[Seltox]

Okay, i'm planning on upgrading my computer soon. Aiming for a gaming computer, wanna play Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3!

Things I need to upgrade are my Power Supply, Motherboard, RAM and Video Card.

I want your suggestions as you all seem better at finding quality, cheap-ish items than I am. try to keep it ~$800 AUD (Aussie Dollar is like 87-89 US cents right now, maybe a bit lower or higher, meh.),max of $1000 AUD.

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$1,000 AUD = ~$875 USD

Things I need to upgrade are my Power Supply, Motherboard, RAM and Video Card.

Do you have any parts like a CPU, case, Hard Drive or is this completely from scratch? If so please list the specs on them. Operating System? Do you have a copy already because that is like $100 USD right there?

Edited by jackflash1991, 31 December 2007 - 01:15 PM.

[jackflash1991]

$1,000 AUD = ~$875 USD

Things I need to upgrade are my Power Supply, Motherboard, RAM and Video Card.

Do you have any parts like a CPU, case, Hard Drive or is this completely from scratch? If so please list the specs on them. Operating System? Do you have a copy already because that is like $100 USD right there?

Edited by jackflash1991, 31 December 2007 - 01:15 PM.

[Troy]

$1,000 AUD = ~$875 USD

Unfortunately, you can't do this jack - prices are different here, not just about exchanging the dollar rates

I agree with Jack, though - give us the full list of what you already have so we can make sure it matches!

For some ideas on AUD prices, try looking at these websites, although I'm not sure exactly where you can buy from, Seltox:

• Umart Online
• AusPCMarket
• Altech
• ScorpTec

[Seltox]

scorptec is my favourite store over here They had a shop/stall thing setup at the eGames and Entertainment Expo, and they gave me a bag with cool stuff in it .

Anyway, i'd had a little to drink when I made this thread last night, so that's probably why I left out some details.

I've got a fully functional computer currently, I just need to upgrade _most_ of the parts in it.

I've got a case (Silver Xoxide X-Blade), this cool LCD display thing at the top of the case (where the little hole part is) that displays time, temperature, fan speed, etc and changes colours.
-Asus DVD-rw
-Samsung SP2014N 200gb HDD
-DualCore Intel Pentium D 950, 3400 MHz (17 x 200) (Presler)
-400w PSU
-Gigabyte GA8VM800M-775 Motherboard
-nVidia GeForce FX 5200 (256mb, 128-bit)

So yeah, i'm sure you can see why I need to upgrade things.

[stettybet0]

You are probably going to want to upgrade the CPU too. I'm sure Jack could tell you about his struggles trying to play Crysis on a Pentium D.

Also, you will need to reinstall an OS since you are changing out the motherboard.

[Seltox]

I'm going to upgrade my processor eventually, but currently it's like the best thing in my computer, and I simply can't afford to upgrade it. So unless one of you guys are willing to toss a core2 duo/quad my way for free, i have to stick with the Pentium D for now.

Okay, here's a question for you, how much do you think 8800GT's and core2 duo/quads will drop in price this year? Coz I guess i'm willing to wait til near the end of the year to upgrade if it means getting a better processor also. I'm happy with my Dawn of War, Halo, PS2, etc for now I can wait. I just need a good computer before I become a poor university student (2 years from now)


Oh yeah, I own XP Professional, so I can install that. No need to add in an OS cost. Although if you can fit Vista in the price (or around) limit, feel free to do so. I'm expecting Vista to be a lot better with SP1, but I havn't bothered to check up on what it's doing or antyhing.

Edited by Seltox, 31 December 2007 - 11:29 PM.

[jackflash1991]

I'm sure Jack could tell you about his struggles trying to play Crysis on a Pentium D.

yeah. The problem with it was that it bottlenecked the video card. So I bought this awesome 8800GTS and I could not get the performance I was hoping for.
But I see you have the 3.4GHz Pentium D, I had the 3.0GHz one. So maybe it will work out for the moment. How are you with overclocking that CPU? I was not really able to overclock mine very far because it overheated so easily.

With the CPU in mind I wold go with a board that is compatible with a Pentium D and a Core 2 Duo for when you need some more performance. Something like this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813121314

Okay, here's a question for you, how much do you think 8800GT's and core2 duo/quads will drop in price this year?

You can not really tell. It could be like $10 or it could be $70.

PS: I like your case.

[Seltox]

yeah, thanks for the replies and such. My CPU isn't overclocked at all... Well, maybe 10mhz as Everest seems to think . It says the original clock was 3400 mhz, but then says a bit under it "CPU#0 Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz" So it might be running 10Mhz faster! but I'd never overclock a Pentium D. My understanding is that they have two physical cores or something, so they'll overheat a lot easier.

I've never actually overclocked anything in my life, i'm a bit scared I might destroy something. I've been planning on building a computer out of spare parts to test it all out, but I couldn't manage to get the one I built the other day working. Everything was setup properly (i'm almost 100% sure) except for the power thingos from like the power/reset/HDD lights and all that junk. I can never figure those out.

On the topic of that motherboard, I do like it quite a bit, but I really want a heat pipe . They're meant to be good for cooling, yeah? I don't like the temperatures my CPU hits, so i'd like good cooling. The fan on the side of my case broke the other day, so i'm running on one case fan right now and it's scaring me (being the middle of summer over here).


So heres some info on what i'm specifically looking for.

Video Card - 8800GT or better. I'm upgrading everything for the specific purpose of the better video card - and I want something _good_.
Mobo - PCIe-16x (obviously) SLI isn't necessary at all, but if the mobo is still a decent price, I might consider it. 3 PCI preferably and one or two PCI-e 1x. DDR2-800 support minimum (1066 or whatever it would be nice, but those mobo's seem to be quite expensive), and i'd like a mobo that the RAM voltage can go to 2.1v or 2.3v (for some good quality OCZ RAM or soemthing) IDE/PATA connector on it would be nice, as I don't actually know if my HDD can do SATA? How do I check, this si one of my really weak points in Hardware (we all have them ).
RAM - most of it was stated above. DDR2 800mhz, 2gb of it, as a base line. (kinda looking at this
or this right now. the OCZ needs 2.1v, i'm aware a decent motherboard should easily be able to be set up to this, but I wish to be sure ).
PSU - Wanting about 600w, maybe 700-750 if money permits (don't want to need to upgrade it for a few years )

Hope i all makes sense. I don't claim to be a computer guru, but I do think i've got a reasonable understanding

[Troy]

It sounds like you're looking for everything I've got

Motherboard - the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 is very good, and fits all your requirements
RAM - I would go with the Corsair, seems to be a reasonable price
Power Supply - Considering you want to power an 8800GT, head for something decent like the Antec True Power Trio 650W

Video Card - how about this one?

[james_8970]

yeah, thanks for the replies and such. My CPU isn't overclocked at all... Well, maybe 10mhz as Everest seems to think tongue.gif. It says the original clock was 3400 mhz, but then says a bit under it "CPU#0 Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.40GHz, 3410 MHz" So it might be running 10Mhz faster! but I'd never overclock a Pentium D. My understanding is that they have two physical cores or something, so they'll overheat a lot easier.

No, when they sell you the chip they just round it of to simply things, just like my processor ran at 2394MHz, when it's really rated for 2.4GHz (2400MHz, this is the E6600 @ 266x9)

Everything was setup properly (i'm almost 100% sure) except for the power thingos from like the power/reset/HDD lights and all that junk. I can never figure those out.

You'll have to look at the layout of the motherboard, unless you can properly figure it out, you computer will never boot.

On the topic of that motherboard, I do like it quite a bit, but I really want a heat pipe tongue.gif. They're meant to be good for cooling, yeah? I don't like the temperatures my CPU hits, so i'd like good cooling. The fan on the side of my case broke the other day, so i'm running on one case fan right now and it's scaring me (being the middle of summer over here).

No, it's worse the air cooling, but it's silent and you don't need to worry about the fan dying, resulting in something overheating and possibly frying.
No, get this video card.
The price difference between the HD3870 and the 8800GT is unacceptable, while the 8800GT does perform marginally better then the HD3870, the performance difference is nothing like what the price delta suggests.
James

Edited by james_8970, 01 January 2008 - 04:54 PM.

[Seltox]

Ah, thanks for all of that info.

Just a bit more on the topic of the heat pipe. Would it be better to have a heat pipe, and fans, or just the fans. And how much better would you say?

[james_8970]

Just a bit more on the topic of the heat pipe. Would it be better to have a heat pipe, and fans, or just the fans. And how much better would you say?

For most motherboards a heatpipe alone is more then enough. To date only the 680i chipset got hot enough that you were given an optional fan to cool it down.
However if a motherboard is designed with heatpipes, it is built to withstand the heat output that motherboard will give. There are very few instances where engineers did a poor job that resulted in the heatpipe not being adequate for cooling a certain product.
James