Hi. You guys might've seen me on another s/n on Tom's Hardware forums asking about a video card. Here are my current specs:
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0ghz)
Asus A7N8X-E (I believe)
1gig ram (DDR-333...I believe...but I'm not 100% sure at the moment, if it matters, I can find the exact.)
200gig harddrive (probably a Maxtor or something)
40gig harddrive (some Western Digital, probably)
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD-RW Drive
HIS Radeon 2600XT AGP w/ IceQ Turbo
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer Limited Edition
LC-B350ATX 350W power supply
Obviously, besides the video card, some upgrading could be in order. Still runs fine, but it would be nice if it could run HD video (you know, for instance, Youtube's HD video is quite choppy). That kind of HD video being choppy on this setup would be expected, right? Or is there something really slowing my computer down? I assume it's just because it's old (built back in December 2002, and, as you can tell, some parts have been upgraded since then.)
I'm having trouble figuring out whether I should get a desktop or a laptop. I'm thinking a laptop, but at this point, I'm not sure if I should put a lot of money into a laptop right now (since I want a really good one). The other alternative I've been thinking about would be if I built a cheaper desktop upgrade to "get by" with, until the time I get a laptop. (Which I'm not really sure when I should. So who knows if I'd maybe give it a year or so till then.)
The only upgrades I can really do with this motherboard would be to up my processor to an Athlon XP 3200+ (which I assume wouldn't make enough difference, for example, in running HD video, right?), and another gig or 2 of ram. I assume you guys would recommend that I get a new set up?
I had contemplated getting a new system that could still run my video card (since I got it not long ago), and found one on Newegg. I figure I could use my DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, my sound card, my video cards, and probably even my old harddrives in my new set-up. That would only leave a new case, new processor, new motherboard, and new RAM. Would you figure I would need a new PSU (more than 350W) as well? If so, then I'd need a new one of those too.
It's sounding like the general consensus is to stick with dual cores right now, and not jump up to quads yet. Core 2 Duo is better than just Pentium Dual-Core, correct?
Here's my ideas:
Motherboard: ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 LGA 775 VIA PT880 Pro/PT880 Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157115
Processor: Intel Pentium E5400 Wolfdale 2.7GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116076
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206
RAM: I'm not sure exactly. Some DDR2 667 seems like the best the motherboard can take. Seems like it'll take 2gb dual channel ram, so maybe something of this nature?: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$26.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231051
Case and power supply: Don't need something super flashy, just something that'll work. Here's my idea:
Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with 450-Watt Power Supply
$39.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3250925&csid=_27
All in all, this all comes to, depending on what I choose, around $216.96 - $246.96. Not too bad for something that might have to go another year or 2. I don't have a budget persay, it's just that I wouldn't want to spend a whole lot building some huge thing when I might get a laptop in maybe 1-2 years.
Please let me know your ideas about those parts, alternate parts, things like that. Also, if you think I should even hold off until I decide to get that laptop. You figure my video card should still be good, right? I got it not too long ago, and I'm primarily a console gamer so I don't need some incredibly expensive video card. I typically have played older games, but I have thought of playing some more recent ones (but it's not like I'm wanting to play Crysis or anything). Please let me know what you guys think.
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (2.0ghz)
Asus A7N8X-E (I believe)
1gig ram (DDR-333...I believe...but I'm not 100% sure at the moment, if it matters, I can find the exact.)
200gig harddrive (probably a Maxtor or something)
40gig harddrive (some Western Digital, probably)
DVD-ROM Drive
DVD-RW Drive
HIS Radeon 2600XT AGP w/ IceQ Turbo
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer Limited Edition
LC-B350ATX 350W power supply
Obviously, besides the video card, some upgrading could be in order. Still runs fine, but it would be nice if it could run HD video (you know, for instance, Youtube's HD video is quite choppy). That kind of HD video being choppy on this setup would be expected, right? Or is there something really slowing my computer down? I assume it's just because it's old (built back in December 2002, and, as you can tell, some parts have been upgraded since then.)
I'm having trouble figuring out whether I should get a desktop or a laptop. I'm thinking a laptop, but at this point, I'm not sure if I should put a lot of money into a laptop right now (since I want a really good one). The other alternative I've been thinking about would be if I built a cheaper desktop upgrade to "get by" with, until the time I get a laptop. (Which I'm not really sure when I should. So who knows if I'd maybe give it a year or so till then.)
The only upgrades I can really do with this motherboard would be to up my processor to an Athlon XP 3200+ (which I assume wouldn't make enough difference, for example, in running HD video, right?), and another gig or 2 of ram. I assume you guys would recommend that I get a new set up?
I had contemplated getting a new system that could still run my video card (since I got it not long ago), and found one on Newegg. I figure I could use my DVD drive, DVD-RW drive, my sound card, my video cards, and probably even my old harddrives in my new set-up. That would only leave a new case, new processor, new motherboard, and new RAM. Would you figure I would need a new PSU (more than 350W) as well? If so, then I'd need a new one of those too.
It's sounding like the general consensus is to stick with dual cores right now, and not jump up to quads yet. Core 2 Duo is better than just Pentium Dual-Core, correct?
Here's my ideas:
Motherboard: ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 LGA 775 VIA PT880 Pro/PT880 Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157115
Processor: Intel Pentium E5400 Wolfdale 2.7GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116076
or
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
$119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206
RAM: I'm not sure exactly. Some DDR2 667 seems like the best the motherboard can take. Seems like it'll take 2gb dual channel ram, so maybe something of this nature?: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$26.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231051
Case and power supply: Don't need something super flashy, just something that'll work. Here's my idea:
Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with 450-Watt Power Supply
$39.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3250925&csid=_27
All in all, this all comes to, depending on what I choose, around $216.96 - $246.96. Not too bad for something that might have to go another year or 2. I don't have a budget persay, it's just that I wouldn't want to spend a whole lot building some huge thing when I might get a laptop in maybe 1-2 years.
Please let me know your ideas about those parts, alternate parts, things like that. Also, if you think I should even hold off until I decide to get that laptop. You figure my video card should still be good, right? I got it not too long ago, and I'm primarily a console gamer so I don't need some incredibly expensive video card. I typically have played older games, but I have thought of playing some more recent ones (but it's not like I'm wanting to play Crysis or anything). Please let me know what you guys think.