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My CommunityForumPublicTechnicalTopic: My PC sucks, help!
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Author Topic: My PC sucks, help!  (Read 10264 times)
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TheBeau


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« on: August 19, 2009, 01:52:20 AM »

Okay, after reading the £300 PC thread by Milli, I've been having a think about upgrading my PC. I know it needs one, but I've always thought that upgrading it to an ok level will cost £300+. After seeing that you can get an entire PC which puts mine to shame for under £300 has made me reconsider.

My Specs:

  • Mobo: Asus 939-DualSATA2
  • CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (@2.05Ghz)
  • RAM: 2048 @166mhz (VERY BAD)
  • GFX: Nvidia 7900 GS (the only part of my pc worth keeping)
  • HDD: Samsung SP1604n

Ok, it's wank. I'm fed up of running everything on lowest possible and still getting horrific framerates. So how much would it cost to upgrade (although it's pretty much buying a new pc) this crap until it's decent. By this I mean capable of running the next-gen games at good framerates, i'm not too fussy about gfx quality as I've been playing games like Fallout 3 and Assassin's Creed on low res, low everything and still getting horrible fps.

So basically, I think I need a total overhaul ie. Out with the mobo, cpu, and RAM. I think the graphics card still has a year or so left in it and I'd rather not spend even more money on upgrading that part. I doubt I'd truly need 4GB of RAM as well and anyway, I can always get more. The processor simply needs to run games well and I don't really know much about mobo's so i'm not sure what to look for (although good on-board sound would be excellent). As for the HDD, sure it's small by todays standards, but it's not a vital component for games so I'd prefer not to spend on it.

Any suggestions for a build? I'm pretty new to the hardware part of computers, but I am capable so building one shouldn't be a problem. Thanks in advance and as a guideline i'd rather spend around £200. But the lower the better!

EDIT: I believe my PSU to be fine, although I will check it out.

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« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2009, 02:35:05 AM »

I'll be keeping an eye on this, I totally forgot that I'm supposed to be pricing up a cheapy cheapy gaming rig for one of my mates Wink! Chaos will sort you right, he spec'd up mine and it works perfectly; only thing holding it back is those fucking ATI drivers. Other then that, I have nothing to add only that I'm impressed you play as well as you do with crummy framerates; anything below 40(ish) and I can't hit a barn door.
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Chaos
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« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2009, 02:52:53 AM »

Budget computers are a toughie.. Ill have a ponder and get back to you..

Any chance you could tell me a bit more about your rig?
Id like to know what PSU you have (wattage will do just fine) some more about your mobo (perhaps a link to the asus product listing)
The size of your HDD might also be worth mentioning (and the bus type.. IDE/SATA?)
Oh and a piccie of your case with the side off (so you can see all the insides please) as I'm guessing its not a mainstream gaming case Smiley

Edit-
If you can up your budget a little (by £35), this setup should give you a lot of performance!
CPU- AMD 3.1Ghz Dualcore (the new AM3 socket.. nice)
some DDR2 800Mhz RAM (4GB as well)
A new video card.. not top of the line,, but a goodun and will play pretty much anything on half decent settings
A nice little mATX mobo to whack them all together..

This is assuming you're not keeping your current mobo/ram/cpu/gpu and that your PSU is up to the challenge.. it may not be meaning that your upgrade will have to take a brief break untill you can afford some more bits..
It is possible to do more and most likely for less if you shop around.. I'm not gonna do that for you though hehe.. once you have given me what I have asked for (the info above) I will make a more detailed and accurate list of things for you to buy Smiley
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 03:23:59 AM by Chaos » Logged

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« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2009, 09:43:55 AM »

I had a similar spec PC as yours (with a half decent graphics card) which I recently upgraded, (see http://www.wdgclan.co.uk/index.php?topic=1781.0) I can't believe the difference.  Oh, the £300 PC now exists in reality and seems to be working really well.

As Chaos has gone the AMD route, I'll give you the Intel Option.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150350
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143844
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161009
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167118

Total £193.69

When you get a spare £40 get one of these, made a huge difference.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124228
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 09:59:13 AM by Millicent Bystander » Logged

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« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2009, 10:53:29 AM »

What connection does your graphics card have? Is it PCI-E or AGP? Your graphics card isn't tooo bad - but if it's AGP, you will struggle to get into the latest components as they are generally all PCI-E cards these days and it'll force you to upgrade your graphics card. Keeping the graphics card for a year or would allow you to spend that £40-£50 on getting better components for your CPU/RAM/MOBO combo, or for getting yourself a decent HDD (just ordered myself a 1Tb Western Digital black for £65)
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TheBeau


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« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2009, 12:16:51 PM »

Alright my first post was incredibly lazy, and I apologise for that. I was going to post what I was currently looking to buy, but now you guys have posted stuff which I never knew existed so it looks like I know very little if anything.

  • My PSU Wattage is 450w max./
  • My graphics card is PCI-E, sorry I should've mentioned that in the original thread.

I believe my HDD is currently IDE, though I'm not sure, how do i find out?
EDIT: I am now 99% sure it is IDE. (Thank you Junta)

By the way, not sure if it's worth mentioning, but I've got an Artic Cooling 64 Freezer Pro Heatsink fan. Can this be salvaged or is it junk? I'm not looking to overclock but I'm wondering if this will perform any better than the stock fans.

Thanks a lot guys, I was initially very reluctant to spend on anything but looking at the things you've posted, I think i'm ready to take the plunge. Let me be clear though, less really is better. I'm looking for longevity and economy more than anything else. Things like the HDD and the GFX Card have to take a backseat, as these things are adequate for the moment. Things I am convinced definetly need upgrading are the CPU, Mobo and the RAM. However, if at all possible I would like to spend on only the things I absolutely need to upgrade at this moment in time. (So if you can squeeze an extra year out of my mobo that would be excellent.)
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 12:49:25 PM by Basingstoked » Logged

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« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2009, 12:44:24 PM »

I'll check the list of spare components in my cupboard.. I'm always trying not to waste good kit and get it in use elsewhere if I can...

I believe my HDD is currently IDE, though I'm not sure, how do i find out?
SATA connections are "L" shaped - not very wide. SATA drives also don't accept a 4 pin Molex power cable (well, older SATA drives did, but newer ones don't).
http://pinouts.ru/connector/4_pin_Molex_power_connector.shtml

Arctic cooling is good to keep - better than stock fans for sure.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 12:46:20 PM by Junta » Logged
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« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2009, 12:58:34 PM »

Most new motherboards have Molex/SATA adaptors included, you will also probably also need an extra PCI E card power connector
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« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2009, 04:17:34 PM »

A PCI-e power adaptor only works if your PSU can take the strain.. some older high wattage PSUs can do it, but most of the newer ones cant.. if a new PSU doesnt have PCI-e then it cant take it.. that simple really.. but his PSU must be able to as it's powering a 7900 right now.. those things are pretty power hungry as they're overclocked 7800s (an overclocked gpu will take about 1.5x the power over a standard one)

This is IDE
This is Sata
Those are the HDD cables.. all new motherboards can take both.. although only 1 IDE cable (which you can use for 2 hard drives, or 1 hard drive and a dvd drive ect..)

The upgrade I proposed, will do better without the GPU and with a better motherboard (perhaps one that supports up to 4Dimms and not a mATX.. a Full ATX board will be a lot better) This will allow you to upgrade anything you wish later on.. it should last a good while for now (the mobo for years to come as its the latest socket from AMD)

In say 2 years time you'll be able to upgrade the CPU (to a quad or more), the RAM (whenever you like) The HDD, the GPU and all sorts of other things.. this is why AMD is the best option for budget users in the long term. Upgrades are cheaper than on intel boards.. I would invest in a faster hard drive though.. thats something you'll notice more than anything else, LOADING TIMES! maps will change faster and games/apps will load quicker which is something everyone can enjoy Cheesy

Your case should last you a good long time providing you clear the dust out once in a while (once a few months should be fine)

Later when you have some money again to upgrade, I would suggest chucking one of THESE in to replace your aging 7900 and youll have a rig that can play any game with ease on some good settings too!

something quite big to note. You will have to apply to MS for the x64 version of your OS.. if its XP or Vista you can get that really cheap (like £6.. the price of shipping the disc from the US)
If you dont do this, you can only use up to 3Gb of ram total! (that includes how much ram your graphics card has.. so if you have a 512mb card, you can only use 2.5gb ram Smiley )

Hope that helps..

Let us know which bits you go for before you buy and well help you when it comes to the build !!!

Edit- the reason you cant find the Asus listing for your mobo is because its an Asrock board.. itll be on a seperate site.. thanks
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 04:24:04 PM by Chaos » Logged

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« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2009, 04:51:37 PM »

Alright, it's definetly IDE then.

Thats the mobo: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=939Dual-SATA2
Totally forgot it was an AsRock one cuz the manual says 'Asus' on it  Cheesy

Alrighty then, I think I will take Chaos's advice on this one (do appreciate the help though Milli!) and go for AMD. Why? I'm not sure, as I've only heard that Intel are much better. But in Chaos we trust Wink.

Now I will go hunting for parts, thank you guys!
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« Reply #10 on: August 19, 2009, 05:00:02 PM »

Right.. cheers for the link..

Bad news, your mobo needs to be binned!
You have no futureproofing in there and your gonna have to do it sooner rather than later!
But a good board wont cost you too much!
Ill revise my orgional idea and repost it here for you mate..
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« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2009, 05:08:29 PM »

Bad news, your mobo needs to be binned!

Haha, and the rest of my PC to be honest!  Grin

I am very much looking forward to getting new components though. I'm really sick of getting all the refuse from my Dad's and Brother's computers. It's bloody ridiculous. They both have ATI HD4830's and the E7000 series. Of course when I ask for an upgrade they laugh in my face and say 'You don't have any money'.

Thank you very much for this Chaos. I've hardly done anything to warrant your help so I really appreciate it.
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« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2009, 05:23:26 PM »

Right.. after a bit of research and browsing.. you only need to upgrade your mobo/cpu/ram..
I have suggested an AM3 socket board that will let you use DDR3 memory.. its a little more expensive but will set you up well for the future as youll be able to double your CPU/Ram power in a couple of years time without upgrading anything else Smiley

Here goes, Hope you like it

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AMD 770 Socket AM3 6 Channel Audio Out ATX Motherboard
This gives you lots of options. you have plenty of pci-ex1 slots (so you can add a nice sound card, wifi card, usb/FW expantions, tv cards.. the lot!
Its also got 4dimm slots so you can have 8GB of ram in there with no isses Cheesy
Gigabyte also make some of the best mobos out atm with the UD3 baords (stands for ultra durable 3) as they're very overclockable and well made

3.1Ghz Black edition dual core!!! - AMD Phenom X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz 6MB L3 Chche Socket AM3
A great little CPU that will make sure you're not bottlenecking anything!
Itll get to 4Ghz if you fancy overclocking with no issues (with that mobo too Cheesy )
and you can always swap it out later for a quad.. youll most likely get good value on resale on ebay because its a black edition

Some nice overclockable DDR3 - Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Ballistix Memory
This is good ram and it'll light up in your case.. should look sweet with your window!
Its also really quick stuff..
The best thing about crucial is that you can order direct from them if what you want isnt in stock anywhere else.. this means you can match another pair later to make 8GB!!!

Freekin sweet little rig your building there mate if I do say so myself!
Whole lot comes to £196.56 with free delivery.. or £206.55 with next working day!

fianlly.. I really dont mind helping you out mate.. I love this shit! I would do this for a living if someone paid me!
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« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2009, 05:28:21 PM »

Carefull what you wish for Smiley
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« Reply #14 on: August 19, 2009, 05:28:55 PM »

what do you mean? I love looking at hardware!
Id even put it together for a small fee Cheesy
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