I suck. Help?

[Treehorn]

if you had around $400 to spend on a motherboard, processor, and ram (a gig of ram preferably) what would you buy?


reason is i only have a p4 1.6 right now and a shit mobo and ram but i have a 9800 pro


so plz help (it can be intel or amd, don't matter to me)

I have pretty much the same problem. 2-year old computer, but only I'm still using a nvidia ti4200 or some crap, so I'm looking at upgrading my card as well as everything else (not to mention some new "win\sys32\config\system file missing or corrupted" bullshit that just cropped up out of the blue a few days ago and I still havn't been able to get rid of >< I don't think I even got an XP disk with this computer).

Should I just take a sledgehammer to this fucker, and buy a new one from that place Taxx and Lyion were talking about the other day (still trying to dig up the thread that was in for the company name...), or what?

I was kind of hoping to pass this comp. on to my parents or someone once I was done with it (they are still using the computer I handed down to them when I got this one 2 years ago, making that one like 4 years old...), but unless I can get this error nonsense hashed out giving it to them would just be cruel (besides, if anything goes wrong with the computer at home, I get a phone call even though I'm only slightly less clueless than my parents are).



Edit: I found the site, and I've been fiddling around with the configurators, but I'm really not sure what options would be optimal for a modest budget. Just looking for something that will tide me over for another year or two and still be able to handle nicely the games that will come out in that time. I just hate how "riced out" all of their cases look. I'm just looking for an economical gaming workhorse, I don't care if it's ugly.

Also, I did some reading, sounds like the corruption thing usually results from memory problems? I monkeyed around with my ram, took them out, switched them around, re-seated them, ran a memory test program that I found, and turned up nothing.
Re-started my computer a couple times without any error messages, but I'm still trying to find what I had read once before about testing the memory slots themselves, or maybe changing modes? Apparently I'm in dual mode now... check from the BIOS? I just don't know anything about monkeying around with the BIOS...

Maybe I should just get a 9800 or 6800 and upgrade to a gig of ram (only have 512 now, 256x2) and just forget about faster processors than the athlon xp 1900+ that I have now. I dunno. Just wondering if it would be more cost effective to completely upgrade across the board.

I suppose the most important question would be, what exactly would be involved with installing a cpu on motherboard and then installing that in my old computer. Would I actually have to do anything, like messing around in the BIOS, or would the computer automatically detect the changes and update to default settings of the hardware or whatever?

If I knew what I was doing (or if the process was relatively uncomplicated, considering I'm something of a layperson in this regard), could I build a system from parts ordered from Newegg (or someplace similar) cheaper than I could buy a bundle from a company like CyberPower, Falcon NW, or Alienware or someplace (I would assume so, but maybe they get really good deals, I dunno)? Would it be worth the trouble?

blah

[Treehorn]

After looking at the prices of a nice rig from CyberPower of Falcon would cost, I decided to just order the components myself (gogo newegg) and have some local computer guys do the assembly and set-up. Looks like I'll be saving about $400 over CyberPower's prices for a slightly better machine once all is said and done. Wish I had enough technical expertise to just to the job myself though.

Anyway, with any luck, I'll have my new computer by the end of next week. Can't...fucking...wait...

[Tacks]

I was all about upgrading until I started overclocking with some help from Vonkaar. My 3dmark2001 SE score went from 2845 at default to 6903 just from overclocking my Ti4200.

It's super simple to do as well...if you still want to keep that rig for a second gaming machine i'll hook you up with the program you need to OC your card....takes all of 5 minutes.

[Tacks]

Oh and I'm going to have to call BS on beating cyberpower's prices from what you got from Newegg. Unless you bought a bunch of mid-level non-brand name stuff.

[Treehorn]

CASEEMAX|10B ATX CS-30881TA-B3A RTL (Qty=1,Price=$53.00)
MB SLTK SL-K8AN2E-GR NFORCE3 250 RT (Qty=1,Price=$89.00)
VGA LTK 6800 A400-GT TDH 256MB RET (Qty=1,Price=$395.00)
CPU AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 64 RTL (Qty=1,Price=$149.00)
DDR CRSR 512MB X2 KIT|VS1GBKIT400 (Qty=1,Price=$154.00)
FDD 1.44MB NEC|FD1231H-302 OEM BLK (Qty=1,Price=$7.00)
HD 80GB|SEAGATE ST380013AS SATA % (Qty=1,Price=$69.00)
KB LOGITECH|MEDIA KEYBOARD RTL (Qty=1,Price=$18.00)
MOUSE LOGITECH|MX 510 BLUE RETAIL (Qty=1,Price=$35.00)
DVDRW AOPEN | DUW1608 BK % (Qty=1,Price=$62.99)
SOUND BLASTER LIVE 70SB041000000 RT (Qty=1,Price=$29.99)
CPU FAN AMD|VENUS7+ K8 A1770 RT (Qty=1,Price=$17.99)
CD MS|WIN XP HOME w/SP2 % (Qty=1,Price=$91.00)

Subtotal:$1,170.97
TAX:$.00
Shipping and Handling Charge**:$69.34
Total:$1,240.31

Pretty much the same as what I was looking at on CP, only there the bill was like 1550+, and that's not even taking shipping into account.
My parts will likely be here by Tuesday (maybe as early as Mon with 2nd day air, for $60), and I'd have to have payed twice that to get a computer assembled ($110 rush-job fee so it ships in ~2 days rather than 5-8, and god knows how much more for actual next day or 2nd day shipping, probably like $90 or so) and shipped in about the same amount of time that I'm looking at here.
Computer place doing my assembly and set-up only charges $120.

[Witty]

Hi what is overclocking and how do I do it? Thanks I suck at computers.

[Harrison]

If you're asking that question just uninstall your internet now and never ask again.

[Minrott]

Why? It's an honest question. Having knowledge you consider common doesn't mean it shouldn't be shared.

[Harrison]

He can seriously take 10 minutes in a yahoo or in a google search and find out

I promote learning, just give it some effort first!

[Minrott]

Yeah I understand man, but responses like the one you gave are half the reason people don't ask questions about something they know nothing about. If he had a little bit of info on oc'ing, then he could use that to sift through the wasteland that is google. If you know so much about it, why not point him in the right direction?

[Muglack]

Because Fin knows as much as the person asking, and tried to be cool.

[Lyion]

Hi what is overclocking and how do I do it? Thanks I suck at computers.

Essentially, overclocking is setting the CPU and Bus speed higher than what it was intended for. I.e. you have a 2.0 Ghz AMD Processor. You set it at 2.5 Ghz. Now, it's overclocked. That's all there really is to it.

The overclocked CPU runs hotter and there can be other side effects. Generally, you need more cooling in your case if you overclock. Also, an overclocked chip is not running at what the 'manufacturer' considers safe speeds for its design.

Seriously, if you don't know much about it then I wouldn't suggest doing it. In all honesty its not going to do that much for you. A few extra CPU cycles isn't going to provide any type of monumental gaming leap.

[vonkaar]

Also, an overclocked chip is not running at what the 'manufacturer' considers safe speeds for its design.

Not necessarily...

A Barton 2500 and a Barton 3200 are the exact same chip. If I run my 2500 (native 1833Mhz) at 2200Mhz (the native speed of a 3200), I'm still within what the manufacturer considers safe speeds for its design. Of course, I run it a lot faster than 2200... so... you are right... but some of the original overclockers were simply running the 'cheap' version of the 'high-end' chip at 'high-end' speeds. They were all designed with the same high-end speed in mind.

[Harrison]

Because Fin knows as much as the person asking, and tried to be cool.

No, I have little patience for lazy people. Enough people know here that I know exactly what OC'ing is and how to do it.

[Witty]

Thank you, Lyion, Google could not have explained it better to one as computer illiterate as myself.

Hi Fin! Thank you for your courteous remark, you always have important stuff to say. Logically some would think along the lines that if you didn't want to answer, you wouldn't. But that's not going to stop you from making stupid comments now, is it? No sir! Why a thread is just not complete without your blind arrogance and lack of taste in music.

And lard, speaking of lazy.