Some Advice Please?

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

[Captain Spencer]

Hi there,

I need some opinons on the forum because I really have no idea what to do.

My computer is getting on a bit now, and having an AGP system it's graphics capabilities are now very limited. The thing that makes matters worse is the fact that my only decent graphics card has now packed up leaving me with a GeForce FX 5200 

So yeah, my system can not play any 3D games. I'm also in need of some more RAM as I only have 512MB

So my questions is, would it be worth upgrading to a PCI-X system (which I have one in mind) where I will have to save for rather a long time or spend about £150 reviving my old system??

What are your opinions and why?? I'm torn 50/50 with this one 

[TerryRussell]

Hi Captain Spencer.

In order to make a significant difference, you'd have to upgrade your video cards. Almost certainly that would mean an upgraded power supply, since most of the top-notch cards need extra power suplies and your existing one most likely won't have th eright plugs.

Your processor would need to be much faster. That would require a new motherboard most likely.

Then, you'll need new RAM. 4 GB would be best, but 3GB as a minimum.

That means you can keep your existing mouse, keyboard and probably the PC case, although some of the newer motherboards have a different form factor. Possibly your existing monitor would be reusable.

The cost of even half of the above items as components is much more than a new PC... 

I'd suggest that you go to the Novatech site and have a lpoke around there. I get the vast majority of our hardware from them (have done since they first opened as a two-man company in a small "shed" in Southsea, 18 years ago or therabouts).

Good prices, most stuff is ex-stock and you can go and collect within an hour of placing your order or get it delivered by any of half a dozen different services.

www.novatech.co.uk

[Captain Spencer]

Thanks for your reply Terry.

About the psu issue, I have a 400W PSU which coped with 2 hard drives, 4 fans, 1 graphics card (with a floppy drive power connector) and 1 CD ROM drive. If I was to be honest upgrading my computer would require a brand new PSU (hard drives are ok) but everything would need to be upgraded.

I posted an article on MPSS (not sure about here) about the new PC setup I had in mind. It was a Intel Quad Core PCI-X DDR2 system which looked good. Was extremely expensive though (£700+!!!).

Will have a look at Novatech, put a system together and see how it compares to Ebuyer. Will have to save up for a new PC though, gets very pricey as you said

EDIT: Just so you know, I had a ATI HIS X1600 Pro. Not a bad card but it keeps crashing (hence I replaced with a 5200)

Regards,
Adam

[Captain Spencer]

Just went into Notatech and can't believe how cheap they are 

Here's a screenshot. Thoughts?

[TerryRussell]

Looks good.

For comparison, I bought a new PC, to use as the MP server I plan to run shortly.

1 x PC-1113  Entity Pro  - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2048mb DDR2 800Mhz 2 x 250GB SATAII Dual Sli nVidia 8600GT 1024MB PCI-E Grahpics DVDRW - No O/S
    @ GBP 501.28 each (Ex Vat)

QUAD 2.66GB Core
Twin 8600 GT cards (so 4 monitors possible)
Twin network RJ45 connections

and so on.

We've used Novatech for years, because we get good service and excellent prices. Frankly, their Technical Support has never been the best, but then for me that's not an issue!

We (my company) spend about £50,000 per year with them on average. More if I see new toys...

I bought some huge LED screens from the recently. They weren't in the catalogue but I spoke to their sales desk and told them that I wanted a pair of 72 inch or larger and they went a found them for me. Delivered the next morning. I can't really ask for better than that.