PC Upgrade

[Torp]

I've decided to order the stuff I posted in my first post. (some friends who have experience with hardware helped me) Now... we wait.

[TrueHazard]

Cool then, you'll be fine with your RAM, but as I said, more could never hurt.

Here's some pages of good cards in the $100 (£50) range:

PCI Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143189 GeForce GTX 260 (£112.53)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150351 ATI Radeon HD 4850 (£78.14)

AGP Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131329 ATI 4670 (£68.76)


Obviously the chip you want will depend on what slots you have available and how much room you have. Then I would research a little bit for benchmarks for some of the above examples and some of the others in the same category (they will be pitted against the card in online reviews) Try http://www.tomshardware.com or http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ for some in depth reviews.

I gave both PCI and AGP examples since I'm not sure what you have... If you know, that saves us a step. If not, if you could find a model number on your motherboard or if anything download CPUz at http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php then click the "Mainboard" tab when it's running and read off the manufacturer and model and I'll look it up for you and tell you what you can run.

--Edit--

Btw, Nvidia cards tend to be more expensive. They're good cards but to get around the same power as the ATI cards you'll have to pay a bit more

My motherboard is a ASUSTeK Puffer2 (v1.xx)

[odingrey]

Cool then, you'll be fine with your RAM, but as I said, more could never hurt.

Here's some pages of good cards in the $100 (£50) range:

PCI Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143189 GeForce GTX 260 (£112.53)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150351 ATI Radeon HD 4850 (£78.14)

AGP Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131329 ATI 4670 (£68.76)


Obviously the chip you want will depend on what slots you have available and how much room you have. Then I would research a little bit for benchmarks for some of the above examples and some of the others in the same category (they will be pitted against the card in online reviews) Try http://www.tomshardware.com or http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ for some in depth reviews.

I gave both PCI and AGP examples since I'm not sure what you have... If you know, that saves us a step. If not, if you could find a model number on your motherboard or if anything download CPUz at http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php then click the "Mainboard" tab when it's running and read off the manufacturer and model and I'll look it up for you and tell you what you can run.

--Edit--

Btw, Nvidia cards tend to be more expensive. They're good cards but to get around the same power as the ATI cards you'll have to pay a bit more

My motherboard is a ASUSTeK Puffer2 (v1.xx)

Cool, so with that you run PCI-E x16 graphics, which means when you buy a card make sure it's PCI-E and NOT AGP (AGP will not work in your computer)

Ok, your last problem. How big is your power supply? There should just be numbers on the side of it. Also, does your current video card require a power supply? I mean one connected directly from your power supply to the video card through a cord.

Depending on which card you want, you may need a new power supply for it. Hopefully not, but we'll see...

--edit--
Also, if you could find a brand and model on the power supply that would really help too.

[TrueHazard]

Cool then, you'll be fine with your RAM, but as I said, more could never hurt.

Here's some pages of good cards in the $100 (£50) range:

PCI Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143189 GeForce GTX 260 (£112.53)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150351 ATI Radeon HD 4850 (£78.14)

AGP Slot:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131329 ATI 4670 (£68.76)


Obviously the chip you want will depend on what slots you have available and how much room you have. Then I would research a little bit for benchmarks for some of the above examples and some of the others in the same category (they will be pitted against the card in online reviews) Try http://www.tomshardware.com or http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ for some in depth reviews.

I gave both PCI and AGP examples since I'm not sure what you have... If you know, that saves us a step. If not, if you could find a model number on your motherboard or if anything download CPUz at http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php then click the "Mainboard" tab when it's running and read off the manufacturer and model and I'll look it up for you and tell you what you can run.

--Edit--

Btw, Nvidia cards tend to be more expensive. They're good cards but to get around the same power as the ATI cards you'll have to pay a bit more

My motherboard is a ASUSTeK Puffer2 (v1.xx)

Cool, so with that you run PCI-E x16 graphics, which means when you buy a card make sure it's PCI-E and NOT AGP (AGP will not work in your computer)

Ok, your last problem. How big is your power supply? There should just be numbers on the side of it. Also, does your current video card require a power supply? I mean one connected directly from your power supply to the video card through a cord.

Depending on which card you want, you may need a new power supply for it. Hopefully not, but we'll see...

--edit--
Also, if you could find a brand and model on the power supply that would really help too.

I don't know...however, i've got a lot of info here...might help

http://www.d-a-l.com/hardware-scanner/a ... d2cf54d45a

[odingrey]

I don't know...however, i've got a lot of info here...might help

http://www.d-a-l.com/hardware-scanner/a ... d2cf54d45a

No luck on the power supply. The power supply name is never really known to the system so a scanner wouldn't be able to find it. The only real way to do it is to crack open the case and read it.

Easiest way to find it is to look where the power cord is plugged into. All you should need to do is open the case and the label should be there without moving anything else inside of it. If you absolutely have to move some cords or something to see it (which I doubt) make sure they don't get unplugged or anything.

Or if you have the original order or something you should be able to see what's on it from the invoice. I see it's an HP computer, maybe you can still log onto their website and look at it there?

[TrueHazard]

I don't know...however, i've got a lot of info here...might help

http://www.d-a-l.com/hardware-scanner/a ... d2cf54d45a

No luck on the power supply. The power supply name is never really known to the system so a scanner wouldn't be able to find it. The only real way to do it is to crack open the case and read it.

Easiest way to find it is to look where the power cord is plugged into. All you should need to do is open the case and the label should be there without moving anything else inside of it. If you absolutely have to move some cords or something to see it (which I doubt) make sure they don't get unplugged or anything.

Or if you have the original order or something you should be able to see what's on it from the invoice. I see it's an HP computer, maybe you can still log onto their website and look at it there?

I doubt its on their website...had it for 4 years (or more, idk)

As for cracking open its case...idk, i've never opened a computer up before. And its not even mine, its the family computer. I don't want to just open it, accidently do something very wrong and get my dad seriously mad at me

[odingrey]

I doubt its on their website...had it for 4 years (or more, idk)

As for cracking open its case...idk, i've never opened a computer up before. And its not even mine, its the family computer. I don't want to just open it, accidently do something very wrong and get my dad seriously mad at me

That being the case, I'd say to get someone who has a fair bit of knowledge about computers to do it for you. They don't have to be the resident genius, but at least someone who is confident in themselves.

The power supply, if inadequate, will not be enough to run your computer correctly and you'll get things like hard drives and cd roms missing, no ability to boot, no picture, etc etc etc...

If you do have to replace it, you're going to need someone who'd be comfortable with really digging around in there, unplugging and plugging in cords. I definitely recommend someone who knows what they're doing and has done it before. If this isn't correctly done, although it wouldn't be permanent, your computer won't even turn on.

I'd say try to find someone who is any good with it before you take it to a shop, shops like to charge you 10 times what they should for little stupid things like this. Maybe if you find a small mom and pop shop. I used to work one and would never charge customers unless it took at least a legitimate hour of my time.

[Enixfer]

replacing the power supply in a computer is actually one of the easier things in my experience, when i got a new one for my new system, helps that its usually up and out of the way, and all of the pwoer cables really sort of fit in the holes they're designed for.

[odingrey]

replacing the power supply in a computer is actually one of the easier things in my experience, when i got a new one for my new system, helps that its usually up and out of the way, and all of the pwoer cables really sort of fit in the holes they're designed for.

Yea, it's generally plug and play. But it's also good to not try to learn on essential parts on your only computer

[Enixfer]

that is most definitely true. I learned that about installing new an interesting beta's for windows 7 when that came out... a huuuuge nightmare.