23-02-2003 23:16									#1
	Help Datajack upgrading his PC Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

My current system is P3-700 128RAM 19GBHD

What gives the best performances? Should I replace just the chip or is ram more important? Feel free to post some prices, as I haven't the slightest idea about what amount I'm going to invest (invest! in a computer! )


Note that Datajack wants to go to Athens to see the olympics and has to buy the volleyball tournament tickets in may (in the country where Paiticakes lives... ) so he cannot spend more than 500€/$

	23-02-2003 23:20									#2
	Increase Your PM Length

damn, everyone has a computer thread now!

youre really better off just going for a total system makeover with everything except for the HD and CD drive. you probably can get a P4 system for 500 provided you do use your old things in tandem with the new.

	24-02-2003 00:04									#3
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Buy as much RAM as you can or want to get for it. You should be able to get well over 1G (if not 2) with your €500.

	24-02-2003 00:15									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

the question is though will his mobo support it? and it depends on what OS hes running also. if its 98se then he has a limit of 999.

	24-02-2003 00:43									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

It is 98 MRT

	24-02-2003 00:47									#6
	Get a bigger avatar today!

what kind of ram do you have? i am assuming it is SDRAM. i could actually sell you two sticks of 256 MB pc133 ram...for like 20 bucks a stick. that would boost performance to an extent.

have you any experience building your own computer?

	24-02-2003 00:52									#7
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

I definitely don't want to mess with my computer as I still remember the time I overclocked my old Apple Macintosh (self-combust the very next day)

	24-02-2003 01:01									#8
	Support Apolyton

well how are you going to go about upgrading your computer then? did you buy a nerd slave from india? you should consult the person doing the upgrade to your computer...

personally id get a p4 2 ghz, an intel 845 mobo, stick of 512 ddr ram and win xp... that should weigh in at less than 500 bucks. and maybe a new power supply unit. that might push it to 550.

	24-02-2003 01:11									#9
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

what's a mobo again?

and nope, I'm taking it to the guy who sold it to me and seeking his advice, just don't want to go there like a stupid

	24-02-2003 01:20									#10
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

mobo=motherboard.

yeah, ask about a RAM upgrade, and a video card upgrade.

	24-02-2003 02:19									#11
	Increase Your PM Length

I will get my computer upgraded, but I think I will wait for Doom 3

	24-02-2003 03:48									#12
	Put an end to popups!

Don't forget Tomb Raider 7

	24-02-2003 04:57									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

If you're running win98se, don't go for more ram then 256 as it is a complete waste and money. You could even get lower perfonce then you have now.

I still have an AMD 1400tb lying around here somewhere, interested?

	24-02-2003 08:06									#14
	Tired of ads?

It depends on what you want to do.

If you only play TBS, you don't need an upgrade, perhaps just add another 128MB RAM.

BTW, what is your graphics card?

P.S. Why are you refering to yourself in the third person?

	24-02-2003 18:06									#15
	Support Apolyton

My graphic card is a Voodoo3

Maybe I'll just add some RAM and replace the chip? What's the cost of a P4?

Datajack thanks you, you may now go as He needs to rest

	24-02-2003 18:10									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

well theres a lot more to just replacing the chip. you need a new motherboard...and possibly new ram to go with it. 2 gig p4s costs about 100 bucks.

	24-02-2003 18:29									#17
	Inflate your Upload Space

well, datajack, you might want to get an AMD, which is a bit cheaper than p4, of course, you will need a different mobo for that (socket A) but hell you'll need a new mobo anyway me thinks... you could get a Abit MB Socket A (5 PCI, 1 AGP) ATX (NF7)

which has a network card+ soundcard in it already so you don't have to buy those anyway... i got it for €138, and an AMD2100+ processor for €113

you should definately get 512 ram... i got DDRam 512 MB 400 MHZ - PC3200 for €174, but that was pretty expensive ram, there is much cheaper ram (but not at 400mhz then)

then you should get a gef2 or so (they are very cheap now, while the gef4 etc are still nasty) and you will be okay.. you could sell that gef2 on ebay later on, and upgrade to a better graphics card if you have more money...

I think the rest you already have (case, monitor, speakers, mouse, HD, cddrive etc...) and with these new trinkets you will be around €500 i reckon

	24-02-2003 20:05									#18
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Yup

AMD works very well too

Saluti

	24-02-2003 20:06									#19
	Increase the size of your Attachments

I say just add more RAM and replace the video card. Your system can still handle most games.

	24-02-2003 20:23									#20
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

Upgrade the OS too.


How high did the P3 go?, maybe try to buy one second hand.

	24-02-2003 20:29									#21
	Put an end to popups!

P3 goes to 1.4GHz, something like that. W98 is fine with games, you don't want XP to slow you down.

	24-02-2003 20:35									#22
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

W98 is fine, but more modern want lot's of memory. That's where w98 breaks down.

	24-02-2003 20:45									#23
	Suffering from ads?

Games? Nah, games don't need much memory.

	24-02-2003 21:24									#24
	Increase Your PM Length

I'm holding out that the university will forget I owe them £950 in residence fees. If they do, then I'm buying me a new computer to replace my P166.

	24-02-2003 22:36									#25
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Paul Hanson I'm holding out that the university will forget I owe them £950 in residence fees. If they do, then I'm buying me a new computer to replace my P166.

Hull Uni is usually very good at forgetting things, but they have just remembered I "owe" them £1345...well if they will pay sums of money into my bank account I never asked for, what do they expect?



Which reminds me, I need another advice thread

	25-02-2003 18:05									#26
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Games? Nah, games don't need much memory.

I'm more confused now than before posting this thread

	25-02-2003 18:24									#27
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Hmm, games require lots of RAM and cpu power, I reckon UB is thinking of games such as civ3 etc? There you might not need that much, but if you are going to play games that were released this year, a p700 will not suffice

It's true that nowadays the graphics card does most of the work in games, but nevertheless your cpu is still important.. as I said, if you want to play games that were released this year, you will have much lag with a p700... besides, a cpu (amd anyway) doesn't cost much compared to the rest

I told ya, i bought a 2100+ AMD for just €113
Of course you will also need a new mobo, but at least you will have the latest technology so you can go on again for a few years.... i think upgrading all the time is not worth it, because you will pay just as much, and you will have to keep buying stuff and installing them constantly, which is annoying imo
And, you will never have a good (optimal) system anyway...

Last edited by Traianvs on 25-02-2003 at 18:31

	25-02-2003 19:43									#28
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

No, most games don't need much memory. 128MB is a lot, and 256MB is more than sufficient.

	25-02-2003 21:04									#29
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Even civs can make swap files up to 500Mb, so having some extra Ram is quite usefull.

I'd say 256 is a minimum nowadays.

	25-02-2003 21:39									#30
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

256 is an absolute minimum i would even say..

On top of that: having loads of ram simply boosts your computers performance on the whole, did ya even know bad ram can cause computers to crash more frequently?? hehe I didn't know until quite recently someone told me!

But everything depends of course on what you are going to play, and if you want it to look all nice and sweet, or perhaps that doesn't matter that much for you, and you can do without too many trinkets...