systems to get you going.