[starbear]

OK Finally managed to borrow another power supply which worked just fine and of course proved the original is indeed deceased, so thanks to all again for diagnosis and help.

I have also cleaned my hard drives by reinstallation and am now about to order new PSU and some additional memory with possibly a larger hard drive. I figure I can improve my rather old set up for about £250:00 which is probably better for me at this stage than a complete new one. I would appreciate any answers/comments or advice on the following questions and on my plan in general.

If I want to install say a 1TB SATA on this Acer T160, is there anyway to transfer the operating system from my existing drive or do I have to retain that drive as well?

Am I correct in assuming that I canot upgrade either the Graphics card or CPU on this kit?

Are there any other components that would be worthy of upgrade?

Thanks

SB

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Am I correct in assuming that I canot upgrade either the Graphics card or CPU on this kit?

No. Depending on the motherboard, you should be able to put a faster CPU in there. And since you have a PCIe slot, you can upgrade the graphics card too. But both the CPU and graphics solutions consume lots of power so if upgrading either, you must ensure the PSU has enough power to support them.

[Digerati]

Am I correct in assuming that I canot upgrade either the Graphics card or CPU on this kit?

No. Depending on the motherboard, you should be able to put a faster CPU in there. And since you have a PCIe slot, you can upgrade the graphics card too. But both the CPU and graphics solutions consume lots of power so if upgrading either, you must ensure the PSU has enough power to support them.

[phillpower2]

If I want to install say a 1TB SATA on this Acer T160, is there anyway to transfer the operating system from my existing drive or do I have to retain that drive as well?

You can copy all data from your present HDD to the new one, here is an option for you to use;
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

Am I correct in assuming that I canot upgrade either the Graphics card or CPU on this kit?

As Digerati has said you can upgrade both the GFX card and the CPU, any pci-e X16 GFX card will do and for CPU upgrades see here http://www.socket939...et939_amd64.htm the £250 budget will make things tight (the psu will take a chunk) but I will find some upgrade options for you.

[starbear]

Thanks again guys for fast response and for the information and links. Great news about the possibility of upgrading graphics and CPU (you'll have gathered I have very limited knowledge) as I thought with onboard graphics card it would not be possible and similarly thought I read somewhere that the motherboard and CPU combo was almost inextricably linked.

I may have misled slightly on the budget information as the £250:00 was really only for a PSU, Memory and larger hard drive as I didn't realise further upgrades were possible until now. So can certainly at least consider increasing budget for any sensible upgrade.

As for the PSU, I am looking at the one suggested by you (Phillpower2) earlier: the 500W Corsair CX at about £46:00 and the Zalman ZM500 at about £73:00. Would the Zalman be overkill at that price or would it bring substantial benefits to my hopefully upgraded system.

[phillpower2]

In light of your further information I have suggested a better PSU, I will add a CPU if I can find one, does the budget look reasonable?
Ram = £66 http://www.novatech....gbkit400c3.html
HDD = £69 http://www.novatech....wd1002faex.html
GFX =£110 http://www.novatech....yclone1goc.html
PSU = £70 http://www.novatech....su-650txuk.html
TOT = £315

EDIT: If you have a look at the link I have provided you will see how expensive the fastest 939 CPUs are http://www.twenga.co...rocessor-018346

Edited by phillpower2, 22 November 2010 - 02:40 PM.

[starbear]

In light of your further information I have suggested a better PSU, I will add a CPU if I can find one, does the budget look reasonable?

Thank you for that and yes the budget looks manageable. The problem as ever is trying to decide the cutoff point before investing in a new system entirely. Provided all of those suggestions will work then I imagine I can expect a significant improvement in my system.

I had a look at the CPU link and checked out a few samples but really just ended up confused...so much choice and a wide range of prices. Is it a case of you get what you pay for or is there a danger of paying too much for a CPU which might not produce or be able to produce expected improvements in a system such as mine? Do you see one that could deliver maximum benefit on my improved system if I install all of your suggested items?

[phillpower2]

Processor AMD Athlon 64 / Athlon 64x2 / Sempron (939) with FSB up to 1.0 Ghz

Unless the CPU on your MB has previously had an upgrade the above spec is the max that is in your present set-up.
Upgrading the CPU will improve overall performance but it will not be breathtaking, you need to weigh up the cost versus performance ratio when deciding, the other upgrades will compliment a better CPU especially more Ram and a PSU that is providing cleaner more stable power. I will add a CPU for you via an edit a.s.a.p

EDIT: http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item20b4d12b93

Edited by phillpower2, 23 November 2010 - 01:23 PM.

[starbear]

Thanks again phillpower2. Well I've just ordered everything except the CPU as that may require a bit more thinking. Just hope I'll be able to find all the appropiate slots for new stuff!

I really appreciate you taking the time to find and recommend all this stuff and also others who have offered advice and solutions...watch this space as they say.

SB

[phillpower2]

You are welcome I am happy if I am able to assist
Let us know when your parts arrive or if you feel you need some assistance when assembling them, to help you I have included a link for you to look at, it will make you realise that if you are careful upgrading need not be daunting
http://www.geekstogo...r-own-computer/

[starbear]

Hi again.

Got all my stuff delivered ok and was hoping to report all up and running but that's not quite the case yet.
That link on building your own pc was very useful phillpower2, so thanks again.

I seem to have installed everything ok (hard drive; graphics card; memory and PSU) but right now I can't achieve output to my screen from the graphics card. Divers installed ok but I have had to connect my cable via a rather unusual adapter which came with the card. I don't think PC has recognised card as when I type misinfo32 into the run field it shows only the old card.

Additionally, the new hard drive is not being recognised yet. No cable came with it but I've borrowed one and connected it via the spare SATA_1 (2;3 or 4) connectors.

Are there some other activations or enablings that I need to carry out?

[Digerati]

I don't think PC has recognised card as when I type misinfo32 into the run field it shows only the old card.

If it did not recognize the card, you would see nothing on the monitor. So it at least is working in standard VGA mode, which is expected if you have not yet install the specific drivers.

Did you format the new drive?

[starbear]

Thanks for prompt response.

I have installed the specific drivers for the graphics card but its like theres no power to it (fan not running but as not under any significant load yet this may be normal?) I believe some graphic cards have own power source and connector? But this not seem to be the case with this one. ACTUALLY have just spotted a six pin connector on the corner of the card which looks like it should mate with a cable supplied. But I can't seem to seat this connection ok despite carefully checking alignment and keys on connectors. Additionally the supplied cable terminates in dual 3 pin connectors which will mate with PSU connectors. If this is correct power supply cable, should both of these dual connectors be connected to the psu or just one. There was no mention of this cable at all in the set up guide. Perhaps they assume a certain level of knowledge? Oops!

I have not fomatted the new drive but as I can't "see" this drive in "may Computer" how would I do that? I thought most drives came formatted, obviously not the case then?

[phillpower2]

If you check the cables that came with your PSU you should have two pci-e 6+2 connectors, use one of the 6 pin connectors to power the card, the + 2 connector is not used and should be secured neatly, also your card should have shipped with a power cable that has two 4 pin molex connectors to a 6 pin GFX card connector that can also be used.
If you have a look at the images here http://www.newegg.co...i7 Power Supply you can see the connector I am referring to (see image 6).
And you can see where it plugs into at the images here ( see image 8).
http://www.newegg.co...port Video Card
EDIT: As Digerati has already pointed out once you have your display working correctly format your new HDD, this will ensure you get a clean OS installation.

Edited by phillpower2, 27 November 2010 - 08:12 AM.

[starbear]

you should have two pci-e 6+2 connectors, use one of the 6 pin connectors to power the card, the + 2 connector is not used

OK have managed to connect that cable thanks and card is recognised by PC now! (interestingly that 6 pin connector fitted easily whereas supplied cable did not)
However still cannot "see" new HDD in "my computer" should I be looking elsewhere to enable format? I am wondering if the borrowed SATA data cable is the correct one and does it matter to which of the SATA 1;2;3 or 4 tabs its connected too?
Sorry to be such a drongo guys but am getting there....slowly.

[Digerati]

I believe some graphic cards have own power source and connector

Not source. They all still need to be connected to the power supply somehow. Some less powerful cards get all their power from the slot, but many newer cards, as you have now discovered, require an additional connection (or two) directly from the PSU.