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Hello
I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent games (1942:Battlefield)
Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2 and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow for the older memory to exist.
I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but have heard they are a rip off.
Many thanks,
I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent games (1942:Battlefield)
Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2 and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow for the older memory to exist.
I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but have heard they are a rip off.
Many thanks,
Miserableman wrote:
> I chose the 9000 over the 8500*
*9600 Pro, rather
> I chose the 9000 over the 8500*
*9600 Pro, rather
gamezfreak wrote:
> Although the 9200 or 9500 wouldn't go a miss ;).
9500's are impossible to find these days (and superseded by the 9600 anyway), and I've never found out where the 9100 and 9200 fit in grand scheme of things - are they faster than the 9000?
I believe the 9000 is a slightly reworked 8500, the card I have which I know packs an almighty wallop. It gets mauled by 3DMark2003, but away from crud unoptimised DirectX9 demos it steams along nicely. I chose the 9000 over the 8500 because the guy/girl specified cost was a factor, and forking out for two 9600 Pros is a wallet buster.
> Although the 9200 or 9500 wouldn't go a miss ;).
9500's are impossible to find these days (and superseded by the 9600 anyway), and I've never found out where the 9100 and 9200 fit in grand scheme of things - are they faster than the 9000?
I believe the 9000 is a slightly reworked 8500, the card I have which I know packs an almighty wallop. It gets mauled by 3DMark2003, but away from crud unoptimised DirectX9 demos it steams along nicely. I chose the 9000 over the 8500 because the guy/girl specified cost was a factor, and forking out for two 9600 Pros is a wallet buster.
I agree with Misrablemans reccomendations.
Except the graphics card- I suspect you'll want something thats future proof (play the newer games like Half Life 2) then i'd reccomend something better like a 9600 pro.
Although the 9200 or 9500 wouldn't go a miss ;).
Except the graphics card- I suspect you'll want something thats future proof (play the newer games like Half Life 2) then i'd reccomend something better like a 9600 pro.
Although the 9200 or 9500 wouldn't go a miss ;).
sarahandchris wrote:
> Hello
> I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
> I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent
> games (1942:Battlefield)
>
> Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
> I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
>
> I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics
> cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could
> someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
>
> Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new
> motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2
> and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all
> possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow
> for the older memory to exist.
>
> I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can
> someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but
> have heard they are a rip off.
>
> Many thanks,
At the very least, you will want to replace the motherboards, the processors, the processor heatsink/fans, the memory, the graphics cards and the power supplies. If the original cases are AT and not ATX (form factors which define the layout of the case - an ATX motherboard/PSU won't fit an AT case etc) you will need to replace them. You can tell if your cases are AT by opening them up and finding the lead which runs from the power supply to the motherboard - if it's one big 12x2 (or thereabouts) connector then it's ATX, if it's two seperate connectors then it's AT. So assuming you have to replace the cases as well, I went shopping on overclockers.co.uk:
PROCESSOR
=========
2 x AMD Athlon XP1800
£39.89 each
You could spend a bit more and get a faster processor, but the XP1800 will cope pretty well with the sort of things you'll be using it for.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ acatalog/Online_Catalogue_AMD_CPUs_51.html
HEATSINK/FAN
============
2 x Akasa AK824cu copper base coolers
£11.69 each
These strap on top of the processor to disippate the heat they generate.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Akasa_119.html
MOTHERBOARD
===========
2 x ASUS A7N8X-X's
£54.93 each
Fast, stable boards with good sound/network support. I didn't fancy the look of anything cheaper.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/asus_amd_motherboards.html
MEMORY
======
2 x Crucial PC2700 256MB
£30.54 each
Ideally your machines would have 512MB RAM, but you'll get by with 256MB in each PC. I've quoted the price from www.crucial.com/uk as it's cheaper.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/
PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT3264Z335&cat=RAM
VIDEOCARDS
==========
2 x Sapphire ATI Radeon 9000
£58.10 each
Someone may come up with a better buy than these, I was looking for the 9000 Pro but they don't do it any more. A 9000 will play all of todays games pretty well, but it'll run out of legs when up against the likes of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3. If playing those games is important to you, I'd say look at the 9600 Pro instead, which is another £50 per machine.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Sapphire_143.html
PSU/CASES
=========
2 x AOpen H500A Midi Tower + 300W PSU
£50.76 each
If you can, get something like one of these, although these are perhaps a bit more than you'd like to spend. Ebuyer.com do very cheap case/PSU combinations, but you always get what you pay for and it's never wise to scrimp on the power supply as it can toast the rest of your machine in a heartbeat. Whatever you get, try and get a case/PSU combination, as they usually work out cheaper.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/AOpen_cases.html
TOTAL
=====
That's £245.91 per machine - probably £500 in total once you factor in delivery charges. One marathon build session later and you will have two pretty reasonable computers!
> Hello
> I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
> I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent
> games (1942:Battlefield)
>
> Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
> I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
>
> I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics
> cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could
> someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
>
> Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new
> motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2
> and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all
> possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow
> for the older memory to exist.
>
> I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can
> someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but
> have heard they are a rip off.
>
> Many thanks,
At the very least, you will want to replace the motherboards, the processors, the processor heatsink/fans, the memory, the graphics cards and the power supplies. If the original cases are AT and not ATX (form factors which define the layout of the case - an ATX motherboard/PSU won't fit an AT case etc) you will need to replace them. You can tell if your cases are AT by opening them up and finding the lead which runs from the power supply to the motherboard - if it's one big 12x2 (or thereabouts) connector then it's ATX, if it's two seperate connectors then it's AT. So assuming you have to replace the cases as well, I went shopping on overclockers.co.uk:
PROCESSOR
=========
2 x AMD Athlon XP1800
£39.89 each
You could spend a bit more and get a faster processor, but the XP1800 will cope pretty well with the sort of things you'll be using it for.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
HEATSINK/FAN
============
2 x Akasa AK824cu copper base coolers
£11.69 each
These strap on top of the processor to disippate the heat they generate.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
MOTHERBOARD
===========
2 x ASUS A7N8X-X's
£54.93 each
Fast, stable boards with good sound/network support. I didn't fancy the look of anything cheaper.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/asus_amd_motherboards.html
MEMORY
======
2 x Crucial PC2700 256MB
£30.54 each
Ideally your machines would have 512MB RAM, but you'll get by with 256MB in each PC. I've quoted the price from www.crucial.com/uk as it's cheaper.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/
PartSpecs.asp?imodule=CT3264Z335&cat=RAM
VIDEOCARDS
==========
2 x Sapphire ATI Radeon 9000
£58.10 each
Someone may come up with a better buy than these, I was looking for the 9000 Pro but they don't do it any more. A 9000 will play all of todays games pretty well, but it'll run out of legs when up against the likes of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3. If playing those games is important to you, I'd say look at the 9600 Pro instead, which is another £50 per machine.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Sapphire_143.html
PSU/CASES
=========
2 x AOpen H500A Midi Tower + 300W PSU
£50.76 each
If you can, get something like one of these, although these are perhaps a bit more than you'd like to spend. Ebuyer.com do very cheap case/PSU combinations, but you always get what you pay for and it's never wise to scrimp on the power supply as it can toast the rest of your machine in a heartbeat. Whatever you get, try and get a case/PSU combination, as they usually work out cheaper.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
acatalog/AOpen_cases.html
TOTAL
=====
That's £245.91 per machine - probably £500 in total once you factor in delivery charges. One marathon build session later and you will have two pretty reasonable computers!
sarahandchris wrote:
> I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can
> someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but
> have heard they are a rip off.
Dont bother with 5 or 10Gb as the price for a 40Gb is going to be pretty cheap, I dont even think you'll be able to find a 5 or 10Gb.
You will completely need a new motherboard, RAM, CPU and graphics card. The only things you can save are the keyboard, mouse, monitor, CD drive, hard drive if you want, floppy drive and possibly the sound card and any other things like network cards. To be honest you might even need a new case which can fit a new motherboard. You may be able to use the old case but you need to make sure your power supply is powerful enough for a the new stuff.
Personnally I think its probably a better idea to try and get a new complete system, as you've got to completely restrip the computer and will only use a few cheap parts from the old one. Some systems you can buy without the monitor so you could use the old monitors.
> I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can
> someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but
> have heard they are a rip off.
Dont bother with 5 or 10Gb as the price for a 40Gb is going to be pretty cheap, I dont even think you'll be able to find a 5 or 10Gb.
You will completely need a new motherboard, RAM, CPU and graphics card. The only things you can save are the keyboard, mouse, monitor, CD drive, hard drive if you want, floppy drive and possibly the sound card and any other things like network cards. To be honest you might even need a new case which can fit a new motherboard. You may be able to use the old case but you need to make sure your power supply is powerful enough for a the new stuff.
Personnally I think its probably a better idea to try and get a new complete system, as you've got to completely restrip the computer and will only use a few cheap parts from the old one. Some systems you can buy without the monitor so you could use the old monitors.
Its difficult to know where to start on advising you here. Would be good to know what kind of price range you're looking at. Theres a huge difference in price for a machine that can run the latest games one that can run them well. For instance, the machine I have here, I paid 390 for case + motherboard + memory + cpu + gfx card + hard drive. It certainly runs the latest games, just not necessarily that well sometimes.
I actually think a visit to PC World is worthwhile for you. They might well be a rip off but what do you have to lose? You don't have to buy what they offer you and at least it will give you a starting point in terms of price. As long as you're clear on what you want to do, ie upgrade and not let them babble on about the virtues of buying a whole new PC. At least after speaking to them, you could come back here or to another forum and tell us what you've been offered which gives us a good place to start helping you.
Concerning the hard drive, why do you want such a small one ?I'm not even sure they make them that small anymore. You can buy a 30-40 gig one for 30-40 pounds so maybe doesn't even make economic sense to even try to buy one that small.
One last thing, you'll probably need to buy new PSUs for the cases too, especially in the case of upgrading from a P2 to a P4 as its doubtful that such old PSUs are rated to run P4s.
I actually think a visit to PC World is worthwhile for you. They might well be a rip off but what do you have to lose? You don't have to buy what they offer you and at least it will give you a starting point in terms of price. As long as you're clear on what you want to do, ie upgrade and not let them babble on about the virtues of buying a whole new PC. At least after speaking to them, you could come back here or to another forum and tell us what you've been offered which gives us a good place to start helping you.
Concerning the hard drive, why do you want such a small one ?I'm not even sure they make them that small anymore. You can buy a 30-40 gig one for 30-40 pounds so maybe doesn't even make economic sense to even try to buy one that small.
One last thing, you'll probably need to buy new PSUs for the cases too, especially in the case of upgrading from a P2 to a P4 as its doubtful that such old PSUs are rated to run P4s.
Can you tell me what memory it is (speed, brand, type)? eg. Kingston DDR RAM, 266Mhz
Hello
I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent games (1942:Battlefield)
Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2 and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow for the older memory to exist.
I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but have heard they are a rip off.
Many thanks,
I need some advice on what hardware to buy.
I want to upgrade my childrens 2 PC's so they can play more recent games (1942:Battlefield)
Their Pc's are a pentium 2 and 3 450 mhz
I wish to make them pentium 4 or preferably cheaper equivelent.
I will need 2 x processors (AMD?), 2 x Motherboards and 2 x Graphics cards, but i seriously want to keep the cost fairly low. Please could someone recommend some products as their are so many to choose from.
Also, would i need to upgrade their existing pc memory to fit new motherboards?, or should 3 or 4 year old memory from their older p2 and p3 systems fit onto a new p4 or equivelent motherboard? if at all possible would like to be able to purchase motherboards that allow for the older memory to exist.
I also need 1 hard drive between 5 and 10 gig depending on price. Can someone recommend one? I was going to ask all this at PC world but have heard they are a rip off.
Many thanks,