Hi All,
Recently my computer just broke down ( I think it's my motherboard) after I tried putting in a new hard drive into my computer! I haven't opened my computer in months and noticed that my mobo fan and my video card fan weren't working for quite some time. I've decided to just do an upgrade. I can spend a little bit of money on quality parts but would like the best bang for the buck deals.
Parts I'm hoping I can reuse:
- 430 True Power Antec
- 4 hard drives
- 1 CDRW, 1 DVD-ROM
- 2x256 Corsair XMS memory at 2.5 3 3 6 timing
I've been out of the computer scene for a while and just started doing research yesterday. It seems the video card to get will determine what kind of mobo I will be getting. (PCI-E or AGP). So my question is:
1. Which video card is currently the best value? (Price vs Performance?) People have recommended the 6600GT but I've heard ATI coming out w/ their own version of an economical video card that performs better. X800Pro 128mb? ( I suppose my upper limit in spending would be 200-250)
2. Based on whether I get AGP or PCI-E I'm looking at the MSI Neo2 w/ the NForce3 Ultra chipset or the MSI Neo4 w/ the NForce 4 chipset.
3. I've been following the A64 3000+ XP thread and am very interested in overclocking. I just need to search on references on how to do it properly (raising bus speed vs lowering bus speed for ram etc). Hopefully there's a good reference I can find on this.
4. Would I need to get new ram? I keep hearing 1 gb as the number to go w/ and since I have 2x256 chips I want to stay at having 2 dimms rather than get another 2x256 or 1x512 w/ my other ram. Any suggestions on which ones to get? I've seen the KingMax for sale at new egg 2x512 for 77 after rebate.
5. Would my 430W Antec TruePower be able to handle all those new load considering the above?
I would appreciate some help w/ this.
Thanks!
Recently my computer just broke down ( I think it's my motherboard) after I tried putting in a new hard drive into my computer! I haven't opened my computer in months and noticed that my mobo fan and my video card fan weren't working for quite some time. I've decided to just do an upgrade. I can spend a little bit of money on quality parts but would like the best bang for the buck deals.
Parts I'm hoping I can reuse:
- 430 True Power Antec
- 4 hard drives
- 1 CDRW, 1 DVD-ROM
- 2x256 Corsair XMS memory at 2.5 3 3 6 timing
I've been out of the computer scene for a while and just started doing research yesterday. It seems the video card to get will determine what kind of mobo I will be getting. (PCI-E or AGP). So my question is:
1. Which video card is currently the best value? (Price vs Performance?) People have recommended the 6600GT but I've heard ATI coming out w/ their own version of an economical video card that performs better. X800Pro 128mb? ( I suppose my upper limit in spending would be 200-250)
2. Based on whether I get AGP or PCI-E I'm looking at the MSI Neo2 w/ the NForce3 Ultra chipset or the MSI Neo4 w/ the NForce 4 chipset.
3. I've been following the A64 3000+ XP thread and am very interested in overclocking. I just need to search on references on how to do it properly (raising bus speed vs lowering bus speed for ram etc). Hopefully there's a good reference I can find on this.
4. Would I need to get new ram? I keep hearing 1 gb as the number to go w/ and since I have 2x256 chips I want to stay at having 2 dimms rather than get another 2x256 or 1x512 w/ my other ram. Any suggestions on which ones to get? I've seen the KingMax for sale at new egg 2x512 for 77 after rebate.
5. Would my 430W Antec TruePower be able to handle all those new load considering the above?
I would appreciate some help w/ this.
Thanks!