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Thread ID: 24761	2002-09-18 08:18:00	Upgrade H.D	J ZEP (336)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
80664	2002-09-19 07:17:00	Partly because i'm a lazy sod, i would keep the exsisting drive, add the 40/60 whatever, and simply move anything of value to it. There are other reasons, having the 20 as a system drive, means you can formatt/reinstall everything with relative ease WITHOUT losing your "stuff". Of course computers NEVER get so stuffed up that it is easyer to format than try to fix them..... :p ]:) Anything that is super critical can always be backed between drives, or achived onto CD, once finished with.	Chris Wilson (431)
80665	2002-09-19 09:59:00	You guys are the best and have helped immensely, thankyou!:-) O.k a couple more quick queries after doing more research: When it comes to the harddrives - i.e at mo i have 20GB 5400rpm, is it better to go for the higher rpm - if i have a choice between Seagate 60gb ATA 100 - 7200rpm @ $279 and Seagate 60gb ATA 100 5400rpm, i am presuming it is better to go for the higher rpm one? would that be right? and then for another $20 there is the Seagate 80gb ATA 100 7200rpm @ $299, so i am thinking it would be more cost effective to go for the 80gb 7200rpm (dependant on the importance of rpm?) What exactly is the rpm? the speed your hd works at? And for RAM - An A-Data 512mb DDR Pc266 RAM is $299 But if i go for the DDR RAM - do i have to go for a DDR Video card? (i presume so?) and what difference is there in the video card mbs - once again is it better to go for the higher mb in video cards too? Greg mentioned to go to a GeForce 4 4200 is this a: GeForce 4 Ti4200 128mb DDR? priced @ $499? I don't mean to drag this out but i want to be sure and understand what i am getting this time around - Anyway with that vid card it = $299 for the 80gb 7200rpm + $299 for 512 DDR Pc266 RAM + $499 for the GeForce 4 Ti4200,128mbddr Total = $1100 :O without the cost of labour for installing it all. Do i need that video card with that much ram on it? or could i downgrade a bit on the video card and still have noticeable difference, considering my video card now is only 32mb? The video card will be the first to go - as i knew that was going to be the biggest cost, but if i can still get one for a little less i/my partner i should say will be happy!!! Once again thank you all for your help and patience i greatly appreciate it!	J ZEP (336)
80666	2002-09-19 10:18:00	>What exactly is the rpm? Revolutions Per Minute. 7200 rpm is pretty fast - would make you puke if you were on a merry-go-round :D	Jen C (20)
80667	2002-09-19 10:32:00	Keep asking questions until you're happy with what you know . :-) Yes, go for the faster hard drive . rpm= revolutions per minute (you should know that!!) so yes, it goes faster . Yes, go for the bigger hard drive since it's not much dearer . RAM - well if it were me I'd be keeping what you've got and adding 256MB to it rather than forking out $299 . I doubt that you'd notice too much difference between the two types so I would take the cheaper option . Don't know about the video card . tweak'e or someone will have to advise on that but if you are saving some dosh with the RAM maybe it could go towards the video card . You do have a decent monitor, don't you? A high spec card would be wasted if not . Is the shop you bought it from (THAT place, isn't it?) going to do the work or somewhere else? You'd be doing the right thing getting it done rather than do it yourself, since it's still under warranty . Just remember to back up your stuff before it goes into the shop .	Susan B (19)
80668	2002-09-19 10:51:00	i would rather have ddr than sdram anyday. i can't see the point of having a nice cpu, speedy harddrive and use slowmo sdram. 7200rpm hardrive would be a must for any gamer/heavy graphics user. graphics card?? that will all depend on $$$ gf3 still do quite well or a gf4 ti4200. keep away from the MX series.	tweak'e (174)
80669	2002-09-19 11:01:00	It would make a noticeable difference then, tweak'e? Oh well, there you go J Zep . tweak'e knows his stuff . Don't forget that you can sell your existing RAM .	Susan B (19)
80670	2002-09-19 11:11:00	Yep you got it susan - it is THAT place :^O . Reason i asked about the rpm is - why would i want to use a grunty new 60 or 80gb harddrive with 7200rpm as a backup over a putsy 20gb 5400rpm - i thought that the obvious way would be to use the new grunty one for everyday use and the older lower gig slower one for the backup thats all - so i was a little confused cause of a couple of posts . Actually still am confused as to why they would go with the slower smaller one for everyday use and faster bigger one for backup??? I would have thought the faster one would have been better for gaming to begin with?? There is just so much to learn in this area, everytime i think i have it sussed somebody else throws something new in . I will get there tho, but the other thing is everybody is recommending DDR Ram for the gaming and photos too . So i really want to know if DDR will be a good buy and it does sound like the way to go and i always thought we would go to ddr when we could, I would love to hear from somebody who has gone from SD to DDR and their opinions actually . Yep definately got a good monitor - no probs their - 19 inch . Thanks all again	J ZEP (336)
80671	2002-09-19 11:11:00	susan- yes and no. it depends on what you use pc for. it comes down to price a bit but for gaming you really want max speed. faster the ram the better but not having enough ram is an even bigger bottle neck than having slow ram. a lot of games will use 400meg of ram or more. its a bit of a judgement call but i dislike seeing nice cpu's being held up by slow ram.	tweak'e (174)
80672	2002-09-19 11:15:00	looks like i missed something here. use the new drive as the main one (partitioned of course) and the 20gig as backup. you can 'ghost' the 20 gig over to the new drive so install is pretty straight forward.	tweak'e (174)
80673	2002-09-19 11:26:00	Thanks tweak'e - after 20min writing my post, as i posted your post magically appeared and answered all my questions :D Thank you most appreciated!!! Thanks too susan! That pretty much seals the deal now i think - except the vid card, may downgrade from the one greg suggested, is a little pricey or even hold off on a new one for now if i can't find one that will make a difference without a huge investment. So if anybody can think of a card that will make a noticeable difference but isn't top of the line kind of thing, i am keen to hear. Also i see tweak'e you say keep away from the mx series which is what we have now - 32mbGeForce2mx200/400!!! Might check out the prices on a GeForce 3 then tweak'e! Thankyou all once again :-)	J ZEP (336)
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