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Thread ID: 43063 2004-03-02 06:54:00 Upgrading my computer....... need advice Shaggy (4731) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
219526 2004-03-02 17:31:00 Hay,
If ur on LAN XPpro would help so If you have the $$ go for what Megaman seid, but Home is what im using and its giving me no problems.
Gods-Hitman (1419)
219527 2004-03-03 09:01:00 thanks, i dont use lan so lucky me . . . .



I'm looking at one for $2200 in a dell catalouge
P4 3 . 0 GHz Ht Tech
Win XP Home
512 Pc3200 DDR_SDRAM at 400 mhz
80GB With a little 2 at the top (80GB2)
Intergrated Ethernet ?????
Intergrated Audio
128mb Geforce FX 5200 Graphics
48X DVD4 (little 4)/CD-RW Combo Drive (Burn CD's Play DVD's)
17 " CRT Monitor (16 . 0" vis)

Microsoft Office Small Business Edittion (includes Word, Excel, Outlook 2003, Powerpoint & Contact Manager) PreLoaded

NAV 2003 OEM Version
1 year limited next bussiness day on site service


Upgrades
WINXP Prof $138 Prob wont get
128mb Ati 9800 PRO Graphics Card $288 is it worth getting?



Basically I Would like to know
1 . for a pure game playing machine is it good for the price?
2 . Whats Ethernet, & how much worse is intergrated?
3 . ow much worse will sound be with the intergrated sound card?
4 . the combo dvd/cdrw is it still alright?
5 . is the graphics card upgrade worth it?
6 . the ram with the DDR etc, is that a good one, cause i remember reading that its a fast one or sumthing?


And Thanks everyone for helping so much!
Daniel
Shaggy (4731)
219528 2004-03-03 09:10:00 The video card is the worst performing one in the current line of cards, it may run most current games at a satisfactory level (which depends on your interpretation of satisfactory) because its being pushed by a grunty cpu but will seriously affect gaming performance. metla (154)
219529 2004-03-03 09:11:00 uh.....perhaps i should have read your post better,take the ati9800pro upgrade,it is currently the best on the market. metla (154)
219530 2004-03-03 09:15:00 thanks metla Shaggy (4731)
219531 2004-03-03 09:25:00 also check what onboard sound it uses. it may be better to get seperate sound card. tweak'e (174)
219532 2004-03-03 09:29:00 i know, hopefully I can get that.....

thanks for the advice
Shaggy (4731)
219533 2004-03-03 09:31:00 Here's what I think you should get:

19 Inch CRT
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton's core which can be overclocked to 3200+ EASILY)
120 GB Seagate Serial ATA HDD
1 GB of Twinmos Winbond RAM (dual channel package)
Abit NF7-s Motherboard (This board is one of the best for overclocking and will
almost gurantee ur 2500+ to run at 3200+ speed)

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Which ever brand ... as long as it doesn't use infineon ram)

Case with 400 PSU.


The rest u can choose urself as they are not performance related.

The above setup should be well under $2000 and will perform very close to a P4 3 GHz with the same graphics card.

BTW, the mobo comes with onboard SoundStorm which if u use the digital output
can match the quality of the Audigy2s
Kenshin (2501)
219534 2004-03-03 09:45:00 IMHO its a little overpriced and underspec

Any reputable computer dealer should be able to build a comparable system and have seperate dvd and cd-rw plus a 120gb hardrive for $100 less than this, using decent brand name parts
I'm not knocking dells they make ok systems and they have there place in the market but its not eye an wateringly attractive deal.
But if you do decide to go with it

Combo dvd-cdrw are ok especially in space limited cases but they are something of a compromise performance wise.

The 5200 vid card in any brand/flavour is now an entry level card you need more grunt

Onboard audio should be fine

DDR 400 ram is the fastest ram commonly available

If u dont Lan don't worry about ethernet capability
the highlander (245)
219535 2004-03-03 09:52:00 I know dell is kinda over priced but they have good warrenty + they wont go bust lol,

I might get one from a smaller business somwhere in Palmerston North.....

thanks for answering all of the questions to.

what does all of the squared mean? like 80gb2 (little 2 squared)
Shaggy (4731)
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