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Upgrade Wars

Byte Me

Grizzled Veteran
Mar 9, 2006
909
0
Virginia, USA
My AGP video card is dying, time for a full out upgrade. I have a absolute maximum of $1,200 (shipping/tax included) that I can spend. I have several parts that I can use again from my old comp, unfortunately not my ram (it is DDR, which won't work for the mobo I'm getting), which I have 2 gigs of
k1ocray.gif
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Here is the hardware I'm looking at getting:
  • Motherboard: EVGA nForce 680i SLI
  • CPU: Core 2 Duo E6300
  • Video Card: nVidia 7950GT (I would go for 7900 GT or GTX, but I can't seem to find them anywhere)
  • RAM: 1GB Corsair Twinx DDR2/800
  • Case: Antec Nine Hundred (might be cut because I already have a case, though not as good as this one)
  • PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 650
  • HDD: 250 GB Maxtor DiamondMax 9
I have a sound card and optical drive that I can transfer over. The only hardware snag is which version of the video card and mobo should I get? There are several versions out now with and without rebates, and there are minor differences between them. The software snags are how hard is it to transfer a Windows XP license over to a new comp, and how would I transfer over all my browser (FireFox) and E-mail (Outlook) settings/files?
 
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The software snags are how hard is it to transfer a Windows XP license over to a new comp, and how would I transfer over all my browser (FireFox) and E-mail (Outlook) settings/files?

Simple, don't worry about the software side especially if these are the only things you are concerned about. With Outlook it is usually just a case of copying the mailbox(es), addressbook and any settings files you need straight into the new version, if you search for it you'll find loads of pages on it.
 
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The software snags are how hard is it to transfer a Windows XP license over to a new comp, and how would I transfer over all my browser (FireFox) and E-mail (Outlook) settings/files?
The worst you will have to do with the XP license is call the Microsoft help line and request a new Authorization Key. I've never had a problem moving the OS to another PC. Firefox Bookmark Manager will let you export bookmarks to a file that you can import into the new PC. If Outlook is using pst files then you only need to copy those files and open them in the new Outlook. The default location for the pst files is c:\documents and settings\"username"\local settings\application data\microsoft\outlook. You'll need to set the "view hidden files" option in explorer to browse to that folder.

The "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" in XP will copy your desktop, My Documents folder, and a number of other files and settings to a different XP machine. You can find the wizard in the XP installation menu on the CD. It's also located in Start menu\All Programs\Accessories\System Tools.
 
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From what I've experienced, the X2900XT is the best bang-for-the-buck card atm.

It hangs around 8800GTS performance, mostly under, but in some games it runs even better.
I believe it's 300-350 dollars, which is way below the 8800GTS, around the mid-budget cards like the 8600.

So, with your budget of 200 dollars max, it would be stupid to do an upgrade right now.
I should wait when your budget is well enough for a descent barebone computer (mainboard, CPU, GPU, RAM only) instead of just buying another graphics card.

There isn't much better stuff then the 6800 GT for your computer, you have to take in mind your front-side bus speed is 533 MHz, so you'd be bottlenecked when your databus between the GPU and CPU is too thin.
 
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Edited out to lessen confusion.

I'm trying to finalize the exact model numbers for each of the parts, this is probably one of the most complicated shopping tasks I have ever undertaken. Even the smallest variation in specs seems to have huge impact on price, reliability, and compatibility.

P.S. I am purposefully staying away from the 8000 series Nvidia cards because of the problems it has with RO and other games.
 
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Draft list:
  • RAM: Corsair 1GB DDR2/800 XMS2 versus XMS2PRO When you look at those two sticks specs compared side by side, the only real difference is price, reliability, and warranty length. They have exactly the same specifications but I don't know which one to get. It seems the PRO version is more reliable based on the reviews given, but the other one is about half the price.
  • MOBO: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
  • Video Card: 7900 GS or 7950 GT | I need to keep the price below $200 and I just don't know which one to go for. Probably going to ask about this in another forum as well.
  • Case: Antec Nine Hundred
  • PSU: Antec TruePower Trio 650
  • HDD: Unknown | Something under $100 and around 200GB (going to get two so I can put them in RAID 1), willing to consider any suggestions that are based on personal experience.
  • Optical Drive: Unknown | Something under $50 than can write DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, DVD-RAM and obviously read DVDs and CDs, willing to consider any suggestions that are based on personal experience.
I'm not going to gut this current comp. The only thing I'm going to take out is the sound card. Thus I need to add a optical drive and a copy of XP to the price.
 
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Draft list 1.1:So one question, how much does it matter that the RAM sticks are DDR2/800 when the mobo only supports DDR2/1200?

Realized I needed speakers, so those are added to the list as well.
 
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Video Card: Narrowed the 7900 GS and the 7950 selection to the ones linked. Still need some help deciding.
Add 100 dollars to it, get a X2900XT and you have much more power.

It seems to run RO pretty stable aswell, I heard someone did an average 90 FPS @ 1280x1024 with 8xFSAA and 8xAF in Red Orchestra, everything full power.


And, you have DirectX 10 and more important: Shader Model 4.0.
 
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Add 100 dollars to it, get a X2900XT and you have much more power.

It seems to run RO pretty stable aswell, I heard someone did an average 90 FPS @ 1280x1024 with 8xFSAA and 8xAF in Red Orchestra, everything full power.


And, you have DirectX 10 and more important: Shader Model 4.0.
:confused:
All video cards I linked contained cards that were no more than $200, every version of the x2900 I have seen are over $400. That breaks the bank.
 
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Final list version .95 (all prices are from Newegg):Estimated Subtotal (without shipping or optical drive, before rebates are redeemed): $1244.50
Estimated Total Cost (with shipping, no optical drive, after rebates are redeemed): $1162.04

Crap I went over... sorta, the optical drive's price is the key.

Again I ask, does it really matter that the RAM sticks I listed are DDR2/800 when the mobo only supports DDR2/1200? Will it hurt performance or cause other problems? I need to know this ASAP, its rebate ends on 6/11/07.
 
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Have you ordered yet?

I always would go with AMD the CPUs and Mobos are much cheaper and do the same.

You could save some dollars here and there (case, PSU for example) buts your choice.

Don't you think XP Home would be enough, 25$ could be saved there.

Again I ask, does it really matter that the RAM sticks I listed are DDR2/800 when the mobo only supports DDR2/1200? Will it hurt performance or cause other problems? I need to know this ASAP, its rebate ends on 6/11/07.

I really don't know but I think it supports Memory up to this frequency speed. Should be fine.
 
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No, don't listen to him. :D

Use the FEBE plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2109

Backups everything in Firefox in one file; from bookmarks to cookies, to saved passwords, extensions, form fields auto-complete info, etc etc. Worked perfectly when I transferred everything to my new PC, my Firefox is exactly the same as it was on my old PC. Extremely useful.

Most likely you need to add this to the command line the first time you use Firefox on your new system: firefox.exe -profilemanager
 
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Don't rush things even if you are in a hurry...

Intel dual core 2(4)!I got 6400, it runs cool.
Anantec case with big fan keeps things even cooler, got one too.
2 go ram ! It should work( the 1200) but watch out for the MB bios !
Its a difficult time for sound cards, you gotta have one.
I got me a 7900gs 256mo its a good card for the
 
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Have you ordered yet?

I always would go with AMD the CPUs and Mobos are much cheaper and do the same.

You could save some dollars here and there (case, PSU for example) buts your choice.

Don't you think XP Home would be enough, 25$ could be saved there.



I really don't know but I think it supports Memory up to this frequency speed. Should be fine.
Nope haven't ordered yet, just put it in the Shopping Cart to see what the final prices would be like with shipping/etc.

The Core 2 duo outperforms the AMD equivalent, plus it is very overclockable.

The case has three 120mm fans and room for more, giving me all the cooling I need right off the bat.

Needed a PSU rated for SLI (which simply means it puts out over 500 watts or something similar, no real meaning beyond that) and Antec has a good reputation for reliability.

XP Home is just plain awful, more so for me because I'm on a LAN (XP Home can't join a domain correct?)

Hope your right, RAM compatibility has always confused me. This will be my first time with DDR2 sticks and I just want everything to go as smooth as possible.

Looks like other than finding a cheap DVD/CD read only drive and possibly a floppy drive, my list is complete. I will be ordering this stuff sometime tomorrow. The main reason I asked for help in deciding between products was that you never know which tiny differences between products add up to bliss or headaches. Thanks to everyone for all the advice, it took a LOT of searching and comparing, triple what I thought I would need, but in the end I think I made mostly the right decisions. Though, most importantly, I managed to stay under budget...

>_>








<_<
 
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better yet, get two 8800s! He's got the motherboard to support them both ;)

Though again, budget blowing. But the power! So awesome! :D

I also found that getting a full tower gave me lots of room to work, run cables and tie away extra cables until such a time as their needed. And to be honest, my computer is somewhat intimidating to the lesser boxes it's placed beside :)
 
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