Computer upgrades

[General]

hey guys ill list the comp specs i know i have:

2GB RAM

500GB Hard drive

Windows Xp PRO

NVIDIA GeForce GT 240

Intel Core2 quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.88GHz ( I think lower, this thing isnt very fast)

So this is my gaming PC. Amazing huh? JK!

 

Anyway, well BO crashes, gives me a blue screen and restarts my PC (At random times) Idk whats wrong, many people dont, but as u can see my video card is old, and my processor.

 

Should i get this(Video card): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127512

 

Or should i just get this and maybe some RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103912

 

PLEASE post ANY useful info before Jan 21 or Earlier. Cash limit is about 150-180. Sorry, i aint as rich as some of you guys. Anyway, bye!

[vke]

The video card is decent, I would definitely go for more ram + cpu. What kind of motherboard do you have?

The motherboard will be the deciding factor in terms of ram and cpu that you can get. Different CPU's call for different sockets. The cpu you have posted is decent, however; you can get a quad core cpu with similar clock speed, just not the black edition, for a little less Athlon II X4 640 $99.

 

Post your motherboard specs and I'm sure we can find a couple of things to improve your system.

[General]

i have no idea haha. Its an ASUS, thats all i know

[vke]

Durp. I haven't looked at computer parts in a while, it looks like what i knew is somewhat outdated xD

That processor is pretty good, actually. Unfortunately the motherboard and cpu are pretty expensive to get better than what you have. I was able to find some ram, for gaming and especially cod, I would recommend 4gb minimum. Here are a few kits that would help out on that.

 

http://www.newegg.co...0-256-_-Product

 

http://www.newegg.co...4-182-_-Product

 

 

Since upgrading the motherboard and cpu is pretty pricey, I would go with a new video card. I found a couple that should improve things considerably.

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130580

 

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125339

 

 

Total for both ram and gpu, around ~160 plus shipping.

Another thing i would consider, is maybe adding another fan to suck air out of the case, near the top. Overheating can cause BSOD and crashing.

[General]

Which of those video cards are better?

[SkyeDarkhawk]

It should be that if you go to Start -> Run and type in "msinfo32" without the quotes and press return, it should bring up the System Information window. Depending on how your system was set up and if it was pre-built, it should give you some information. For mine, a custom build, my System Model is my motherboard identifier.

 

However, I do know that you have an LGA 775 processor, and it's pretty boss already. HOWEVER, your operating system is holding your computer back from true performance. You need to upgrade to at least Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. You are eligible for the Upgrade version as you already have a valid installation of Windows on your PC, this will save you anywhere from 60 to 80 dollars on the purchase of a Windows 7 DVD.

 

Yes, you need more RAM. If you upgrade your version of Windows, you'll be able to use more than 3.5 GB; right now you're limited to just under 4GB due to limitations of your operating system. Once you upgrade to a 64bit OS, you can max out your board; which could be anything between 4GB to 32GB depending on your motherboard specifications.

 

The two video cards that Valkyrie listed are "on-par" with each other. They will have different 3dMark scores, but they going to perform about the same. It's just a matter of do you like ATi more, or nVidia more?

 

 

Also, if you can tell us what your BSOD says, we can probably help figure out what's going on. You might also need a new power supply depending on your current power supply's output in watts. If you're running less than 450w, you're going to need a bit more for your PC.

 

Edit: Just for a bit more emphasis, your PC is like a finely tuned sports car. The only problem is, right now your driver is a half blind old man (Windows XP). It's time for a new driver (Windows 7).

[FiveMagic]

The Gt 430 should be able to run stuff like Black ops at a desent res and graphics settings but not maxed, it's more of a casual gamercard for people that are not obsessed with graphics. Same with the Ati 5670, not the best but it'll get ya by.

 

Heres a video for the Ati 5670 (Says specs in description and shows settings in the video.)

 

Edited January 13, 2011 by FiveMagic

[Desu]

honestly, CPU is good enough to run the game fine.

you need more ram, and maybe a new vid card though the vid card is decent atm.

 

My friends Nvidia gt450 runs it pretty good on high settings, and its cheap also

[General]

k. think im gettin win 7 (not sure) my dad hates ATI/AMD. And the NVIDIA you showed he said was only a little bit better, so maybe we will choose a better video card. And more RAM. Lets hope video card fixes my blops crashes D:

[Timberwolf]

i have no idea haha. Its an ASUS, thats all i know

 

 

Dude download spaccy google it ...Its a free app When it runs it shows you everything you need to know about your computer .....Motherboard and specs ram video card HD even your computer temps You can then google your motherboard and some sites will show you what works on your computer I know most ASUS will run dual core to six core if you know your board ..Don't buy high profromce Ram if you think about adding it with your other RAM Your other ram might be running 400 and the new ram is say 800 mhz both will run at 400 or less

 

But ya i would start with a Cpu and ram...that might even help the video card you have now

[SkyeDarkhawk]

Well, if that card doesn't suit your fancy, toss a few more bucks at it and grab something like this one, the GTX 460 SE. Or drop even more for a GTX 460 with Cyclone cooling for a much quieter gaming experience and bit more performance.

 

 

Just upgrading to Windows 7 you will notice an increase in performance with your computer. Make sure you install the 64bit version.

[General]

Well, those two cards require a power supply that my dad thinks we do not have.

 

For now, might jst get RAM and Win7 IF its easy to upgrade to from XP ( I have pro)

[SkyeDarkhawk]

Relatively easy. I had two computers with Windows XP installed, and purchased the 3 pack of Home Upgrade. If you have any important data, you will need to back up your files, music, and pictures before starting the Windows 7 installation as upgrading from Windows XP requires a clean install of 7. Do NOT use the built in backup tool in Windows XP (Files and Settings Transfer Wizard) as the backup files it makes cannot be read by Windows 7. Get an external hard drive or thumb drive to copy your files onto. Beyond this, it's fairly easy. You'll be required to click on the "Custom Installation" button at the start of the process, and perform a Clean Install on your primary partition. The install wizard may or may not create a backup of your old Windows system labeled Windows.Old, but do not assume that it will do this. Otherwise, the rest of the installation process is a breeze, it will ask you the typical questions of installing software (agree to the license, select your language, time-zone, etc) and the whole process should take around an hour.

 

 

The processor you linked in your first post will NOT work with your system. Your motherboard does not support it. Your motherboard has a socket LGA 775, whereas the processor you picked is an AMD socket AM3.

You should be able to pick up a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade at NewEgg for around 110 before tax and shipping, giving you at least 40 dollars to work with on the budget you provided. If you go to Crucial.com you can have it auto-detect your RAM, letting you know how much your motherboard supports and what type to get. From there it will link you a few types of RAM you can purchase for your computer, but jump back to NewEgg with the information and see if they offer it at a lower price. You should also check other retailers like TigerDirect, Fry's, and MicroCenter to see who offers your RAM at the lowest price.

 

Edit: Instead of posting again, I'll just reverse reply.

It is potential that due to his processor being a Quad core and 64bit, that Windows XP just doesn't have the muscle to push his processor and it is receiving mixed signals. By upgrading to an Operating System that supports his hardware, he will have a better environment and less chance of getting a BSOD. Without knowing the error message from the BSOD, I have to assume it's an error dealing with the system drivers, which tells the OS how to handle the hardware. If the hardware is telling the OS how to do things that it can't handle, it will kernel fault; giving a BSOD.

Also, he complains about his system being slow, that's because Windows XP doesn't utilize his hardware as well as a 64 bit OS will. Windows 7 is just a suggestion, he could easily upgrade to Linux, but suddenly lose a lot of compatibility with existing software. Windows 7 will breath life back into his computer, and since it requires a clean install, it will also eliminate driver errors (as well as download new, correct drivers the first time) and allow him to reinstall only the software he wants instead of a lot of the bloat that accumulates in XP over the years of use.

Windows XP is a dead horse; regular support ended in April of 2009; extended support (Updates) will end in 2014. Windows 7 regular support will end in 2015; so from a support standpoint, upgrading to Windows 7 will provide a longer life for the computer in the long run.

As for the performance perspective for XP vs 7, it cannot be compared. He will be moving from a 32bit system to a 64bit system; when I did the same with lesser hardware, I had around a 33% improvement in all areas. If we were to compare 32bit to 32bit, then that would be a fair comparison. Performance would increase with Windows 7 due to better resource utilization, and the system can still be tweaked the way XP can be to provide a better memory footprint from Windows (turning off Aero, for example).

For example, my wife's laptop is now close to 5 years old, if not older. It has an AMD Semperon 2800+ (32bit processor), 2GB of RAM, and an integrated ATi Raedon 200M. With Windows XP she was complaining about slowness and lag with her system, I recently upgraded her system to Windows 7. Yes, I could have just reinstalled Windows XP, but she would end up in the same boat with her browsing habits, and I would have to do it again in 6 months. With Windows 7 her computer is performing better than it was with XP; she is able to do more things at once without lag, and she's able to run programs she wouldn't think about doing before. Yes, I did customize her computer on more than one occasion for performance, but with XP the system just wouldn't put out the way that Windows 7 is doing now. So in a direct 32bit vs 32bit comparison, with my wife's laptop, there was a noticeable and easily definable performance increase by moving to Windows 7. In XP, she wouldn't dream of watching LiveStream video while doing anything else with her computer; now, without lag, she can watch LiveStream while having around 30 tabs open in Firefox, 5 chat windows, and a game of solitaire open, with Aero turned on. So, Windows XP has comparable performance to 7? I think not.

2nd edit: Also a neat side feature of Windows 7 is the Windows Experience Index, which will let him know exactly what is holding his computer back.

[rolf]

I agree with you Skye, I think it is good to upgrade to Windows 7. However, with a budget of approximately 180, it is not easy to spend $100 on the OS. Besides, most of the time the OS will not cause random BSOD's.

 

 

I suggest you (TS) backup your data and reinstall WinXP. See if that resolves the BSOD's. If not, run memtest (http://www.memtest.org/) if your memory causes BSOD's, this is in my experience one of the most common reasons for BSOD's (other than overheating, but that's not random). Your videocard and CPU are most likely not influenced, but if you have an spare videocard you can simply test it. Otherwise, try to stress test both it with some default application (google @ CPU/GPU stress test).

 

 

Anyway, for the upgrade, you'll have to find a balance. 2GB memory is not a lot, and I would recommend adding 2x2GB. Where Skye and Timber suggest some applications, I prefer CPU-z (http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html). Relevant information is Mainboard->Mode+Chipset, Memory->Timings+CL+ChannelsChannels and SPD->"Which number of slots you can select and which are filled". For the last one, I hope you have Slot1 and Slot3 filled, Slot2 and Slot4 not, in that case it's easy to upgrade

 

However, with adding 2x2GB, you need a 64bit OS as Skye described, and then you'll probably be out of budget. After that, your worst performance is the GPU, but it is likely that to increase that performance, you'll need an better PSU. So I recommmend that for a second upgrade, since that will cost you another 150, and your current worst element in the system is your memory

 

 

Btw, WinXP still has comparable performance to Win7. It doesn't matter that much, WinXP is slightly faster here, but Win7 works way better. For the drivers, for WinXP the drivers are still good enough most of the time.

[General]

Well, you guys all say i need a new PSU. If any of you know a good, cheap one, might be able to get it now instead of later. Oh and THANK ALL OF YOU for all of your help