Needing a upgrade?

[BNSF650]

Well my computer is about 2 years old and i think its time to update it for a newer one. I need more memory and a better graphics card does anybody know if any of these are good from here?


http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplate ... cat0500000

[PapaXpress]

Would you be open to the idea of putting a computer together? It can be less expensive and you have more control over what parts go in it.

[arizonachris]

I would be willing to bet none of those PC's in that price range have a discreet video card. Onboard video is not gonna work if they upgrade the graphics engine.

We had a discussion about a PC upgrade going on over at my website: http://www.abithelp.com/general-tech-su ... c1317.html You can always reuse a lot of current parts from your existing PC. Post over at "abithelp" if you're thinking about building your own. We'll get you going.

[Toripony]

I would be willing to bet none of those PC's in that price range have a discreet video card. Onboard video is not gonna work if they upgrade the graphics engine.

We had a discussion about a PC upgrade going on over at my website: http://www.abithelp.com/general-tech-su ... c1317.html You can always reuse a lot of current parts from your existing PC. Post over at "abithelp" if you're thinking about building your own. We'll get you going.

Thanks, Chris. I'm on my way to join you there and I am open to BYO but need complete guidance since my pc knowledge is becoming quite dated.

[BNSF650]

Well i really dont want to build my own.. I Think that would cost way to much.

[Hawk]

Well i really dont want to build my own.. I Think that would cost way to much.

Actually, building your own is generally cheaper than buying one off of the shelf.
Of course that depends on what hardware you want.

[BNSF650]

Really? All i need is like 4 GB of Ram plus a nice Nvidia card and sound card.

[eyein12]

well i would just byu those parts then and install yourself! its easy and cheaper than getting a whole new cpu. it cost me 150.00 to do exactly what your thinking. and it changed how rw works immensely! just the memory upgrade alone will.

[Hawk]

Really? All i need is like 4 GB of Ram plus a nice Nvidia card and sound card.

Just make sure you match the RAM and vid card to your Motherboard. Don't go out and buy something just because it's the latest and greatest. Verify that whatever you buy will work on your Motherboard.

[WhiteKnight77]

I normally recommend people build their own PC if they are going to be gaming from it, it is cheaper than buying one off the shelf for what you would need to play games with. That said, the only systems I would recommend buying from a company would be Falcon Northwest or Voodoo (now owned by HP) and Alienware (owned by Dell). I picked up an FN a couple of years ago and have only added another HDD. If you really want a PC, go to FN and configure a PC then go over to Newegg.com and buy the parts from there. The only thing you can't get from Newegg that FN can offer is the case as it is made just for them.

You can also save if you recycle some of the parts you already have like optical drives and hard drives along with cables.

Hawk is right, just make sure that the video card and RAM will work with the slots you have if all you want to do is upgrade those two items. Also ensure that the RAM runs at the same bus speed as your CPU.

[piiax]

Wondering whether to upgrade my computer also. I have a phenom xs 3-core, will an upgrade to the x6 6-core be meaningful, or am I better off upgrading my vid card which is an ati radeon hd 4600 at present?

[PapaXpress]

I would stay away from Alienware (owned by Dell). They are not the quality they once were. I know this personal experiences. I cannot comment about Voodoo (owned by HP) I have not had a chance to work with their gaming line (just the corporate line of machines).

[WhiteKnight77]

I agree, I have seen others complain about the lack of quality in Alienware machines since they were taken over by Dell. Still, the best way is to build your own, even if you preconfigure it on the FN website first.

[simer4]

Just make sure you match the RAM and vid card to your Motherboard. Don't go out and buy something just because it's the latest and greatest. Verify that whatever you buy will work on your Motherboard.

By this do you mean to match PCI-e (the place you put your graphics card into on the motherboard) cards on your PCI-e Motherboard? (By the way, if you do plan on making your own computer, then you may want to read this. If you aren't, then just disregard it). Because now-a-days, Graphics Cards come only in PCI-e expansion cards. You can still buy PCI (even AGP, but why would you do that anyway?), however, this goes into the realm of low end graphics cards that are basically useless in todays games/simulators. If you get a motherboard has 1 or more PCI-e expansion slots, then it is instantly compatible with todays graphics cards. (Before reading anymore of this, I am going to explain a couple of things to make it easier to understand for those who don't understand that much about computers. a) Chipsets and CPUs are different things. Chipsets are little things integrated into the Motherboard that routes the info from components on the motherboard to and from the CPU. b) Crossfire and SLI (Scalable Link Interface), are methods of putting 2 or more graphics cards to run parallel to each other, or to act as one better graphics card (up to 4 on some motherboards, however this has proven to create visual artifacts and slower frames per second(although keeping a higher average)). c) You cannot mix SLI with Crossfire, as well you must have two identical cards to run SLI/Crossfire)

The question when it comes to buying graphics cards comes down to: SLI (nVidia), Crossfire (AMD/ATI (ATI is AMD)), or just a single card (nVidia or AMD/ATI)?
-Crossfire is much more compatible with todays motherboards, as it is supported on both Intel (H55, P55, X58, H56, P67, Z67) and AMD (many types; 890FX to name one. However there are a few nVidia based chipsets that allow SLI, but these are fairly far behind technologically) Chipset platforms.
-SlI on the other hand, is not compatible with the AMD Platform, as these are only compatible with AMD Graphics Cards (Radeon series). This doesn't mean that you can't use nVidia on AMD, you just can't do SLI unless you get an nVidia chipset AMD CPU motherboard.

So if you plan on going Intel, then you can use AMD/ATI (using Crossfire or not) or nVidia (using SLI or not). Although I would suggest nVidia.
If you plan on using an AMD CPU with an AMD Chipset board, you can use an AMD/ATI graphics card with 2 or more in crossfire if you choose, however, you would only be able to use a single nVidia card if you chose an nVidia graphics card. Also, not all cards support more than 2-way SLI/Crossfire, and some don't support it at all (you can usually tell by looking at pictures, as the SLI/Crossfire "finger," is the interface looking thing at the top left side of the card).
Another thing to keep in mind is power consumption. If you plan on running 3x nVidia GeForce GTX 580s in SLI, then you are going to want a powerful PSU (Power Supply Unit), about 1200w or more. You must read the specifications for the amount of power the card can consume. If you do run more than one card, then added amount of power consumption for the added card can be about half the amount of the cards total amount it can take in. For example, the alone GTX 580 uses 600w at full load. Add another GTX 580, and the power consumption goes up to 900w. You need to buy a PSU that can handle that kind of load.

Now that I'm done talking about the Graphics card side of things, I will reminisce about the easier to understand, RAM side of the spectrum.
-First of all, there is two types of Channel of RAM (Random Access Memory). Dual-Channel and Triple-Channel Memory. To find out which the board you are planning to buy is compatible with, consult the motherboards specifications.
-Secondly, there are two main kinds of RAM. DDR2 and DDR3. DDR stands for Double Data Rate, that doesn't reallly matter, it's just for knowledge . DDR3 Memory can be broke down into two groups: DDR3 Dual-Channel and DDR3 Triple-Channel. However DDR2 only comes in Dual-Channel. Motherboards are specifically made to meet these standards, but only one kind and channel. For example; one motherboard supports DDR3 Dual-Channel, another DDR3 Triple, and a lower end one, DDR2 Dual. You would not be able to put Triple-Channel memory into a Dual-Channel memory slot, as well as not being able to put DDR3 in a DDR2 Motherboard.
-Lastly, you shouldn't mix different models of RAM, even if they have the same specifications. It is possible, however, you may not be able to Post (start the computer and make it to the black screen with all the white writing, or a logo of some sort). Your computer will just continue to restart over and over again until it says it is unable to start.
--There is also different speeds of each, but this doesn't really matter, as when a board is built to one of the above specifications, it is immediately compatible with all the speeds that that specification has. **Note** for DDR3, any speed over 1066 Mhz on Intel boards require for you to go into the BIOS (often called the "setup") while starting your computer, and enable XMP.

For the last thing I will mention, you must choose a CPU socket (were you put the CPU into the Motherboard) that is compatible with that is compatible with the CPU you want to get. E.g. You want to get the Top-of-the-Line Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 990x. The 990x is a socket LGA 1366 which means you must get a socket 1366 motherboard. The Socket 1366 motherboard line is running an Intel x58 chipset, which means it supports nVidia or AMD/ATI in SLI/Crossfire, and uses the DDR3 Triple-Channel memory standard. However, the 990x is a six-core, so a high-end, gamer level motherboard would be needed to enable all six-cores.

So I guess that's it. Once you understand the above, putting together your own computer is actually a really fun and exciting thing. I hope this helps and if you thought it was to long, I'm sorry. If anyone wants computer hardware tech advice, you can PM me with you question.

Aidan.

[arizonachris]

Wow, Aidan, very nice tutorial. I should copy and paste that to my Forum (or you could post it over there) Well said.