# Motherboard, Hardrive, CPU Assistance



## Frankh1188 (Oct 10, 2006)

Hi, I have almost no knowledge of hardware for computers, but I do know that its time for me to upgrade.

I only have approx. 120gb of memory, and my computer has been running pretty slow lately.

I'm not sure what parts i should upgrade, because i don't really know what effects what. So i was hoping you guys could help me out. 

Heres what i hope to fix:
More memory
Faster processing
Better FPS

Thankyou!


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

You have not listed what parts you have or how old the system is but I presume it is an older system. You may be better off just biting the bullet and build up a system like the one I have listed below. 

The problem with updating an old system is once you have spent your hard earned money you still have an old system that will not compair with a new one.

For around the $600 dollar mark you can have a pretty nice system that should tie you over for some time and give you some head room for upgrades


*MOTHERBOARD*

*ASUS P5K LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $126*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180


*CPU*

*Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $170*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030


*VIDEO CARD*

*XFX PVT84GUDD3 GeForce 8600GTS 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported XXX HDCP Video Card - Retail $110 ( after rebate )*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150226

*or*

*XFX PVT84JUSD4 GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $80 ( after rebate )
*


*MEMORY ( RAM )*

*CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $34 ( after rebate )
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034


*POWER SUPPLY*

*Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 ATX12V 650W Power Supply with Three 12V Rails 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, C-tick, CCC, CB $90 After rebate )
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371001


*HARD DRIVE*

*Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $70*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262


*CASE*

*Thermaltake WingRS VG1000BNS Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $40*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133048


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## Frankh1188 (Oct 10, 2006)

Hi, thanks for your response. I didn't figure out how to check what I had until now so here is my system spec.
My video card is only about a year old, and my PSU is about 7 months old. I will look into what you gave me, thanks again.


Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer: 7.0.5730.13
Memory (RAM): 1024 MB
CPU Info: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
CPU Speed: 2396.0 MHz
Sound card: SB Audigy Audio [B400]
Display Adapters: Radeon X1600 Series | Radeon X1600 Series Secondary | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 1024 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: G: ATAPI DVDROM 16X | I: NC9514N ZGS638B
COM Ports: COM3 | COM1
LPT Ports: LPT1
Mouse: 5 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 20.0GB | D: 42.7GB | E: 42.7GB | F: 6.4GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 70.6MB | D: 24.7GB | E: 3.4GB | F: 2.2GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): 1 host controllers.
PCMCIA (Laptops): Not Installed
Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
Product Make: D7219P-ABA A250Y
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 06/27/03 | A M I - 6000327
Time Zone: Pacific Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. 'P4SD-LA'
Modem: Lucent Win Modem

: 
:


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

Well from a quick search I was able to find out that you can only use 

DDR RAM

and AGP video

These 2 points rule out a Motherboard change due to new boards using DDR2 and DDR3 RAM and video cards now use a PCI-E ( 1 and 2 ) interface as opposed to AGP.

Without changing the motherboard you will be limited to a Pentium 4 CPU which does not compare speed wise to the CORE 2 DUO units available now or the quad cores for that matter. 

With your current setup you can go up to a 3.4 pentium ( socket 478 )
New motherboards use a socket 775 

Also just be aware that you can not compare Pentium clock speeds and Core 2 Duo clock speeds on the same level, for example a core 2 duo 2.2MHZ CPU will out perform a pentium 4, 3.4Mhz even tho the clock speed in the pentium is higher. This is due to the Core 2 duo being far more efficient


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## Frankh1188 (Oct 10, 2006)

Blackduck30, thanks for your response...
so, i should probably change my motherboard in order to optimize the other stuff. i was planning on changing it anyways. Thanks!


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

Yes, If you change your motherboard a whole new world of options open up.

But by doing so you will need :

A new video card,

New ram,

new cpu

And not really essential but a new hard drive ( SATA2 )

I am not sure what brand power supply you purchased either or how many watt's and amps it has but PCI-E video cards require at least 26amps


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## Frankh1188 (Oct 10, 2006)

well, my budget would be around $750 (give or take $50), so should i just get what you listed in your first reply? Thanks!

my psu is... Antec True Power Trio 650 watt ATX12V v2.2 & EOS12v


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

The only thing i would consider changing/upgrading is the video card may to one of these

*XFX PVT88PUDD4 GeForce 8800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $230*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150263


I would also move up to this processor

*Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $190*

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

you might want to consider this motherboard

*ASUS P5K-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $140
*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225



That would still keep you under $700 and allow some postage costs to be put on top


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