Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 77270	2007-03-04 06:14:00	What can I do to minimally upgrade this?	--Wolf-- (128)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
529943	2007-03-04 22:41:00	Can you find me a faster 2x 1gb ram (or simply 2gb) on qmb? I dunno what to look for. Also recommend me a nice video card (not too nice though) on qmb. Will a $55 soundcard make a noticeable difference? ram, just order another of what you're getting, or go for 2GB of a faster type (like ddr2 667 or 800). i would find some but i'm in a hurry:o overclocking can be risky and complicated, so don't count on it unless you've bought parts known to be safely overclockable by a worthwhile margin that 7600gt is fine, but will need replacing in about 12-18 months. basically, get something wit GT on it, and remember the more memory on it the slower the processor, so getting a 256 may be better than 512, if you're running xp. 128 is too small now. if the motherboard supports SLI why not simply buy two 7600gts? perhaps you should worry about it later when you have some more money? (in 12-18 months when prices have dropped and wallet recovered) soundcard will make a difference to sound if you're listening for it, and the extra game port may come in handy if you have a joystick from the dark-ages (which i do:p ms sidewinder pro from win95 days. now i just need to find fury3). again not necessary, i'd put an backlit keyboard before this. as for monitors: they do NOT draw from your PSU unless, again, it is the dark ages of win95 and/or possibly modern macs. lcd is now cheap enough to be widely considered a better option than crt, just dont get **** one with high response time (so anything higher than 8ms it no good), and the glossy ones usually found on some laptops can get nasty reflections like a crt. i can not give enough praise for dual-monitor setups, even when i had two crts hogging my desk (now one 17"crt plu one 19"lcd) it was/is infinitely useful. well worth the money, but i wouldn't call it necessary. bother with it once your wallet has recovered:thumbs:	motorbyclist (188)
529944	2007-03-04 23:23:00	Since when did a monitor draw its power from the computer power supply Murray? They effectively draw nothing but video drive signals from the PC. Unless the world has been turned upside down when I wasn't looking? :confused: Cheers Billy 8-{) I think Murray is referring to plugging the monitor into the PSU. Many PSU's I've seen have one socket for connecting the computer to the mains supply, and another socket for plugging in the monitor (instead of plugging the monitor directly into the mains socket). I gather they are out of fashion, though, as the extra load on PSU's is unwanted particularly when there are other, more pressing needs on the PSU. It is handy, though, when load isn't a problem and you're short of power points.	Lizard (2409)
529945	2007-03-04 23:50:00	Since when did a monitor draw its power from the computer power supply Murray? They effectively draw nothing but video drive signals from the PC. Unless the world has been turned upside down when I wasn't looking? :confused: Cheers Billy 8-{) When they're plugged into the power supply, but that's erm... ah... straight off the mains supply really, kind of.. so erm, ah.. yep, I'm probably wrong and you're possibly right :o As an aside, the top line PSUs I've been looking at don't tend to have a monitor/peripheral outlet, anyway.	Murray P (44)
529946	2007-03-05 00:08:00	Extracts: overclocking can be risky and complicated, so don't count on it unless you've bought parts known to be safely overclockable by a worthwhile margin that 7600gt is fine, but will need replacing in about 12-18 months. basically, get something wit GT on it, and remember the more memory on it the slower the processor, so getting a 256 may be better than 512, if you're running xp. 128 is too small now. if the motherboard supports SLI why not simply buy two 7600gts? perhaps you should worry about it later when you have some more money? (in 12-18 months when prices have dropped and wallet recovered) as for monitors: they do NOT draw from your PSU unless, again, it is the dark ages of win95 and/or possibly modern macs. lcd is now cheap enough to be widely considered a better option than crt, just dont get **** one with high response time (so anything higher than 8ms it no good), and the glossy ones usually found on some laptops can get nasty reflections like a crt. As stated earlier, The E4300 is very clockable. It clocks better than it's higher rated siblings and will go over 3.0GHz with ease, i.e. it stinks them for far less money. A 2.6-2.8 (from 1.8) clock should be achievable without upsetting the apple cart. It's probably a very good CPU to have a fiddle clocking-wise and remain safe as long as you don't get over ambitious. If you a really not comfortable with fiddling at this level, give it a miss... It's got to be tempting for the cheap and relatively simple gain though. More memory does not equate to slower GPU clock speeds, sometimes it can, you have to read the specs carefully, get advice on a specific card. Essentailly that card, while still pretty good, is obsolete for a relatively well spec'ed system. Spend another $100 for a boost and some longevity. The SLI idea has some merit, anyone know the bang for buck on SLI'ing these cards? Still, I don't think that card fully supports Vista, find out before committing to it. LCDs are only better for every day computing, they still have a long way to go to challenge CRTs for colour reproduction and refresh/response, though unless your into graphics or high end gaming, an LCD is generally regarded as sufficient and a better option for space and power consumption. Any response time less than about 8ms is puffery, you get very little advantage, though you don't want to be above 8ms either.	Murray P (44)
529947	2007-03-05 00:47:00	Hi, the 4300 has a lower multiplier so can be easier to OC, providing your motherboard doesnt have a FSB wall. If any of these terms mean nothing to you, stay away from overclocking...... Other than doubling the RAM, or a better video card that supports DX10, you will be fine.	SolMiester (139)
529948	2007-03-05 02:53:00	From my last post until now, almost everything that's been said means nothing or little to me. I wouldn't have a clue how to overclock, so I'll pass on that. What's the point of dual monitors other than it looking cool on your desk? What can you set the other one up to display? To sum it up, can someone find me a good 2gb ram (or 2x 1gb) and a good dx10 256mb videocard. I am considering upgrading the speakers too, so that there's 4 speakers and a bass. Will this mean I will need a soundcard and will a cheap one do?	--Wolf-- (128)
529949	2007-03-05 04:48:00	From my last post until now, almost everything that's been said means nothing or little to me. I wouldn't have a clue how to overclock, so I'll pass on that. What's the point of dual monitors other than it looking cool on your desk? What can you set the other one up to display? To sum it up, can someone find me a good 2gb ram (or 2x 1gb) and a good dx10 256mb videocard. I am considering upgrading the speakers too, so that there's 4 speakers and a bass. Will this mean I will need a soundcard and will a cheap one do? Hi.....you will NOT noticed the difference between good & value RAM unless you are going to benchmark this beast...seriously, unless OC'ing with high FSB , the RAM you have will do, just double it. As for DX10 cards, they come in 1 favour right now, Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB & 8800GTS 640MB or 320MB. Sound Card, unless you are mixing, just get a motherboard with on-board sound, they will be more than enough with your 2:1 speakers.	SolMiester (139)
529950	2007-03-05 06:56:00	Hi.....you will NOT noticed the difference between good & value RAM unless you are going to benchmark this beast...seriously, unless OC'ing with high FSB , the RAM you have will do, just double it. As for DX10 cards, they come in 1 favour right now, Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB & 8800GTS 640MB or 320MB. Sound Card, unless you are mixing, just get a motherboard with on-board sound, they will be more than enough with your 2:1 speakers. absolutely right, but i thought the 7900 range was dx10 compatible too? (but pricey too) What's the point of dual monitors other than it looking cool on your desk? What can you set the other one up to display? you can do several things, in my case i can check email while browsing, copy stuff easily, and keep an eye on temperatures/system loads whilst gaming/overclocking. there is the option to stretch your desktop over the two screens (retarded), have both identical (waste of time) and more usefully have the two as seperate desktops (even with different resolutions) which you can also use as one if you so desire. it takes a bit of getting used to, but after an hour or two going back to single screen is unbearable. As stated earlier, The E4300 is very clockable. It clocks better than it's higher rated siblings and will go over 3.0GHz with ease, i.e. it stinks them for far less money. A 2.6-2.8 (from 1.8) clock should be achievable without upsetting the apple cart. It's probably a very good CPU to have a fiddle clocking-wise and remain safe as long as you don't get over ambitious. If you a really not comfortable with fiddling at this level, give it a miss... It's got to be tempting for the cheap and relatively simple gain though. More memory does not equate to slower GPU clock speeds, sometimes it can, you have to read the specs carefully, get advice on a specific card. Essentailly that card, while still pretty good, is obsolete for a relatively well spec'ed system. Spend another $100 for a boost and some longevity. The SLI idea has some merit, anyone know the bang for buck on SLI'ing these cards? Still, I don't think that card fully supports Vista, find out before committing to it. LCDs are only better for every day computing, they still have a long way to go to challenge CRTs for colour reproduction and refresh/response, though unless your into graphics or high end gaming, an LCD is generally regarded as sufficient and a better option for space and power consumption. Any response time less than about 8ms is puffery, you get very little advantage, though you don't want to be above 8ms either. absolutely true. my comment on GPU speeds and video memory is a general rule of thumb, a trend you will notice if you look closely at card specs (may not hold true for latest cards, i haven't looked). the major advantage of LCD is desk space and lower power consumption. i suggest leaving the 7600GT as it is less important than the ram, and an 8800 will be obsolete fairly soon too. personally i'd get the 7600gt if i wasn't going sli 6600gt, but that's a budget decision, and i thought cost was meant to be a consideration here	motorbyclist (188)
529951	2007-03-05 08:18:00	Cost still is a factor here; just not as much as it was $1200 ago. So how does a mouse work with dual monitors? Does it move the same on both screens or do you switch it over or what? And on a side note, in conclusion to the topic question, to keep it short, majority says upgrade the 1gb Ram to 2gb and add on the silverstone PSU? Sounds fair and simple to me. I will leave the speakers for now. I still might consider getting 4 + bass and a cheap soundcard but right now that's not important.	--Wolf-- (128)
529952	2007-03-05 08:33:00	Cost still is a factor here; just not as much as it was $1200 ago. So how does a mouse work with dual monitors? Does it move the same on both screens or do you switch it over or what? And on a side note, in conclusion to the topic question, to keep it short, majority says upgrade the 1gb Ram to 2gb and add on the silverstone PSU? Sounds fair and simple to me. I will leave the speakers for now. I still might consider getting 4 + bass and a cheap soundcard but right now that's not important. Dual monitors are best for work production, not gaming, though there are games that support 2 and even 3 monitors. I cheaper and better idea in my view would be to get a bigger monitor, you are ALWAYS looking at the monitor, so something like Dell's 22', 24" LCD would be fab!	SolMiester (139)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7