What part of my computer needs an upgrade?

[Mullan]

My specs are:

AthlonXP 2400+
nvidia Geforce 5700LE
512 MB RAM
proview 570 monitor
western digital 70GB Hard Disk

And my budget is around £60 maximum

It may not sound like a lot but if yet to find a game it cant run decently
What part of my computer needs the money?

P.S What do you guys think of this hard disk? http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9083684527&product_uid=59736&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&filter_display=both&filter_order=rating_useful&offset=10

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

I think that's the way to go. Get a HD. At first glance, everything you have is alright. Depends on what you use your computer the most for. Initially, I would go for the HD.

[RACKnRAIL]

Like LOTD said it's not too bad as is, but I would think about upgrading your ram to 1024 and possibly upgrade the processor next time around, if your motherboard is capable. 70 gig HD isn't too bad, but it can fill up quickly with some of the larger games nowadays, so that might not be a bad idea either.

[ratbag]

you can never have too big of a harddrive

[Malakai1911]

You wont notice any speed difference in games by doubling your ram.

You wont notice any speed difference in games by getting a larger hard drive.
- You will notice if you run two hard drives in RAID-0, but then again not by much.
- You will be able to download more with a bigger hard drive. There's an advantage.

You will notice a speed difference in games by getting a better video card. An XFX GeForce 6600GT AGP can be had for as little as $139 these days and would kick your current card's ass.
- You wont notice much of a speed difference for daily tasks, though.

Your processor is pretty good considering the Athlon XP line only goes to 3200+. I'd do a mild overclock before investing in a new processor, as long as your heatsink and thermal grease is decent.

[Digital Bliss]

I would sudgest a new hard drive and another 512 stick that should set you straight.

[shawners]

Definetly ram, possibly filling all the slots. I wouldnt buy a bigger hard drive, just have a DVD-Writer, back up alot of stuff that you download on to it... Good archiving.

[Sephiroth]

My specs are:

AthlonXP 2400+
nvidia Geforce 5700LE
512 MB RAM
proview 570 monitor
western digital 70GB Hard Disk

And my budget is around £60 maximum

It may not sound like a lot but if yet to find a game it cant run decently
What part of my computer needs the money?

P.S What do you guys think of this hard disk? http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=9083684527&product_uid=59736&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3Jldmlld3M=&filter_display=both&filter_order=rating_useful&offset=10

short answer... everything..

The problem with getting a new hard drive is that there is SATA hard drives out now so youd probably have to get one of those when you finally do a major replacement.

Unless your really pressed for space, which then id get a hard drive.

If you have PCI-E id get a new video card. The 5xxx series of video cards by nvidia werent that good and the performance is horrible and is the reason why your having trouble finding games to run well.

If your serious into gaming you need to just save up and do a major replacement when you can, youd get way more out of it than trying to pump money into prolonging the life of your current system.

[Mullan]

short answer... everything..

The problem with getting a new hard drive is that there is SATA hard drives out now so youd probably have to get one of those when you finally do a major replacement.

Unless your really pressed for space, which then id get a hard drive.

If you have PCI-E id get a new video card. The 5xxx series of video cards by nvidia werent that good and the performance is horrible and is the reason why your having trouble finding games to run well.

If your serious into gaming you need to just save up and do a major replacement when you can, youd get way more out of it than trying to pump money into prolonging the life of your current system.

I think youd be quite surprised at what this computer is capable of, especially the 5700LE, it plays almost anything without even overclocking. Speaking of overclocking, i think overclocking my proccessor is a good idea too. Unfortunatly ive tried many times and i dont think my mobo will let me. it is currently running at 15*133 mhz and there is a jumper switch on the motherboard which lets me decrease this to 100 or increase to 166. I have tried 166 but the computer crashes before it boots. My motherboard is a FIC aml39. Anybody got any ideas on increasing the multiplier?

And what exactly are the benefits of a SATA hard drive? And will they work on a astandard motherboard?

[Signa]

SATA is just a new connection instead of the common IDE. Its faster, and thats all i know for benefits. i have had my PC for nearly 2 years, and it has SATA. your PC's specs arnt too far behind mine, and i would be more surprised if you didnt have SATA. my bro has a 5700 card, though i forgot the letter suffix on his. it rocks though for a $110 card. if youre like me, a hard drive would benefit you most (480GB, mostly full), or better yet, a DVD burner. you can get good ones online for about $50

what you really should do is not upgrade at all, and save up hard for a new PC. to get anymore significantly better performance, youre going to need to replace pretty much everything. with games like Oblivion and Unreal comming up ahead, youre going to need a PCI express card.

[Mullan]

SATA is just a new connection instead of the common IDE. Its faster, and thats all i know for benefits. i have had my PC for nearly 2 years, and it has SATA. your PC's specs arnt too far behind mine, and i would be more surprised if you didnt have SATA. my bro has a 5700 card, though i forgot the letter suffix on his. it rocks though for a $110 card. if youre like me, a hard drive would benefit you most (480GB, mostly full), or better yet, a DVD burner. you can get good ones online for about $50

what you really should do is not upgrade at all, and save up hard for a new PC. to get anymore significantly better performance, youre going to need to replace pretty much everything. with games like Oblivion and Unreal comming up ahead, youre going to need a PCI express card.

I cant replace everything, i dont have that kind of money. I will though eventually have to buy a pci-express motherboard. That could also help me in the proccessor overclocking thing. Does anyone know if i need to unlock the multiplier or something similar?

[Sephiroth]

I think youd be quite surprised at what this computer is capable of, especially the 5700LE, it plays almost anything without even overclocking. Speaking of overclocking, i think overclocking my proccessor is a good idea too. Unfortunatly ive tried many times and i dont think my mobo will let me. it is currently running at 15*133 mhz and there is a jumper switch on the motherboard which lets me decrease this to 100 or increase to 166. I have tried 166 but the computer crashes before it boots. My motherboard is a FIC aml39. Anybody got any ideas on increasing the multiplier?

And what exactly are the benefits of a SATA hard drive? And will they work on a astandard motherboard?

Plays and plays good are two different things.

Why dont you read the manual for your motherboard and find out.. Because it cant be different depending on your motherboard and so there is no standard answer to your question. Im assuming you did check the BIOS which is the most obvious place to look.

SATA hard drives are faster than ATA hard drives. The fastest ATA hard drive is 133MB while SATA is 150MB and SATA2 is 300MB.

Your question about a standard motherboard is too vague to give a response, either your motherboard has to support it or you have to get a add in card which your better off getting a new motherboard/processor and so on at this point than to get a add in card.

[moneoa]

Your question about a standard motherboard is too vague to give a response, either your motherboard has to support it or you have to get a add in card which your better off getting a new motherboard/processor and so on at this point than to get a add in card.
If he let us know what his mother board is someone might be able to answer the overclocking issue
I am under the impression Mullan is not computer tech litterate

(at least an intermediary user)

[Signa]

I cant replace everything, i dont have that kind of money. I will though eventually have to buy a pci-express motherboard. That could also help me in the proccessor overclocking thing. Does anyone know if i need to unlock the multiplier or something similar?


just get a DVD burner and call it good till you can get a new MOBO. that is unless you are TOTALLY unsatisfied with your videocard's performance. other than that. you are looking good and shouldnt need an upgrade till you start getting games that look shitty or run slow enough that you really feel compelled to get a new system. morrowind did that to me, and i was quite happy after i got a new PC.

[Sephiroth]

If he let us know what his mother board is someone might be able to answer the overclocking issue
I am under the impression Mullan is not computer tech litterate

(at least an intermediary user)

If he cant figure it out then he shouldnt be overclocking in the first place because he might just be screwing with the settings in BIOS not knowing entirely what everything does and may ruin his motherboard and processor in the process. He has already played with the jumpers on his motherboard not knowing what it would do, lucky for him it didnt cause any apparent permanent damage, next time he might not be so lucky.

[truelyme]

I much agree with Sephiroth on the overclocking issue. If you don't know where to go to setup overclocking don't attempt it without learning first. The benefits of overclocking are not that great compared to the damage you could do to your system by setting up without knowing the limits. Don't do it unless you are willing to go get a new computer and it is the last resort. Even if you do it right there are still increased heat issues to deal with as a result of the overclocking.

If you don't have a dvd writer that would be the first place I would go. 4.7 gigs of backup per disc beats the heck out of 680 megs when it comes to saving stuff. If you are setup for that already, then the second choice would be a new hard drive.

Sata hds can easily be spotted by looking at the connector. IDE cables are usually grey and have a large, wide, flat ribbon coming off the back of the drive. Sata drives usually have a red connector wire that is just one wire sheath with normally black plugs. When reinstalling the OS you have to tell it that you have a Sata and then give it the third party drivers at the proper time. You don't have to do that with IDE drives.

I have a system fairly simular to yours though it has been expanded from the base setup. Its now running as 2600+ AMD processor, 3/4 gig of ram, multiple hds, a 5600 geforce and several other additions. It is still adequate to run most any application I wish. A second setup has a Sata drive as the boot. The second system runs rings around the the 2600 with greater amount of ram and the 64 bit chip.

[phil11]

RAM - That is the way to go. Get it up to a gig, then turn off the virtual memory. Stop the insanity...

Secondly, if you have collected too many nekid pics/movies, delete some. Poor mans way to add HD space...

[Mels_Smileys45]

The King replies -

" I think the user could be upgraded. You would be amazed how much a good user can help a PC out and it won't cost you anything, you may even make some money man, if you just give that PC a good user upgrade. Look into it man."

[Mullan]

Everybody stop assuming im retarded. Im not messing with the bios or overclocking without knowing how to do it. And i am not computer tech illiterate just beacause i dont have more than 15 posts on a forum. And i have a DVD-burner already but its too much of a hassle to go looking for discs when i need something. My mobo hase 2 RAM slots, each of them filled with 256MB Dimms, so ram upgrade would mean throwing RAM out.

[Signa]

i think the problem here is that you have too low of a budget and too high of expectations. your PC really is good enough. you shouldnt be looking at an upgrage, and certainly not one that requires so little money. really, the only thing you can look at is a videocard if you dont like the way your PC plays games. you have just enough to get a high performance budget card. not only would that breath more life into your PC, but it is truly THE BEST thing you can do with that money for your PC.

EDIT: screw it all man. my brother has the exact same card. the 5700LE (his is made by XFX...i think) and its awsome. i personally am an ATI person, but his card totoally rocks for the cost of it. i now see no reason at all to upgrade your PC. your only hope is building a new one. BTW, what is running shitty on your pc that you want an upgrade?