I am looking to upgrade my computer - And the ultra computer noob that I am, I have no idea how to Go about it!! PRESENT SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS AMD 2000+ XP Processor ASUS A7N266 Motherboard 256mb DDR RAM Seagate 40GB Hard Disk Drive Samsung 52x Cd Writer MY NEEDS 1) I need a faster comp- I have no idea what the ASUS motherboard can handle and what it cannot in terms of the RAM- I mean whats the limit??? Does it support the dual memory channels etc- So i need help with this. 2) I need more hard disk space- Can I use my old hard disk drive along with the new one????? Give me some options please!! 3) I need a decent graphics card- Good enough to play most games. I dont want to go overboard with this one. 4) Wouldn't mind a good sound card- If my budget permits OR if you guys have betterr suggestions I would love to hear it 5) How about a DVD writer- Which one should I go for So all you computer experts what do you think I should go for???Would be great if you guys can also state the prices, shops etc - I live in bangalore by the way. BUDGET- 20K
go for 1 gb ram. 120 gig hdd. a geforce 5600 should probly do the job or higher ones if ur ready to shell out some money most of the latest motherboards hav a good enuf sound card in them.
Dude Im from Pakistan, so dunno the rates there in India. However, i can advise u abt what stuff u need to buy. CPU: AMD Athlon 64 4000+. Look for new FX series or likes, and google its review. I dont know much abt it./Intel Pentium 4, 600 series. See whichever suits u. I prefer AMD. M.Board: ASUS P5WD2 Premium or P5LD2 Deluxe(Intel)/ASUS P5AD2 Premium(AMD) RAM: 2 x 512MB DDR PC3200 aka DDR 400, preferably Kingston, on dual channels. Make sure they have the same sizes n essentially same frequencies. HDD: 2 x 40GB or 80GBs(if u can squeese 'em outta ur a.s.s) Western Digital with RAID setup. I think ASUS motherboard has built in RAID controller. If not, get it set up PROFESSIONALLY. Graphics Card: Geforce 6600GT, preferably in ASUS or MSI chips. Your CD-writer is OK. Dont worry abt it right now. I think its about it. Look up the prices online and see if it is within ur budget. If not, tell me, and we can step down a couple of notches. Peace
Well .. CONSIDERING UR BUDGET i think da best deal would be .. CPU - P4 2.66 64 bit or 3.0 Motherboard - Intel(Original) 845G or newer.. (dont compromise on motherboard go for original n not chipset) RAM - 512MB (Hynix or simmtronics) HDD - 80 GB samsung DVD writers are damn cheap now .. so go for it SONY!(i don't quite remember da rate i'l inform u ..) This should jz creep in thru ur budget .. i'l tell u da rates here in pune .. n also bout graphics card tomorrow .. n ya .. U can connect a new hard disk along wid da older one
^^^ LOL, u are aksing him to ditch his existing motherboard + processor? Chintan, first of all what are you looking for? If it is playing games/burning DVDs/watching movies then you need to uprgrade just these items: 1. RAM - 512MB min 1 GB preferable - Rs 2500 2. NVIDIA or ATI grafix card - 128MB min, 256 MB preferable Rs 5000 3. Soundcard + 5.1 speakers - Creative SBLive or Audigy Rs 5000 + Rs 5000 4. 120 GB Hard disk - Rs 1500 (?). U can use the existing hardisk along. Tahts it. Your processor is good enuff for most of teh stuff, unless n until you are considering some number crunching program that calculates 6703 factorial to the power of 2.718. Dont go for Intel's (and AMD's) mareketing gimmicks. Faster processor is not going to do anythign radical. Your motherboard, RAM peripherals are much slower than the processor, and they take the real juice out of teh speed.
@alpha: Man plz clarify what r u talking abt. Graphics Cards are not abt the buffer size. A Geforce 6600GT 128MB DDR can perform wayyyyy better than Geforce 6200TC 256MB DDR. Its the core clock, memory frequency, buffer size, Anti-aliasing, OpenGL support, platform (AGP/PCI-E), DirectX support, a hell lotta other factors involved in selecting a GPU. The board i suggested upstairs has a classic built in Creative 7.1 sound card with surround management. And processors, I wud rather go for AMD, coz as far as i can see, he needs a gaming PC, and nothing better can happen to him than a dual core 64-bit CPU. I agree with ur idea that faster CPU isnt gonna take u on a roller coaster ride. Its the RAM, and Mboard & GPU that count for more visible performance, and u need to consider them. 1 gig of RAM wud be great, and speakers, yes thats important thing. Get a Creative Inspire 4.1 or 5.1 system. Sounds mindblowing, and still within ur range (shud be around 3000 in india).
hey guys , i think we are all forgetiin his Budget ..the budget is 20K .. and evo guy ..the 4000+ dual core costs alone like 30k i think ...so your config will make chitan weep ..so the followin is the best config chitan can buy below 20k amd64 3000+ (939 pin) - 6000 Asrock motherboard - 3000 https://www.asrock.com/product/939SLI-eSATA2.htm or https://www.asrock.com/product/939NF4G-SATA2.htm ( i just bought one so i have the links ) 1gb hynix or transend memory (ram )-2500 keep you current hardisk ..why change it if it works fine ...and get another Hdd and plug it in seagate or samsung 120 gb - 3000 or maxtor 6200 160gb -4000 sony g-120a dvd writer - 2800 (its a 16x writer ..dont settle for anythin else ) (optional ) xFx nvidia 5200/5600/6200 128 mb graphics card - 2500-3000 ( all same range and performance ) but one thing ..the graphics card is in PCI-e interface ..so it wont fit in your existin motherboard ..moreover your motherboard doesnt support more than 512 mb ram eventhough in the manual it states 1gb .so you must change your motherboard .and ASROCK is the best for you for cheap motherboard and great features and it in very popular in india and both the boards are which i suggested are great value for money . your total cost will be = 19800 ( wit seagate hdd and dvd writer ) +1000 ( for maxtor )
hey chitan ..forgot to mention...can get you a nvidia 6600 for rs.3500 (secondhand ) if you are interested ..there are no flaws in the card and it is only 6 months old .it also has a much bigger fan den the stocks ones cuz my friend wanted to overclock .. the 6600 will give you close to double the performance of the gpu's i recommended .. there is also a 256 mb ram which i have lyin around..i bought a 512 mb ram and after puttin it into my board (a7n266 vm -same as yours man) .the comp refused to boot ..so its just lyin at home .its 256mb at 333mhz hynix ram .i got it for 3k so i il sell it for like 1.5k so if you are interested Pm me .
Are you disposing that old PC. For how much are you willing to sell those old stuffs you're going to replace. If it's in my budget I might be interested.
WOW, so many options- I think i am more confused than before : Anyways I dont think I will be able to change the Processor and motherboard right now- Havent decided actually. Will changing it make a huge difference??? The memory specs of my motherboard ASUS A7N266 Motherboard are as follows: 2 x 184-pin DIMM Sockets Support max. 1 GB PC2100/PC1600 non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory It does not support dual-channel. ( i have no idea what all this means ) The reason it says 1GB in the manual is that I think it has 2 slots- so I can use a max of 512x2 mb DDR Ram- that makes 1 GB. i think. I might not go for a new sound card right now coz I found out that my present motherboard has a decent 5.1 sound. I have heard a lot about the nvidia geforce 6600GT graphics card. Will think about this too. Let the suggestions keep flowing in!!!!!
Dude I dont think I will go for second hand stuff. Really sorry. And How do i make the new drive the master drive and how do i make my old one the slave drive??? Any ideas
U use jumpers. Open your cabinet. Take the Hardisk out. You will see a metal (usually plastic covered) jumper (I dunno what else it can be called, or how else I can describe it). It is used to short two metal pins. The way it shorts makes the drive master or slave.
I was jz givin an option of changing .. : Hey bro .. I think satch has given u very good info .. don't get confused .. jz keep it simple .. i would suggest u to upgrade ur RAM.. go for a sony dvd writer(Rs.2800) .. U'l get a decent graphics card in Rs.2200 ASUS 128MB .. add another harddisk or sell ur current n buy a new 120 GB(if it suffices u) .. also da rates which satch has given are proper .. nJOY! PS- I would want u to consider gettin a new processor .. its ur choice though
Beat the old hard disk, chain it and the make a lot of scratches on the body. It will become a slave. For the new hard disk, hug it, kiss it, paint it pink and green and fix a stick to it. It will become the master. Keeping beating the old hard disk regularly. :aggre:
Another thing, can my motherboard(ASUS A7N266) support the GeForce 6600 GT 128 MB i.e after the RAM upgrade and the new hard disk drive etc- I am wondering if it will be a little too much for my system.
Dude u've GOT to change ur motherboard n processor. Thats what they call upgrade. Ur board n CPU will be obsolete in few months. Get AMD Athlon 64 3000+ as satch said, and the board he advised. The specs are really impressive, even if I say so. And 6600GT is a PCI-E card, which I dont think ur board supports. Besides, ur board supports only DDR266, which is half the speed as DDR400. And that, too is limited to 512MB. Get a new board n CPU. U'll be thanking us the moment u see the performance gain. 6600GT will fit like D in a P on the ASRock board. Also consider the 2nd hand 3D card offer. I wud take it if he were selling it in PK. Check it out, and if its gud, u can save lots.
Dude..I also have the good old A7N266..it definitely wont support the PCIe 6600GT and the AGP version will definitely be costlier..plus that mobo has a 4x AGP slot..the card will be 8x: wastage of bandwidth and your money EDIT:got beat to the post: Yeah you have to upgrade mobo and processor..else the new stuff u buy is a waste..
Your right!!!. INfact i dont mind changing the processor and motherboard if given a choice. But the budget is limited and I will have to work my away around that. My option right now is to a) Stick to the motherboard and processor and increase the RAM, Graphics Card and Hard Disk. OR B) Change only the motherboard and processor and do nothing else. My point is which of the above two options will give me better performance in terms of speed, graphics, etc. I need a more feasible option where I can get the best of both worlds. I have constantly been hearing that the motherboard and processor will not affect the performance as long as my Ram and graphics card is good. IS THIS TRUE??? PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT SPEED IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE TO ME!!!!
