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Thread ID: 78914	2007-05-02 06:46:00	Help with (moderately) pimping friends computer.	Feelers (10034)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
546285	2007-05-02 06:46:00	My freinds computer is relativly old, he doesn't need it for anything high end, but if possible he's keen to make it go a bit faster for a moderate price. It's an AMD Athlon 2400+ , (any chance of over clocking, maybe with fan upgrade etc?) And has 256 DDR 333 ram. With the ram should he just get 2x256 sticks, and does the memory have to be exactly the same(ie brand) to get the dual channel benefit? Is pricespy better than trademe for buying the memory also? Cheers for your help. :D	Feelers (10034)
546286	2007-05-02 06:59:00	Having a look on price spy ddr 400 256 sticks are cheaper than ddr 333's, would they be ok? (I have no idea if it would go in the motherboard?) This is what I'm looking at... pconlineshop.co.nz	Feelers (10034)
546287	2007-05-02 07:07:00	It maybe better to find out what the brand / model of the mobo is first . Before u get the ram . Then we can find out what kind of ram it takes . And whether it supports dual channel ram (does the motherboard have 2 or 4 slots for the ram)? Some mobos that have 2 slots also support dual channel . And yup the ram has to be the same size/brand/speed for dual channel to work (thats if it supports dual channel) .	Speedy Gonzales (78)
546288	2007-05-02 07:19:00	It maybe better to find out what the brand / model of the mobo is first . Before u get the ram . Then we can find out what kind of ram it takes . And whether it supports dual channel ram (does the motherboard have 2 or 4 slots for the ram)? Some mobos that have 2 slots also support dual channel . And yup the ram has to be the same size/brand/speed for dual channel to work (thats if it supports dual channel) . The only socket A motherboard that had 4 slots and supported dual channel was a Gigabyte board, all the rest had 3 slots . Unless it has the nForce2 chipset it wont support dual channel . I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the amount of money required is totally wasted on that PC . AGP, PCI, DDR, and Skt A are all outdated technology anything you buy today for that PC is a waste .	Pete O'Neil (6584)
546289	2007-05-02 07:59:00	What does he use his computer for? And what is the rest of the computer's specks? Pricespy is way better than Trademe for buying anything . As you are buying from shops,so you have a warranty,its brand new, and no one has overclocked it,oh yeah and it works . And alot of the time its cheaper on pricespy then it is at Trademe as people will try to rip you off to make money on Trademe . If the mobo can do dual channel then you could do 2 x 512ddr 400 to get one gig of ram or 2 x 1024ddr 400 to get two gig of ram . That would make it faster but like others have said you would be better of getting a better pc,but if you only use it for internet,homework etc then its fine,just dont expect to play the latest games on it .	memphis (2869)
546290	2007-05-02 07:59:00	The only socket A motherboard that had 4 slots and supported dual channel was a Gigabyte board, all the rest had 3 slots . Nonsense . ASUS had a few too . My friend had one until quite recently .	pctek (84)
546291	2007-05-02 08:13:00	The only socket A motherboard that had 4 slots and supported dual channel was a Gigabyte board, all the rest had 3 slots. I have a Socket A mobo with 2 (SD-RAM) slots.	pcuser42 (130)
546292	2007-05-02 11:17:00	Well how much of an upgrade you buy depends on how much you are willing to spend. I have just bought (parts still in boxes in my room) a new computer for ~$1,750 - This may or may not be out of your budget, but this is a high(er) end system for a good price: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2.4GHz, LGA775 $400 MB: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P LGA 775 $240 GFX: XFX NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB DDR3 500M PCI-E $540 RAM: Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400 2 x 1024Mb DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 5-5-5-12 $280 HDD: Seagate 320GB 16MB 7200rpm ST3300622A Barracuda 7200.10 hard drive $130 CASE: Raidmax Ninja Gaming Tower Case with 520w PSU(Silver,Black and Blue) $190 For any part (except perhaps the hdd) to be upgraded substantially, a much larger amount of money would have to be invested, as these are mostly positioned before prices jump. If you wanted to save some more money.......... You could drop the processor to a 6300 - very overclockable. Saves you $100 at $300 You can also start with just 1GB of ram, doesnt even need to be DDR800, although it is worth it to get DDR800. You can get a good Socket775 mobo for ~$150, Asus or Gigabyte are good brands. Graphics card... This is a tough one - it depends how much your friend spends time gaming. I bought a 8800GTS, but there are 8600's out now - best to look at these in online reviews to get a good feel - but you can get a decent gfx card for $400. Your friend may not even need to buy a new HDD, but they are very very cheap at the moment! Make sure (if he has an IDE drive) that you purchase a motherboard with enough IDE slots/cables to install your IDE drive (keep in mind that optical drives [cd/dvd] are also IDE drives and use IDE cables). Also - he can probably use the case he has now, just make sure that it is ATX and that the power supply is grunty enough - my gfx card recommends a 600W PSU!!!! If not, you can always upgrade a PSU, or just buy a decent case for under $200. Thats roughly $1000 assuming a HDD isnt purchased - thats quite a big saving for a decent system. Hope I have been some help - I only know all this stuff because I have recently upgraded! Seriously - you learn a lot by looking around and asking in forums :) Good job starting here - hope my advice will prove to be helpful :D	Fidelius (10676)
546293	2007-05-08 08:10:00	I checked the mtherboard - Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6390 3.0 Serial Number: 3813183955 Bus Clock: 133 megahertz BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.09 07/01/2003 Is this capable of dual channel? It only has two slots but I'm still unsure? And is it able to run ddr 400 ram?	Feelers (10034)
546294	2007-05-08 09:07:00	According to this (global.msi.com.tw) And this (www.pcstats.com) It supports 1600/2100 ram. I dont think it supports dual channel.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
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