Pages: 1

 

2006-07-23 06:15:31
donpost
Member
+8|7061
My computer is coming up to it's 2nd birthday now, and it's starting to look a bit sluggish. Here are my specs:


Gigabyte GA-8IG1000G Mobo
Super Flower Real 420w Dual Fan PSU
Pentium 4 2.8GHz Processor
2x 512mb PC3200 DDR400 Ram sticks
Connect3d ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB Graphics Card
2x 80GB 7200RPM HDD
Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Sound Card
Ebuyer Extra Value Beige PS2 Keyboard


I want to upgrade that. Now I'm not 100% hardware savvy, so I need you guys to give me some advice. I initially thought of getting these two products from ebuyer:

Mobo + CPU combo

Nice sexy Gfx Card


But then I thought, is going from a P4 2.8 to a AMD 64bit 3200+ really worth it? Would I be better off spunking the money on a really top Gfx card and another 1 Gb of RAM? Also I have no idea if my current RAM would fit into that new mobo.

Another point to consider is I don't want to format my PC if possible. Can you do something as drastic as replacing the mobo and CPU without having to format?

Thanks for any advice

Last edited by donpost (2006-07-23 06:15:57)

2006-07-23 06:25:18
Harmonics
A stabbing fatality
+22|6804
I had exactly the same processor and upgraded to a 3500+ and the difference is phenominal, so yes it'd be worth it.

and yes, you can replace the mobo and cpu without having to format.
2006-07-23 06:30:58
donpost
Member
+8|7061

Harmonics wrote:

I had exactly the same processor and upgraded to a 3500+ and the difference is phenominal, so yes it'd be worth it.

and yes, you can replace the mobo and cpu without having to format.
Thanks for a reply. This is just a 3200+ though, will it still be worth it do you think?
2006-07-23 06:38:35
Harmonics
A stabbing fatality
+22|6804
yes yes, AMD beat P4's hands down when it comes to gaming.
2006-07-24 16:29:53
Penetrator
Certified Twat
+296|6809|Bournemouth, South England

donpost wrote:

Another point to consider is I don't want to format my PC if possible. Can you do something as drastic as replacing the mobo and CPU without having to format?

Thanks for any advice
I recently attempted a mobo change. If you change it drastically, for example different chipset and BIOS manufacturer, then Windoze XP has issues with the Hardware Allocation Table (HAL). If your pc came with an OEM disk instead of a full retail version of Windoze, then your screwed, go buy a proper cd. If you already have the full cd, you may need to use it to boot for the first time, and select "Repair Install". This will reset the HAL to recognise your new chipset, or even allow you to install the drivers from cd.

I used to have an emachines rig, but their EULA states that you cant upgrade the motherboard, which I beleive is  both illegal and unethical. Microsoft did give me a new cd key to use, as I explained that my old mobo broke down, and the original version was no longer available. The seemed cool with that. eMachines lock the OEM XP install (via Symantec Ghost) to the chipset serial number, no way it will ever work with a different BIOS version, it simply doesn't host the drivers. Most OEM disks are now like this.
2006-07-24 16:34:05
Arch-35
Member
+1|7010
I would check with Newegg for your parts:

http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/AMD_mobo/index.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814143048
2006-07-24 16:37:10
AT3am_Murd0ch
Member
+15|6881

Harmonics wrote:

I had exactly the same processor and upgraded to a 3500+ and the difference is phenominal, so yes it'd be worth it.
True, it would be much better...

Harmonics wrote:

and yes, you can replace the mobo and cpu without having to format.
Er... kind of... You will most likely have to do a repair install of windows, but yes it is do-able...
2006-07-25 22:11:21
slo5oh
Member
+28|6962

AT3am_Murd0ch wrote:

Harmonics wrote:

I had exactly the same processor and upgraded to a 3500+ and the difference is phenominal, so yes it'd be worth it.
True, it would be much better...

Harmonics wrote:

and yes, you can replace the mobo and cpu without having to format.
Er... kind of... You will most likely have to do a repair install of windows, but yes it is do-able...
Much easier to do a clean install though.  I just went through it with an AMD XP chipped system I slapped together.  Built it on an asus VIA chipset board and wanted to swap out to an nforce2 board, but repair install failed twice.  Of couse I didn't have any real data on the machine yet so I wasn't worried about anything other than the wasted time of doing a full install again, but that turned out to be the easiest solution.
2006-07-25 22:13:18
Capt. Foley
Member
+155|6889|Allentown, PA, USA
Wait for conroe, Its coming out in like 3 days, it will blow AMD away. And get a bigger power supply. And 2 gigs of RAM DDR2, 7900GT or GTX or ATI equivilent(Im a nVidia fan).
2006-07-25 22:52:11
Volatile
Member
+252|7005|Sextupling in Empire

Capt. Foley wrote:

Wait for conroe, Its coming out in like 3 days, it will blow AMD away. And get a bigger power supply. And 2 gigs of RAM DDR2, 7900GT or GTX or ATI equivilent(Im a nVidia fan).
2006-07-25 22:59:48
Cybargs
Moderated
+2,285|7017

Volatile_Squirrel wrote:

Capt. Foley wrote:

Wait for conroe, Its coming out in like 3 days, it will blow AMD away. And get a bigger power supply. And 2 gigs of RAM DDR2, 7900GT or GTX or ATI equivilent(Im a nVidia fan).
what he said. but conroe is comming out tommorow july 27th ftw. wait, how much is your budget?
https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png
2006-07-25 23:08:35
R3v4n
We shall beat to quarters!
+433|6787|Melbourne

Also remeber if you plan on overclocking your grahpics card your going to decrease your performance. I would recomend a better cpu then a Medicore grahpics card i.e. X1600XT that you can overclock to higher performance   while saving for a better Graphics card. well thats my two points.
~ Do you not know that in the service … one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?
2006-07-26 14:41:43
AT3am_Murd0ch
Member
+15|6881

slo5oh wrote:

AT3am_Murd0ch wrote:

Harmonics wrote:

I had exactly the same processor and upgraded to a 3500+ and the difference is phenominal, so yes it'd be worth it.
True, it would be much better...

Harmonics wrote:

and yes, you can replace the mobo and cpu without having to format.
Er... kind of... You will most likely have to do a repair install of windows, but yes it is do-able...
Much easier to do a clean install though.  I just went through it with an AMD XP chipped system I slapped together.  Built it on an asus VIA chipset board and wanted to swap out to an nforce2 board, but repair install failed twice.  Of couse I didn't have any real data on the machine yet so I wasn't worried about anything other than the wasted time of doing a full install again, but that turned out to be the easiest solution.
Yes very true - clean install is always going to be much better!

Capt. Foley wrote:

Wait for conroe, Its coming out in like 3 days, it will blow AMD away. And get a bigger power supply. And 2 gigs of RAM DDR2, 7900GT or GTX or ATI equivilent(Im a nVidia fan).
Didnt he say 'upgrade'? Not 'Rebuild'? lol...

 

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