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888mikem888

Computer Upgrading Help.

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Hi, I'm thinking about upgrading my computer over buying a whole new one but I'm not 100% sure if I can do this or if it is better to do than buying a new computer. My current computer is a Windows XP released year 2000 with a 1.20 GHz processor, 20 GB hard drive, and is single core. I want to upgrade it so that it's good for gaming (I'm more into games released the latest 2008, like Doom 3, classic Doom, or Team Fortress 2).

What I want to do is buy an external Terabite (1,000 GB) drive, a new high end graphics card, and Windows 7. My friend told me that it's possible to upgrade a computer to multi-core but I don't know about that.

I can't really find any research that tells me exactly if this will work with what I want to use and what to build it off of. I am familiar with computers but I'm not an Engineer.

Any help to let me know if this is even possible or if this is a good idea over simply buying a new computer would be appreciated.

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888mikem888 said:

an external Terabyte drive


Not the absolute cheapest, but I own two of these and have zero complaints. It might be worth getting the 2TB version though.

888mikem888 said:

My friend told me that it's possible to upgrade a computer to multi-core but I don't know about that.


You need to find out what motherboard/cpu you have and what socket type it uses.

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Well it probably doesn't have a PCI Express bus does it? It sounds like you'll need a motherboard upgrade as well, although at that point you're putting a new computer in an old case.

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888mikem888 said:

Would any of this work with a computer as old as mine though?


Probably not. Sounds like you have Pentium III/Celeron/Athlon XP class machine. This means also that the motherboard is at most an AGP 2x-4x affair and that you can only use ridiculously expensive -by now- PC-133 SDRAM modules, at most up to 1.5 GB.

No, you can't upgrade to multicore or to modern graphics cards, unless you find an AGP card that's better than what you have (if you stick something in the nVidia 5200FX class or better, you might be able to play Doom 3 on medium detail on it, provided you have enough RAM).

You should however upgrade the internal storage, rather than getting an external one: get a cheapo SATA PCI controller, a cheap 500 GB modern SATA/SATA2 HD, and you will have much more space to play and tinker with, after you find a way to get a fresh copy of XP SP3 to install on it (you may need to slipstream SATA drivers during installaiton). That old 20 GB HD will just hinder you and may even die on you very soon, and finding new IDE ones can be a daunting task nowadays. An external one, especially of that size, will be useless for booting and running programs, especially since a computer that old will not have built-in USB 2.0 ports nor BIOS support for USB booting.

Speaking from experience, where I recently "resurrected" a rig similar to yours to replace my dead Athlon 64 box ;-)

I'm able to play Doom 3, Postal 2, and even run GPGPU demos on it ;-)

Of course, you could just get a modern mobo...even the cheapest, nasty, office-use affair with passive cooling and integrated graphics and 2 GB of RAM will smoke what you have by leaps and bounds.

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For $400 you can get a new desktop machine from parts that meets all of your specifications, is quad core, and kicks plenty of ass.

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Shaikoten said:

For $400 you can get a new desktop machine from parts that meets all of your specifications, is quad core, and kicks plenty of ass.


For $400? I don't know about THAT cheap.

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Well you can even get full-size laptops for that amount of money that are like, 7 generations ahead of your desktop machine.

And yeah, even if you get the nastiest possible "office productivity" mobo with under $200 (including the lowest CPU you can find, integrated graphics and the cheapest RAM, as well as a 500 GB HD) it will still kick much ass, compared to the Pentium III-class contraption you are using.

Of course, if you are like Doom Marine, you need to spend at least $3000 on a 3-foot tall tower case with neon lights, a car's liquid cooling system, dual-socket octa-cores, quad-SLI and twin 1000W PSUs which you will be afraid to even power on for fear of it catching fire, but oh boy, it will kick SO MUCH ASS!!!!

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Maes said:

Of course, if you are like Doom Marine, you need to spend at least $3000 on a 3-foot tall tower case with neon lights, a car's liquid cooling system, dual-socket octa-cores, quad-SLI and twin 1000W PSUs which you will be afraid to even power on for fear of it catching fire, but oh boy, it will kick SO MUCH ASS!!!!


Well I wouldn't mind getting something like that if I had the money :p

**EDIT**

Wait, he doesn't have a slushy machine with it?

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Yes. Fortunately you can buy a respectable dual-core desktop refurbished for about $300. For another $200 you can buy a great ATI video card. (You may have to upgrade the power supply as well.)

This should allow you to play Doom 3 on high settings.

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Bucket said:

Yes. Fortunately you can buy a respectable dual-core desktop refurbished for about $300. For another $200 you can buy a great ATI video card. (You may have to upgrade the power supply as well.)

This should allow you to play Doom 3 on high settings.


What planet did you guys get your computers? The Future Shop in my town has computers that aren't all that great for over $900 and almost $300 for a normal graphics card!

I'm probably looking in the wrong store for computers :S

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888mikem888 said:

What planet did you guys get your computers?


The same store you seem to be shopping at. This one is the first computer in the desktop section. You where probably looking at monitor included bundles, which are always a rip off, just buy the tower.

If you feel Future Shop is over priced(and it is), go order off of newegg.

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154094

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152287

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170016

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148347

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.681624

Specs:

3.2ghz dual core Phenom II processor unlockable to quad core
8gb DDR3 RAM
1.5 TB Hard Drive
Onboard ATI Radeon HD 4250 with ability to add a dedicated card whenever you'd like. (You probably won't need it for a few years, or you could just buy a $50 card. Whichever you choose, this onboard video is a lot better than what you have.)

Total cost? $299. Just add monitor, keyboard, mouse, and OS.


There. I did it under $300 instead of $400. Happy now?

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888mikem888 said:

My friend told me that it's possible to upgrade a computer to multi-core but I don't know about that.

A computer as old as yours? I doubt it. I could upgrade mine from a 2.4GHz AMD single core to a 2.9GHz AMD dual core, but my computer was bought in 2007.

Well, if you're only interested in games that are from 2008 at the newest, that should be very easy to accomplish with today's tech. I'm liking Shaikoten's choices (and by "liking" I mean "going into a blinding jealous rage because of how outdated my computer is and how much I'd like some of these upgrades"), aside from the integrated GPU. Discrete all the way. I assume your monitor and kb/mouse would be usable with this new thing as well. (Out of curiosity, what are you using for a monitor? Resolution/aspect ratio?) OS could be an issue, since unless you want to either cap yourself at xbox360 tech (read: DX9 max) or rely on some hack to unlock new tech on XP, a good OS costs a pretty penny.

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888mikem888 said:

I'm probably looking in the wrong store for computers :S


If you were looking at brand-name pre-builts (e.g. Dell, HP etc.) or even Macs then yeah, don't expect great prices. But $300 for a video card is a LOT of money. There are some who deserve it, but we're talking about top-of-the-line products with the latest cores etc., not something with the price artificially blown.

Unless we're not talking about US dollars here.

Edit: heh, your profile says Canada, but the exchange rate should be more or less one to one by one. Maybe you should consider a trip to the other side of the border? :-p

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$300-$350 is the going price for the current "hot" video card (Radeon 6970), the Nvidia equivalent will set you back around $400. I would get a Radeon 6950 ($270) on Amazon then get another one and crossfire them up when they get cheap as a way to get best bang for your buck.

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I never gave more than $100-150 for a video card. This amount typically gets you the best "value for money" for its generation, or at least it did some years ago. But for the games he's planning on playing (Doom 3 is not exactly a benchmarking powerhouse anymore), even a budget card will be far superior to whatever he had.

Hell, a contemporary ATI Radeon 9600XT was able to rock it socks. As long as whatever he gets can pump out 4000 3DMarks (in 3DMark 2003), he'll be fine.

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I have a $100 video card that is great (HD5770.) the best "bang for your buck" card at the moment is probably the 6870, but I would go with a 6950 if I were building a new machine. You would be set for a few years at least :-)

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Mr. T said:

I have a $100 video card that is great (HD5770.) the best "bang for your buck" card at the moment is probably the 6870, but I would go with a 6950 if I were building a new machine. You would be set for a few years at least :-)

Today's $100 cards are fine for lifetime for anyone with a good taste in games. :P

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Jodwin said:

Today's $100 cards are fine for lifetime for anyone with a good taste in games. :P


Actually, any mid-range card made in the last 4 years can last for a lifetime provided you don't have ridiculous expectations like using 16x AA on quad-HD resolutions.

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Somehow I get the feeling that the games Jodwin's referring to actually wouldn't need even a $100 card.

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Like I said. The onboard video I posted should be more than adequate for his needs with no extra money spent.

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