14 replies to this topic

[Lotos]

I've decided I'm gunna upgrade my computer by buying a new CPU, motherboard, and HD, or possibly buy a whole new computer, but then I'd have to return my new video card and power supply. So I'd like some suggestions please. The computer has to be decent for gaming btw. For the CPU, motherboard, HD, the total amount of all 3 has to be $200 or under, they have to be as good or better than my old parts. I'm not trying to get a big upgrade, I just wanna replace my current parts because they might be fried or something. The motherboard has to have a PCI-E slot for my video card. The CPU should have a fan if it's required for gaming. If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like the cheapest 3 available that are as good as my old parts and the best 3 I can get for $200. I'll probably buy the parts, but I might just buy a new computer instead. Same thing with the computer, but I can spend up to $300. The video card can be 256 MBs but I'd prefer 512 MBs. I suppose the PSU can be lower too. The sites have to ship to Canada. Here's my current specs: Windows XP Home Edition Motherboard: ASUS P5GZ-MX RAM: 1 GB DDR2 Processor: Intel Core Dual Core 4300 1.8 GHz Hard Drive: 250 GBs Power supply: 550 watts Video card: ATI Radeon 3650 512 MBs Is installing a CPU, motherboard, and HD hard? If so, I'd appreciate some guides. Also, is the HD the CD/DVD drive or is it that thing at the bottom of the case near the power button? If I'm asking for too much help, please tell me. The most important things I want from my request are the cheapest motherboard, HD, CPU. Thanks in advance.

[Doug]

Lotos,

Motherboards generally come with User Manuals as well as CD's for specific Drivers.
Alternatively, there are tutorials at several locations around the internet that may be useful as guides to builders who already possess fair to good levels of knowledge and skill.

However, there are plenty of mistakes that an inexperienced or careless builder can (and often do) make that can quickly reduce a selection of good components to a heap of expensive wire and junk, not even to mention a repeat of the danger and risk conditions that have been stated before in your other Thread.

I have not fully decided whether you are accurately representing yourself, or if you are posing with machine problems that are beyond your knowledge base and skill set, for some other purpose.

However, in all due respect, I chose to come down on the side of safety.

Someone who asks:

is the HD the CD/DVD drive or is it that thing at the bottom of the case near the power button?

.....And who chooses to minimize dangerous indications and the caution of two knowledgeable Techs in your other Thread .....Probably should not open a computer case, much less attempt assembly of a machine, without the direct presence of a knowledgeable coach/supervisor present at every step. Assembling a computer is far more that simply putting all the parts into a case box.

Assembly also involves correct wiring connection, careful application of temperature interface material, bundling of harnesses, assurance of proper air flow, proper grounding, care in physical placement and securing of components, both for physical/vibration concerns as well as safety to avoid short circuiting, and knowledge of correct sequence in assembly.

You may find such supervision and guidance at a local college or computer club.
But with the presentation of how you represent your current level of skill and knowledge, you should not attempt this project by yourself.

Best Regards

[Lotos]

Yeah, I know squat about computers even if I use them a lot. So I'd have to do more than just installing the parts into the case? If there is a guide on how to do it I should be fine. I installed my PSU and video card myself. Also, even if you think I can't install them, please just help me find the hardware within my budget.

[Doug]

Lotos, WTT Forums is all about learning and sharing information that we've learned. We celebrate the idea that most computer owner/users can do many of the routine and even specialized tasks that occasionally become necessary to keep their machines running in top condition. Safe browsing of the internet can be assisted by the antivirus, firewall and antispyware utilities that we install on our machines, but staying safe on the internet is even more dependent upon the owner/user taking responsibility to make good decisions when using email, IM and visiting websites. Similarly, it is possible to know about most of the components inside of a computer, but using good judgment when handling those components is an absolute necessity. Part of self-responsibility and good judgment is learning as much as you are able about the materials and tasks that you wish to engage. And an equally important part of self-responsibility and good judgment is limiting one's self to tasks that one has learned to perform safely, while not venturing into areas beyond which one can perform safely without assistance. __________________________ Remarkably, the exact replacement parts that you list are available from internet retailers and are within your budget. However, since you are in Canada, you may face difficulty obtaining parts and getting them delivered. Google searching may be a good place for you to start. We do have several expert Members in Canada, but they do not often contribute in the hardware / building sections of our Forums. Four of our top hardware specialists and builders reside in Kansas, Florida, and Australia and may not be familiar with restrictions of freight delivery and retail seller availability in your area. So you will have to do a bit of research on your own to determine which retailers may be accessible to you. In the US, I like NewEgg.com, Amazon.com, TigerDirect.com and ZipZoomFly.com. You can also read general product review and comparison information at CNET.com. You may benefit from contacting several or all of those mentioned, to determine if they are available in your area. Give them a call. Some of them even offer handy how-to guides for builders who buy their products. We like to help. And your enthusiasm for doing-it-yourself is admirable. But enthusiasm must be tempered with patience to learn and judgment to know if and when the next step may be beyond your current level of skill, knowledge and preparation. Take it easy. Take a breath. And consider what resources you may have close to you for good quality assistance. We hope that you will be an active Member of WTT Forums for a good long time. That wouldn't be likely, if we gave you thoughtless encouragement to attempt something that was too far beyond your abilities at this time. ________________________ Have you read our information posted in General Hardware about Termal Interface Material (pinned at the top of General Hardware) ? How about the article titled; Maintenance Safety, Cleaning, and ESD, posting in Hardware Made Easy ? I strongly encourage you to read those articles and others that appear in our hardware & building Forums and elsewhere. And I still encourage you to do some deliberate thinking about your present level of readiness for this interesting project. Please don't ignore the cautions that you have already received, nor dismiss them as not applying to you just because you want to do it anyway. Our warnings are for your safety. It is possible that other members will be able to contribute additional information that will help you in your search for parts. Please feel free to post back with additional questions as they may arise. Best Regards

[Lotos]

Thanks a bunch for the help. I checked TigerDirect and found amazing prices, all 3 parts match my budget. Even better, there's a TigerDirect place walking distance from where I live so if they allow pick-up I won't have to pay shipping. Could you tell me if the parts I picked are decent, and help me decide between the AMD and Intel motherboards/CPUs? I'm not sure which is better, the AMDs are cheaper though. Some of these are OEMs, my old cables should work with them right? Also, if I buy the CPU/motherboard combo will the CPU be already attached to the motherboard and will it have the thermal paste on it?

http://www.tigerdire...dy=#ReviewStart
HD

http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=1572
http://www.tigerdire...p;Sku=M452-2847
Motherboard

http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=2851
http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=4348
CPU

http://www.tigerdire...a...44&CatId=14
http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=2621
http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=2417
Or these CPU/motherboard combos

I read the guides on this site you told me about. The Thermal thing doesn't seem too complicated to do. Other than putting all the hardware in the case, applying the Thermal paste to the CPU, plugging in all the wires, installing drivers, would that all I would need to do to install it?

[Doug]

Lotos, That's great news that a TigerDirect store is within convenient distance of you. The MotherBoards that you selected are MicroATX form factor They are designed for slim-line (small) case enclosures. The standard for Mid and full size case towers is ATX form factor. Matching up the form factor with the case is important. Does your selection match your case? That's a good choice for Hard Drive and a great price. As to the other combination(s) and comparisons, for instance AMD v Intel, I'd rather have one of our hardware Techs comment. I'm going to hit on the "local help and advice" topic again. Since you have a TigerDirect store close by, maybe one of their clerks is aware of a local computer building club or a resource through a nearby community college or community center. Might be worth asking around.

[Lotos]

My case is pretty big. :/ This one is labeled as uATX, is that the right one?

http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=2621

[Lotos]

According to Asus' website, my current motherboard is apperantly a uATX. I think I'm gunna go with these parts:

http://www.tigerdire...sku=TSD-500AAKS
HD

http://www.tigerdire...p;sku=Z700-2009
Motherboard

http://www.tigerdire...mp;sku=A79-5001
CPU

[appleoddity]

Lotos. I've researched your current configuration and the parts you have chosen. To put it plainly, you are wasting your money.

The computer has to be decent for gaming btw

This is not achievable with a $200 budget. Save your money until you can buy a good CPU like this: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115037

You currently have a decent ASUS motherboard running a core2duo 1.8Ghz CPU. There isn't anything you have listed in your chosen parts that are going to perform any noticeable amount better than what you currently have. If you are in need of an instant boost in your "gaming" performance, you need to add more RAM to your current configuration. Until then, you need to save up and buy some good parts. Everything you have chosen is the bottom of the barrel. Except for the hard drive. The Intel E5200 is currently the lowest priced, lowest end dual core pentium CPU you can buy. They are being sold at a dime a dozen because they can't get rid of the overstock fast enough. The E5200 is a Pentium D, which is a generation older than the Core2Duo you currently have. I didn't look at any speed comparisons but I would bet that the AMD Athlon X2 5000+ running at 2.2Ghz would not perform as well as your Core2Duo running at 1.8Ghz. It too is one of the lowest end AMD CPUs you can buy in that class.

The motherboards you are choosing have onboard video, and you have chosen to use an add-on video card. You don't want to buy a board with onboard video. Almost every board with on-board video is a low budget board for people trying to save money. You need a board with good features, a good chipset, and a good brand name.

Lastly, why the upgrade from 250GB to 500GB? Are you using that much space. Rarely does anybody ever use that much space unless they are storing a ton of media like music and videos. I like your choice of hard drive, but if you don't need the space your "new" build will be much better if you put the extra money into the CPU and more RAM. There isn't a machine on the planet that can be considered a "gamer" with only 1GB of RAM. Any decent, higher-end game requires more than that to run smoothly and efficiently. My suggestion, is that you increase your budget to $300 and forget the hard drive. Buy a nice CPU like I linked to above, and a decent motherboard. The bigger hard drive is not going to improve your performance at all. You are better off using your current hard drive more judiciously.

I'm an intel man and wouldn't waste my time looking at AMD CPUs, so here is what I propose on a $300 budget so you build a decent gaming machine. Go with a high end CPU, enough memory, and a decent quality motherboard.

http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=2396
http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=3361
http://www.tigerdire...AIN#detailspecs

Lastly, the information I am providing here is expressly without warranty that any of these parts will work together or with any other component you choose to use. Don't dare spend a dollar until you have an experienced person go over the "details" of your current configuration and determine what parts are compatible with each other, how many of what ports you will need, etc. As stated previously, when you questioned what an HD was you lost all confidence of this poster in your ability to actually perform this upgrade successfully. If you spend this money on parts, fail to get it to work, which is likely, and come here for support people will probably not have much sympathy if you ask them why the doo hicky won't plug into the thingy ma bop. I don't mean that condescendingly, but it is your hard earned money, and you need to have some proper guidance so that you make the right choice the first time. There are several factors to consider and many costly mistakes to be made.

I have not even begun to touch on the software aspect of things after you perform this update, such as reinstalling your OS, and activating an OS that may not be considered genuine by Microsoft any longer.

Edited by appleoddity, 10 January 2010 - 12:44 AM.

[Lotos]

I'm not looking for a huge performance upgrade, I'm getting new parts because of this: http://forums.whatth...om_t109300.html My current computer runs most games on high settings lagless, and new games at low settings, and I'm fine with that. On ASUS' website, it says my current motherboard is clocked at 800mhz and can't go higher. The 500 GB HD is actually cheaper than any 250 GB HD. I really wanna buy more RAM, but I can't go over $200. If I had to pay for shipping I probably wouldn't be able to buy these, good thing I don't. I guess I should go to a computer technician because maybe not all those parts are ruined and I could save money, but what happens if they are all ruined and the technician charges me for checking what's wrong with it, then I won't have enough for buying the new parts. I also don't know any computer technicians walking distance away and I currently don't have access to a car. I don't trust them anyway, a long time ago I had to pay $100 for reformatting Windows, I know how to do it now and it's so easy, not worth $100.

and you need to have some proper guidance so that you make the right choice the first time

Well, that's why I'm here. As for the OS, I know how to install it.

[appleoddity]

All your parts are not ruined. Replacing your parts, just because, is a waste of money. If not for a performance upgrade, pay someone to properly diagnose your machine. Then, add some RAM to your current configuration and wait until you save up several hundred dollars to build your next new machine. I'm not aware of any parts in your computer that would smell like burning rubber. Its quite strange. You said you replaced some parts and the smell is significantly better. It is a good chance your system is just giving off residual smells from previously and will continue to fade. However, in my neck of the woods there are plenty of shops offering free diagnostics, or like me $25 to diagnose the problems. It certainly would be best in this situation to have a qualified individual run some diagnostics and inspect your parts to see if any further action is required. Certainly someone you know has had a good experience with a computer shop or technician you can be referred to. It doesn't make much sense that you would be willing to spend $200 for a shot in the dark to rebuild basically the same system you have now, rather than spend a few dollars to diagnose and replace the correct part if any.

[Lotos]

I ordered the parts. I was told micro ATX can go into a ATX case, so I got this motherboard/CPU, instead of the other one:

http://www.tigerdire...a...&CatId=1599

Any advice before I install? Also, my RAM is 266 MHz, will it work on that motherboard? I really wanna get more RAM, I'll try to save up some money to buy some. If I buy more RAM that's 800 MHz can I still use my 266 MHz with it, and is there a big difference between 266 MHz and 800 MHz?

Edited by Lotos, 11 January 2010 - 12:11 PM.

[appleoddity]

You must be talking about DDR2-4200 which runs at 533Mhz. The difference is 533/800*100%. The new memory will only run as fast as the slower memory. You might as well stick with 533Mhz RAM. Or, replace your current memory with 2x1GB DDR2-PC6400. You've only got two slots available on the new motherboard, just keep that in mind.

[Lotos]

I downloaded a program called Z-CPU or something which I found on this website and it says my RAM is 266 MHz. Even if it is 533, the motherboard says it supports 667 and 800. o.o

Edited by Lotos, 11 January 2010 - 04:34 PM.

[Lotos]

Got all my parts and installed them. Installation was easy but at first it wouldn't start up because my old RAM isn't compatible, I had to buy 667 MHz RAM.