im computer illiterate, please help me!

jesusgotcaught

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I narrowed down my quest for a new gdu to these 2 options...but which is newer/better? They're both the same card, but different models by the same company...

(link to the items)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?SrchInDesc=evga&Page=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&Description=ge+force+7600gt&Ntk=all

Model #: 256-P2-N553-AX
or
Model #: 256-P2-N554-AX
???

also....this doesnt belong here but...
what type of memory should i buy to increase my internet cache? also, is there somethign to increase my overall computer performance?
One last thing...should i change from IE to FireFox??
 
I narrowed down my quest for a new gdu to these 2 options...but which is newer/better? They're both the same card, but different models by the same company...

(link to the items)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?SrchInDesc=evga&Page=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&Description=ge+force+7600gt&Ntk=all

Model #: 256-P2-N553-AX
or
Model #: 256-P2-N554-AX
???

also....this doesnt belong here but...
what type of memory should i buy to increase my internet cache? also, is there somethign to increase my overall computer performance?
One last thing...should i change from IE to FireFox??

The KO edition has a copper heatsink. Only difference. Internet Cache?
 

jesusgotcaught

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is the copper heat sink better or worse?
when i said internet cache i mean... when you go to tools>internet options>delete temporary internet files

what type of memory should i get to incrase the speed+performance of my computer, mainly web browsing?
 

Track

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There is no special "Internet Cache", its just ur RAM.
thx
Is there a company that has 'bad ram' (lol) that i should not get?

and can u comment on if a copper heat sink is a better thing?

No, hell i dont know what company my RAM comes from, course i bought it 2 years ago when i didnt know so much abt computers.

It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.
 
is the copper heat sink better or worse?
when i said internet cache i mean... when you go to tools>internet options>delete temporary internet files

what type of memory should i get to incrase the speed+performance of my computer, mainly web browsing?

I have two of the EVga 7600Gt Ko (copper HS) in SLI. They are great. Very fast. In SLI, beats the snot out of my ATI 1800xt..

Don't know how to answer your Internet/Ram question.
 

jesusgotcaught

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It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.

???? the ge force 7600gt isent enough for games??? I want to play CS:S on it .... ?
 

Doughbuy

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If you just want to increase your computer speed, then more memory should usually do the trick. If your not in a hurry, I would suggest going to websites like www.outpost.com (if you don't have a Fry's store near you) and wait for cheap ram deals. Also, make sure you know exactly how much ram you can put in your computer, and what kind. Buy from brands that have been around a while, like Kingston (value ram), better brands are Patriot, OCZ, Corsair, Patriot, GEIL, whatever. You can get a 1gig (2*512) of DDR 400 for like... 50 bucks on sale or after MIR. That should help your computer quite a bit.
 

Track

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It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.

???? the ge force 7600gt isent enough for games??? I want to play CS:S on it .... ?

Its good, but its not great. It can play most games on Medium settings.
So yeh, it CAN play any game, but not with high graphic settings. For ppl like me, who want to play current games on MAX detail, a high end card is needed, such as the X1900XT.
 

jesusgotcaught

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sigh
the 7600gt is a few hundred cheaper :? and i can deal with medium settings. Right now i have integrated graphics, even low settings are too laggy for me.

Is the copper heat sink better than the other one ?? does the other one even have a heat sink on it?
Also, make sure you know exactly how much ram you can put in your computer, and what kind.
How do i tell how much ram i can put in my computer, and what kind?
 
sigh
the 7600gt is a few hundred cheaper :? and i can deal with medium settings. Right now i have integrated graphics, even low settings are too laggy for me.

Is the copper heat sink better than the other one ?? does the other one even have a heat sink on it?
Also, make sure you know exactly how much ram you can put in your computer, and what kind.
How do i tell how much ram i can put in my computer, and what kind?

I used Zalman GPU coolers on my two 7600GTs. The fans on the factory copper heatsinks are small in comparison to the Zalman coolers I'm using. Reduced my idle tems 3 to 4 C with Zalman. The cards are overclocked factory 580/1500. Running two the tmps get a little warm. One should run cool enough out of the box.
 

kaotao

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It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.

???? the ge force 7600gt isent enough for games??? I want to play CS:S on it .... ?

Yes it is, and it can handle higher than medium settings on a lot of games.
 

Track

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It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.

???? the ge force 7600gt isent enough for games??? I want to play CS:S on it .... ?

Yes it is, and it can handle higher than medium settings on a lot of games.

Not a lot. It cant run F.E.A.R on high, oblivion, Prey etc. Old games, yeh.

To know wich kind/how much RAM u can get u need to look at ur Motherboard.. wich do u have?
 

kaotao

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You should check out the benchmarks before making statements like that. It may not keep up with the big boys at resolutions like 2560x1600, but it most certainly is enough for gaming.
 

kaotao

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It makes no difference, if u must buy that card, then u decide wich one to buy. Its not enough for games, and far too much for Internet.

???? the ge force 7600gt isent enough for games??? I want to play CS:S on it .... ?

Yes it is, and it can handle higher than medium settings on a lot of games.

Not a lot. It cant run F.E.A.R on high, oblivion, Prey etc. Old games, yeh.

To know wich kind/how much RAM u can get u need to look at ur Motherboard.. wich do u have?
There are only a few video cards that DON'T have trouble with F.E.A.R. and Oblivion. Mainly Oblivion.
 

Eviltwin17

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hey if you dont know what type of ram you are putting in your computer then how do you know if you have a pci express slot or agp slot? Or do you know? You need to find out before you buy this stuff. If your computer is too old for upgrading then you cant use any of these parts that you want to buy.
 
hey if you dont know what type of ram you are putting in your computer then how do you know if you have a pci express slot or agp slot? Or do you know? You need to find out before you buy this stuff. If your computer is too old for upgrading then you cant use any of these parts that you want to buy.

Go easy on him He's spanish.
 

jesusgotcaught

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hey if you dont know what type of ram you are putting in your computer then how do you know if you have a pci express slot or agp slot? Or do you know? You need to find out before you buy this stuff. If your computer is too old for upgrading then you cant use any of these parts that you want to buy.
Wow your the ONLY person who noticed the title!
im computer illiterate, please help me!
Thank you! and yes i have a pci-e slot, about a month ago i started looking into this stuff, and the people here helped me out and told me everything i didnt know about my computer.

my question is, ignoring the price difference, which is the better card...somebody said something about a copper heat sink...but i dont know what he ment by it :?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?SrchInDesc=evga&Page=1&N=0&Submit=ENE&Nty=1&Description=geforce+7600gt&Ntk=all

Also.... i need a new psu, all of the combo deals have 500w+ psu's, and i dont think i need that much. my current psu is 300w. The minimum requirment is 350w for the 7600gt, and i also want to get a gig of ram, so i imagine that would take more power..so i was thinking a 400w psu would be great incase i ever decide to add something else to my computer. What do u guys recemend....

And that leads my to my Last question ( sorry for having them all in here, i know they dont belong in the graphics thread ) how do i tell which RAM memory my computer can use...the sticker on the front of my computer says:
250 GB SATA HDD 7200 RPM with 8 MB cache
1024 MB DDR dual channel memory

Intel Pentium 4 Processor 540
supporting hyper-threading technology
processor speed 3.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache

...my harddrive failed and i got a new one from gateway, so i dont have any of the stuff i had before. Before i had a text file that had all of my computer info on it...some guy from here told me to go to a sight and download something and it listed all my specs...but i dont have that anymore.

If you need it i can find my computer model on gateway.com and it should list anything u need to know there...

Thank you for putting up with me!!! You guys have been a great help!
 

kaotao

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450W should be fine. As far as RAM goes, you could always go to your computer manufacturers website and search using your computer's model number to see what kind of RAM you have.
 

Pompeii

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You have DDR Ram, and judging by your processor, it is probably DDR 400 (unless gateway went cheap).

According to the sticker on the front of your computer, you already have a gig of ram, so I don't know what is up with that.

Also, concerning the copper heatsink, don't worry about it. All you need to know is that copper conducts heat better than aluminum, and will cool your video card better. So I say go for the KO edition of the video card, as it has a copper cooler.

If you are looking for a psu, here is a link to a good Antec 550 watt:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931

Do not just buy any old psu, you will regret doing so. The one I have chosen for you is a quality psu at a good price. I highly recommend you get that one if you are going to buy a psu. It will also give you enough power for future upgrades and/or new systems.

However, I am not sure whether or not your computer uses proprietary components or not. If it does, you cannot use that power supply.

On a side note, don't worry about the 7600GT. It is a good card, and can handle most games at medium/high settings. If you play games like Battlefield 2, your ram is more of a limitation.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
 

jesusgotcaught

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Will my ram be a problem for playing games?
Is there ANY thing u guys notice about my computer that will limit me some how ? im not going to play oblivian and fear, and i dont care if i cant play on max settings, just as long as i have smooth game play.
Is there a way to increase the amount of RAM my internet uses to store files? or is it using it all now 8O
How do i tell if my computer uses "proprietary components" ??

If you need any more info tell me
Info:
-main board
General Information :
Manufacturer : Intel Corporation
Product : D915GSE
Version : AAC77848-103
Serial Number : BTSE43704254
Support MP : No

Chassis Information :
Manufacturer : Gateway
Type : Desktop
Version : Unspecified
Serial Number : XSL4B 210 04008
Asset : Unspecified

Sensor Information :
Monitoring Chip : SMSC EMC6D103

On-Board Device Information :
Device : Intel(R) Extreme Graphics 3 Controller (Video)
Device : Marvell Ethernet Device (Ethernet)
Device : Intel(R) Azalia Audio Device (Sound)

Slots Information :
Slot PCI-Express : Available () 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 3.3v
Slot PCI : In Use (32-bit) 3.3v

External Connectors :

Internal Connectors :
PRIMARY : On Board IDE
SECONDARY : On Board IDE
ATX_PWR :

-physical memory
General Information :
CHAN A DIMM 0 (J6H1) : 512 MB - DIMM
CHAN A DIMM 1 (J6H2) : 32768 MB - DIMM
CHAN B DIMM 0 (J6J1) : 512 MB - DIMM
CHAN B DIMM 1 (J6J2) : 32768 MB - DIMM

Information SPD EEPROM () :
Manufacturer : Nanya Technology
Part Number : NT512D64S8HC0G-5T
Serial Number : Unspecified
Type : DDR-SDRAM PC3200 (200 MHz) - [DDR-400]
Size : 512 MB (2 rows, 4 banks)
Module Buffered : No
Module Registered : No
Module EPP : No
Width : 64-bit
Error Correction Capability : No
Max. Burst Length : 8
Refresh : Reduced (.5x)7.8 µs, Self Refresh
Voltage : SSTL 2.5v
Manufacture : Week 39 of 2004
Supported Frequencies : 166 MHz, 200 MHz
CAS Latency (tCL) : 2.5 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
RAS to CAS (tRCD) : 3 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
RAS Precharge (tRP) : 3 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
Cycle Time (tRAS) : 7 clocks @166 MHz, 8 clocks @200 MHz

Information SPD EEPROM () :
Manufacturer : Nanya Technology
Part Number : NT512D64S8HC0G-5T
Serial Number : Unspecified
Type : DDR-SDRAM PC3200 (200 MHz) - [DDR-400]
Size : 512 MB (2 rows, 4 banks)
Module Buffered : No
Module Registered : No
Module EPP : No
Width : 64-bit
Error Correction Capability : No
Max. Burst Length : 8
Refresh : Reduced (.5x)7.8 µs, Self Refresh
Voltage : SSTL 2.5v
Manufacture : Week 39 of 2004
Supported Frequencies : 166 MHz, 200 MHz
CAS Latency (tCL) : 2.5 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
RAS to CAS (tRCD) : 3 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
RAS Precharge (tRP) : 3 clocks @166 MHz, 3 clocks @200 MHz
Cycle Time (tRAS) : 7 clocks @166 MHz, 8 clocks @200 MHz

Memory Controller Information :
Memory Controller : System Memory
Location : Mainboard
Error Correction Capability : No
Number of connectors : 4
Max. Module Size : 4096 KB