Topic: pretty good computer upgrade compromise (Read 5069 times)

Sirgod · « **Reply #20 on:** September 03, 2006, 03:41:51 pm »

Roger that.

Stephen

Dash Jones · « **Reply #21 on:** September 03, 2006, 06:04:44 pm »

Quote from: Stormbringer on September 03, 2006, 01:54:24 pm

Yes i did. i got a radeon 700 pro from the PX on my military star card. it is a 200 dollar card. PCI express X16. with 512MB video memory.
and i now have a backup 60 dollar budget card (also a radeon) and the mobo i am currently using has a radeon 200 on it. so i have triple redundancy on video.

Should have gone with an Nvidia instead...

BUT

how is the radeon 200 and what can it handle? I was tempted to get a budget computer with one of those in it, which version of Pixel shader does it have, and can it run current games or does it have difficulties with any of the current game releases?

Stormbringer · « **Reply #22 on:** September 03, 2006, 06:09:08 pm »

When my custom built computer fried its CMOS i had to go get a budget box machine at the only place i had credit. The PX. so i bought a presario sr1810nx. it had a radeon 200 series built in the mobo. i believe it is actually a radeon mobility 200. i will google it's specs.

Stormbringer · « **Reply #23 on:** September 03, 2006, 06:24:41 pm »

here is the webpage forthe ati radeon 200 express which is the onboard graphic chip for the compaq presario sr1810nx:

http://www.ati.com/products/radeonxpress200series/

Nemesis · « **Reply #24 on:** September 03, 2006, 11:07:15 pm »

Quote from: Stormbringer on September 03, 2006, 01:43:43 pm

so i chose a socket 939 AMD single core 3800+ 2.4GHZ (overclockable to 2.7)

This MOBO supports apparently CPUs more advanced and currently outside my budget. so it will remain upgradeable for some time.

I don't know if you are aware of this but the 939 pin socket is being replaced by the AM2 socket and at the same time DDR memory replaced by DDR2. The CPUs are not compatible between the two sockets. If you plan to upgrade the CPU before all the 939 pin chips are gone keep a very close eye on the market or you may find that the CPUs compatible with 939 pin are totally off the market and your upgrade path is blocked.

Stormbringer · « **Reply #25 on:** September 03, 2006, 11:21:14 pm »

Thanks for the head's up but even so i cannot afford to upgrade any higher at the moment.even if i cannot upgrade with that new MOBO later i still needed better than i currently have. a 3200 sempron running at 1.7. (my amd athlon 3000+ 2.14 GHZ) MOBO died leaving me with the present econobox and all but unplayable games.

with the upgraded system i can wait for better CPUs to go down in price a bit and buy the parts over time to spread out the budget.

Nemesis · « **Reply #26 on:** September 03, 2006, 11:35:10 pm »

Quote from: Stormbringer on September 03, 2006, 11:21:14 pm

Thanks for the head's up but even so i cannot afford to upgrade any higher at the moment.even if i cannot upgrade with that new MOBO later i still needed better than i currently have. a 3200 sempron running at 1.7. (my amd athlon 3000+ 2.14 GHZ) MOBO died leaving me with the present econobox and all but unplayable games.

with the upgraded system i can wait for better CPUs to go down in price a bit and buy the parts over time to spread out the budget.

The motherboards and processors for AM2 are pretty much the same price as the socket 939. The basic change is the memory controller on the chip and the memory on the motherboard, nothing that really drives the price up. DDR2 memory is still at a premium price though.

Though I like the Athlon if I were going for a low end system to upgrade to a better CPU later I'd most likely look for a motherboard that can upgrade to the (intel) Core2Duo later. Alternately an (AMD) AM2 board that will eventually take a quad core Athlon when they come out next year.

Just so long as you watch the CPUs though and are ready to grab before the higher grade 939 pin chips are all gone you should still do all right.

Stormbringer · « **Reply #27 on:** September 03, 2006, 11:38:06 pm »

stop it! you're making me drool ....quad core mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Nemesis · « **Reply #28 on:** September 04, 2006, 06:51:39 am »

Quote from: Stormbringer on September 03, 2006, 11:38:06 pm

stop it! you're making me drool ....quad core mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

As a SETI member quad core combined with dual CPU is a dream come true. Of course I don't know if current Windows versions will support quad core. Windows XP Pro might support one quad core processor, I'm unsure.

I'm currently considering upgrading my gaming machine. Since I use Windows 2000 Pro I can handle dual core but not quad core, I'm trying to decide if I should go with Core2Duo for maximum performance now or an Athlon X2 to allow upgrading to quad core later under Linux. Once quad core is "needed" I expect to be totally off Windows unless Microsoft reforms (highly unlikely)

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