[Oniketsoku]

Aight so my computer has been out of commission for a few months now, and I've been putting off fixing it forever 'cause I can just use this laptop. But with the release of FFXIV on the horizon and two dozen people hype to play the game with me, I gotta get it done. http://www.ffxivinfo.../systemreqs.php

My HDD randomly ..stopped working about 3 months ago. I made a topic about it on here but it sorta just faded away.
This is my old one: http://www.wdc.com/e...asp?driveid=254
What's a good replacement? I need to get this done first.

Also I doubt at a 9800 GT(512 MB, DDR3) will be a solid enough GFX card to play FFXIV smoothly, as the minimum system requiments is a 9600. What do you think, in the recommended system requirements they suggest "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or better with VRAM 768MB or more" Is that a good card, or do you geekstogo have a better card in mind? Also, there are like forty options that come up when I search GTX 460 on Newegg: http://www.newegg.co...d=1&Tpk=GTX 460
No idea what to choose.

What's a better third investment - Windows 7 or a new processor? I use Vista 64-bit and my processor is... unidentifiable until I get back into my system.

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Hi Oniketsoku, you will need to provide us with a budget for the HDD and the video card.
For your HDD http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136073
When upgrading components you must take into consideration if your present psu will be
able to provide clean stable power for the new components, with that in mind I have
provided a link to a combo deal which gets you the card you mention, a quality psu which
will be able to power your new hardware + save you a few $
http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.492767

What's a better third investment - Windows 7 or a new processor? I use Vista 64-bit and my processor is... unidentifiable until I get back into my system.

I suggest replacing your HDD first and getting your computer back up and running, you can then provide more
information on your present set-up and this will enable us to make more appropriate recommendations.
When your system is operational again download Speccy from the link I have attached, this will provide us
with some system information, unfortunately it does not provide psu information you will need to provide this.
http://www.piriform.com/speccy
Hope this helps.

Edited by phillpower2, 12 September 2010 - 12:18 PM.

[phillpower2]

Hi Oniketsoku, you will need to provide us with a budget for the HDD and the video card.
For your HDD http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136073
When upgrading components you must take into consideration if your present psu will be
able to provide clean stable power for the new components, with that in mind I have
provided a link to a combo deal which gets you the card you mention, a quality psu which
will be able to power your new hardware + save you a few $
http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.492767

What's a better third investment - Windows 7 or a new processor? I use Vista 64-bit and my processor is... unidentifiable until I get back into my system.

I suggest replacing your HDD first and getting your computer back up and running, you can then provide more
information on your present set-up and this will enable us to make more appropriate recommendations.
When your system is operational again download Speccy from the link I have attached, this will provide us
with some system information, unfortunately it does not provide psu information you will need to provide this.
http://www.piriform.com/speccy
Hope this helps.

Edited by phillpower2, 12 September 2010 - 12:18 PM.

[Oniketsoku]

My budget is about $400-500 for HDD, GFX Card, and Processor/OS.

[phillpower2]

Replace the HDD with the one suggested and it will leave you with roughly $345-$445 for the other hardware.
We cannot make any further recommendations without knowing your MB and psu details.

[Oniketsoku]

Alright I'll get back to you in a couple days once it ships here. Thanks.

[Oniketsoku]

Alright, well, I got my system back up and running with windows on the new HDD.

The next obvious step would be to get my wireless network adapter back up and running, but I lost the CD that had the software installation on it.

Usually not a big deal, I've done this before so I'd just go online and DL the drivers/etc, and transfer them over to my PC. So I went on to the linksys home page, went into support and downloads, and downloaded their data for the WMP600N wireless card.

I've got it all set to go on a CD.. but.. I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. There's no .exe to run, and I don't know what to do with the files they gave me. Do I have to extract them somewhere? If so, I got no clue where to.

These are the files I downloaded:

netr28x.cat
netr28x.inf
netr28x.sys
RaCoInst.dat
RaCoInstx.dll

The two with "inst" sound like they've got something to do with getting my network adapter recognized/updated, but I have no idea what to do with a .dll or .dat file. Here's where I downloaded it from: http://homesupport.c...ess/lbc/WMP600N

Gotta get this sorted out so I can download drivers for the rest of my hardware and so I can post the rest of my specs so we know what to upgrade.

EDIT: Nevermind, I solved this by going into device manager etc etc. I'll post info from speccy either soon or after class tonight

Edited by Oniketsoku, 16 September 2010 - 02:50 PM.

[Oniketsoku]

Operating System
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 34 °C
Brisbane 65nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (5-5-5-16)
Motherboard
BIOSTAR Group TA790XE (CPU 1)
Graphics
LT716s @ 800x600
14MB Standard VGA Graphics Adapter (EVGA)
Hard Drives
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00UU3A0 ATA Device (IDE) 33 °C
Optical Drives
SONY CD-RW CRX320EE ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device


I haven't installed any drivers yet for anything, so some of this information is obviously inaccurate like graphics.

Should I bother installing drivers if I'm gonna be getting new hardware so soon?

My PSU is http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139001

EDIT: Actually.. dealing with these integrated GFX are unbearable. Any idea where I can get a driver download for my EVGA GeForce 9800 GT, for the time being? (this is it http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130380 )

EDIT 2: Guess I'mma just download this http://www.nvidia.co...hql-driver.html and see how it goes.

Edited by Oniketsoku, 16 September 2010 - 08:08 PM.

[Oniketsoku]

Well, I'm at a standstill until I get new hardware. Is my PSU alright; do I need to upgrade to the 850 or is the 520 good enough? Should I go ahead and get that video card? Apparantly the card or the driver is causing a problem in my system http://www.geekstogo...18#entry1901718

Do you/does anyone else have all the info you/he need(s) to give me an informed opinion about what to buy?

[Oniketsoku]

Sorry double post

Edited by Oniketsoku, 17 September 2010 - 05:25 PM.

[phillpower2]

Have a look at the attached links and see what you think;
CPU and cooler http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.374195
GFX Card, chose 3 for you to look at and listed them in the order I would go for;
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814500171
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127518
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102879
I put the Zotac first for a couple of reasons but the main one is it states you need
a 450W psu (they should all be made to do this) so you know the Corsair HX520 will not
need to be upgraded to run the card.
Don`t forget to budget for TIM (thermal insulating material) such as Arctic Silver 5
for fitting the CPU.
I hope you find this info helpful and if I can assist further let me know.

EDIT: Just found the system requirements for option 2 and it shows the present psu would need upgrading;
REQUIREMENTS
- PCI Express or PCI Express 2.0- compliant motherboard with one dualwidth x16 graphics slot
- Two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors
- Minimum 550W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 38A)*
And option 3 psu requirements are;
Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 System Requirements
• PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
• 500 Watt or greater power supply with 2x 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ Technology in dual mode)
• Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSUfor a list of Certified products

Edited by phillpower2, 18 September 2010 - 04:39 AM.

[Oniketsoku]

I bought the CPU and the 1st video card. It should be here by Thursday.

However, I already have a problem.

http://www.geekstogo...0-ksod-but-not/

Please check it out

[Oniketsoku]

The Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 we bought doesn't seem to be compatible with my mobo

I'll just use the stock one

[phillpower2]

Can I ask what the compatibility issue is with the cooler and the MB!
As newegg say they do not guarantee combo deals compatibility I checked to make sure it was socket AM3 and it was, I then confirmed it in the review below, it is not the same cpu but it is socket AM3;

Neweggs description;
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
Average Rating

4/5(4,350 reviews)

NEW Rev.2 for Intel 1366, 1156, 775 and AMD AM3
Purchasers review;
Rating: 5/5very close fit
Pros: Keeps CPU cool under load
Fits mobo / case
Easy to install for AMD

Cons: Will NOT fit ASUS Crosshair IV Formula IF you have large heat sinks - the plastic fan shield touches my CORSAIR XMS stick ever so slightly.
if you plan to go with memory that has high heat sinks or something that comes with its own fan over the memory this this will not fit.

Other Thoughts: I think ill benchmark temps with the H50 and if it cools the same or better, ill use that but the rig is OK with this Freezer 7 for now.

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition which is also a AM3

[Oniketsoku]

Well for AMD boards there are two latch..things that lock on to the plastic thing on the board for the cooler to mount on to. Only thing is there's only one little plastic thing on each side and it's impossible to get them to stay in place

[Oniketsoku]

My next investments are going to be Mobo, PSU, RAM

I'm really not happy with the motherboard in my computer for a dozen reasons