Aha! Upgrades galore...

[Qonfused]

Well, the system in my sig is the one I'll be getting for Christmas... $800 total.

But, I got lucky, and my friends PC literally blew up inside... the PSU went berserk and fried everything (along with a smoke trail out of the back of his PC, he said). So, he's looking to buy my current one for $300. It seems really hopeful that this deal will go through... so, I have another $300 to add to my system.

Any suggestions...

 

[jellydoughnut217]

put it into a new processor, preferably a dual core.

 

[NJspeed]

Get a massively huge pre owned CRT monitor for cheap off Ebay. Everyone wants LCDs so bad these days that you can get a top of the line flat screen CRT, slightly used, for a ridiculously low price. That's what I did and I'm happy as hell. $1200 Sony for $100 bucks. It even has BNC connection muahaha. Thing is, I see similar deals all the time. I might even go to 24 inch because their just so inexpensive. You don't have to worry about buying used or the monitor dying. Think about all those ancient green monitors you still see being used in offices, schools, etc. Every office still has several...

 

[Lahire149]

(along with a smoke trail out of the back of his PC, he said).

happened to me too, except it was in my face when it exploded... lol
i was scared to say the least

and gettigna faster processor wo0uld be the best way to spend the extra $300
dual core isn't necessay unless u do lots of multi-tasking

get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103497
(not sure about which is faster of SanDiego and Clawhammer, but i can find out if u want)
and your dual core option http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562


or possibly get a SATA hard drive and get a regular Athlon 3800+ (this is still within your budget)

 

[giant384]

put it into a new processor, preferably a dual core.

nah dual core is useless right now i would try to get a better proccesor and better gfx card so like use half for cpu half for gfx

 

[Dumb Dude]

I would go with a 7800gt, or GTX. I'm sure you can get those for cheap now. Of course, since you got so much time, you should wait and see what ATi has to offer with the x1whatever series it is.

 

[Qonfused]

Well, I WAS gonna wait 'till Christmas, but I doubt my friend will wait that long and since Neweggh as the "don't pay for 90 days" thing, I think I'll opt for that.

I'm not looking to blow the whole $300 on one thing, but more to "spread the love." I was going to up the CPU to something like a 3500+, like this... and also up the video card to a 7800GT, like this...

That's what I have so far... um, I'm thinking about a Barracuda HD? I really don't wanna sink $120 into a 34GB Raptor.

:\

I was also thinking about buying a nice speaker system...

 

[giant384]

Well, I WAS gonna wait 'till Christmas, but I doubt my friend will wait that long and since Neweggh as the "don't pay for 90 days" thing, I think I'll opt for that.

I'm not looking to blow the whole $300 on one thing, but more to "spread the love." I was going to up the CPU to something like a 3500+, like this... and also up the video card to a 7800GT, like this...

That's what I have so far... um, I'm thinking about a Barracuda HD? I really don't wanna sink $120 into a 34GB Raptor.

:\

I was also thinking about buying a nice speaker system...

i thought 74gig raptors were that much

 

[Qonfused]

74GB are $180.

 

[sinkoman]

Does this mean no more gaming with Kwunfused until Christmass ?

 

[Qonfused]

Does this mean no more gaming with Kwunfused until Christmass ?

Well, I WAS gonna wait 'till Christmas, but I doubt my friend will wait that long and since Neweggh as the "don't pay for 90 days" thing, I think I'll opt for that.

...

So, that means, I'll buy the PC sometime in Oct. and when it gets here, I'll sell the PC to him... so I might be without PC for a couple days or only a few hours.

 

[jellydoughnut217]

nah dual core is useless right now i would try to get a better proccesor and better gfx card so like use half for cpu half for gfx

people seem to forget that on default settings your computer runs quite a few background tasks at all times (anti-virus, anti-spyware,system processes,ect) and then programs you have running most of the time (x-fire, steam, ect). All these background tasks put a hit on ur processor. Even if you just had anti-virus running in the background an x2 3800 would be quite a bit faster than a 64 4000+, if u have all the above mentioned running an x2 3800 would even edge out an fx-57 in some cases.

 

[Qonfused]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't plan on going dual-core just yet, or until I feel it's completely needed.

 

[sinkoman]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't plan on going dual-core just yet, or until I feel it's completely needed.

Yeah, i'd reccomend doing same as I am on SLI. Just let them run through a few boards/cards before they get all the bugs sorted out (since my Mobo is based off an SLI board, whenever i'm searching for help topics for raid and such, I pull up tons of complaints from people with the SLI board ).

Anyway, i'd also reccomend a raptor. When i'm playing BF2, i'm always first on the map, and will usually pull up a few tanks or strykers for when cyberpitz (finally) loads up.

Either that, or maybe you could just SAVE the money?

OR... You could not sell it to him, and use the PC as a small server for clan practices and private games.

 

[Lahire149]

Raptor 74gb is like $240
so it may not be necessary
http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20050927/index.html
that'll give you all yo need to know about the latets harddrives, including many benchmarks

I'd step that x800xl up to a XT
and if you have any money left over get a faster processor, i can't stress it enough
It has a huge effect on games and ALL other system functions...the one u want is almost outdated

 

[jellydoughnut217]

well even if you dont want to go dual core i still say update that processor, any new graphics card you buy will be limited by that processor, the x800xl might even be limited by it.

 

[Qonfused]

I'm not looking to blow the whole $300 on one thing, but more to "spread the love." I was going to up the CPU to something like a 3500+, like this... and also up the video card to a 7800GT, like this...

It's really likely that the deal'll go through... he talked to his Dad, blah, blah. His Dad seems interested.

 

[3ssence]

I'd do exactly what you said you were tempted to do Q_onfused, go for a 3500 (or even a 3700, 1mb cache as opposed to 512, would be my choice for gaming, if you can squeeze it into your budget) and a 7800GT, and nice speakers are always a good thing.

I wouldn't bother with a raptor, sure they're fast, but the top 7200 rpm sata drives aren't all that far off speed wise, in fact, some of the larger 7200 rpm drives with a higher data density on the platter are actually quicker in some respects.

Whatever you get make sure it's your choice and it's what you will be most happy with (subliminal messaging.....go with the graphics my friend, the graphics...) lol

 

[Lahire149]

in fact, some of the larger 7200 rpm drives with a higher data density on the platter are actually quicker in some respects.

not true


although getting a raptor is a bad idea
u should upgrade the HDD to a large SATA drive

 

[3ssence]

yes it is true, i would not say so otherwise.

note, i did not say faster, i said faster in (see keyword) some... yes, that's some, not all, respects. I should also point at that at the time it was indeed the fastest sata drive around and faster in almost all tests, but since then the same is not now true.

To quote some custompc (very popular mag with uk (and also abroad) computer and hardware fanatics) articles:

On the subject of data density: "While upping the spin rate is a brute-force method of making a hard drive perform better - as exemplified by the Western Digital Raptor's 10,000rpm rotational speed - increasing areal density also pays dividends. This means more data passes over the read/write heads per second, allowing increased throughput."

Some examples of sata drives quicker in some respects:

On the samsung spinpoint P120S: "It was phenomenally quick in the Far Cry level-loading test too, taking just 40 seconds, while the Raptor took 50 seconds to get into the game."

On the western digital caviar SE16: "The SE16's image editing score of 1.85 was extremely impressive, particularly as, when fitted with a 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor, the same test rig scored 1.76."

I'm not one to say something unless it is true and there is evidence to support it. My claim was merely that there are some sata drives out there are faster in some respects than the 74gb raptor, and this is true.

 

[duffers20]

Another thing to point out about the samsung spinpoint P120S is that its really quiet too, another half quote from custom pc, I seem to remember that they said the noise while working was 25dB while a raptor is something like 28 to 31 working or something, so it is quiet.

 

[3ssence]

That it is, just put one in my brothers new build, silent, can't hear a thing.

 

[duffers20]

Custom PC, such a great magazine! Great advice and tips in there, if I hadn't got my first issue back in feburary of last year, I would have never got into teh hardware side of computers!

 

[Qonfused]

That SpinPoint sounds really good, and I have a few Samsung products, and they're really high-quality. So... overall, I've upgraded the video card to a BFG 7800GT, the CPU to a 3500+, and added the Samsung HD.

The new list can be found here.

All those parts and the money alotted leave me with $100 left over. I plan to keep/save the money for upgrades/spending money until I go back to work. Or I could cut down the price my parents pay... (Originally, they were gonna pay $250 each, and then I put forth $300. So now, they could pay $200 a piece and I might actually get something else for Christmas. )

 

[Lahire149]

Sounds like a much better idea than your original idea.

 

[joule]

AWESOEM ****ing Rig Man OMFG!!1112~``r

<333333333333333333333333333333

 

[3ssence]

That SpinPoint sounds really good, and I have a few Samsung products, and they're really high-quality. So... overall, I've upgraded the video card to a BFG 7800GT, the CPU to a 3500+, and added the Samsung HD.

The new list can be found here.

All those parts and the money alotted leave me with $100 left over. I plan to keep/save the money for upgrades/spending money until I go back to work. Or I could cut down the price my parents pay... (Originally, they were gonna pay $250 each, and then I put forth $300. So now, they could pay $200 a piece and I might actually get something else for Christmas. )

That's going to be an awesome rig mate

:E