I have taken some of this information from the January 2004 issue of Maximum PC. This information is all creditable and reliable. I know it is long, but if you read it all you may learn some new things about upgrading your PC, in getting ready for the hottest new games coming out, ALA HL2!
With the rapid development in technological evolution, planning for upgrades can be a total pain in the ass. That is why I am here to post some of the best-known hardware tips to help guide you through the painful upgrading process. The worst bottlenecks in a computer tend to be hard-drives, your motherboard, RAM, and most importantly, your CPU. Before you blow all your wad on a new CPU or video card, find out what is making your FPS go down. It could be an overlooked, slow hard drive or sluggish RAM. If you have a lot of cash to invest on that aging PC, it doesn’t make sense to spend 90% of it on a brand new Radeon 9800 XT. You should plan ahead and give all that goodness to every part of your PC, if you don’t’, your slow CPU and RAM might slowdown your fast hard-drive and video card. Understand all the boxes advertisements, 8X AGP will do you no good if games can’t take even fill a 4x AGP aperture yet. Stop and think to yourself, does it make sense to buy a new GeForce FX, if you have only got a 1 GhZ PC? No, it certainly does not. The best money spent goes to the components that are a few days short of the latest technology. First, you will not be spending as much money, and second, you don’t have to deal with the grieving shortly-tested hardware.
Motherboard/CPU – If you are planning to buy a motherboard that will bring you in to the future, consider this. Intel and AMD both have future chipsets planned, so you want to make sure that your mobo has support for these. If you are deciding to go Intel, make sure it has support for the upcoming Prescott CPU. If you really think you can survive until Fall 2004, when Intel is going to bring its totally new CPU mount for the “Tejas” chip. If you plan to go AMD, they are planning to welcome the socket 939 version of the Athlon 64 FX, which will not be compliant with old boards. With the on-coming scene of Serial ATA, make sure the mobo you plan to buy also has two SATA ports, which provides support for RAID, a blazing fast multiple hard-drive configuration. DDR2 might as well be taken in to consideration for support on your mobo as well; DDR2 will use lower voltages to reach higher speeds, which is awesome.
Video Card- This is simple, if you own a recent DX9 graphics card with the latest NV30 or R300 (Latest DX9 chipsets from Nvidia and ATI) chipset generation, you would be an idiot to buy one from the same generation, with the NV40 and R420 chipsets coming soon. The good news is, now is the best time to buy a low-budget, DX9 graphics card from Nvidia or ATI. Either the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra or the Radeon 9600 XT would be your best bet. Even though the GeForce FX 5700 is slightly faster than the 9600 XT, their benchmarks are well within the margin of error. If you still feel the need for higher speed, I suggest waiting until the newest chipsets come out, or you will only get a 10% performance increase MAX, if you own an NV30 or R300 (The latest, DX9 chipsets from Nvidia and ATI).
Hard Drive – If you have the money to blow on a 10,000 RPM hard drive, go for it. The Western Digital Raptor is the hottest product on the scene right now. I would recommend putting your operating system, your favorite aps, and your favorite games on it for maximum performance; but be sure not to overload it. Believe me, you will think you bought a brand new set-up if you invest in one of these bad boys.
RAM – If you possibly can’t wait until DDR2, than I would suggest getting 1 GIG of 400 mhz, PC3200 RAM. You can find that stuff literally dirt cheap, and it is your most cost effective upgrade. If you already have 512 MB of RAM, you can double it for the cost of a few games.
Sound System - Now a-days, 5.1 digital audio is the way to go. DirectSound 3D has been around for a long time and it is starting to evolve, but don’t worry, anything you buy now will still be supported by most games. If you have an Audigy 2 that supports 24 bit audio, great. But if you have an old 16 bit card, I think it is now time to throw it away and invest in an Audigy 2, or better, the Audigy 2 ZS platinum if you have the cash to spend. To top it off, a kick ass 5.1 system is your best bet. For the budget type, under 200$ you could get the Logitech Z-5300’s, the best low-rent 5.1 system my ears have heard. If you decide that you want a little more deviation, I would go with the Logitech Z-680’s. These babies will seriously knock stuff off the wall, and you can feel the bass internally inside your body.
Case/Cooling – Proper cooling is one thing many people overlook. A properly planned air-flow scheme can surpass a poorly designed water cooling rig. Do a search on Google on how to plan your PC’s airflow, it’s a long tedious process, but it will seriously pay off in the end. The best part of the deal, is that it is dirt cheap! Also, make sure your case will be quiet, but cool your PC as best as possible. There are many choices out there on the market, so the main thing you will look for is personal preference and aesthetics.
With the rapid development in technological evolution, planning for upgrades can be a total pain in the ass. That is why I am here to post some of the best-known hardware tips to help guide you through the painful upgrading process. The worst bottlenecks in a computer tend to be hard-drives, your motherboard, RAM, and most importantly, your CPU. Before you blow all your wad on a new CPU or video card, find out what is making your FPS go down. It could be an overlooked, slow hard drive or sluggish RAM. If you have a lot of cash to invest on that aging PC, it doesn’t make sense to spend 90% of it on a brand new Radeon 9800 XT. You should plan ahead and give all that goodness to every part of your PC, if you don’t’, your slow CPU and RAM might slowdown your fast hard-drive and video card. Understand all the boxes advertisements, 8X AGP will do you no good if games can’t take even fill a 4x AGP aperture yet. Stop and think to yourself, does it make sense to buy a new GeForce FX, if you have only got a 1 GhZ PC? No, it certainly does not. The best money spent goes to the components that are a few days short of the latest technology. First, you will not be spending as much money, and second, you don’t have to deal with the grieving shortly-tested hardware.
Motherboard/CPU – If you are planning to buy a motherboard that will bring you in to the future, consider this. Intel and AMD both have future chipsets planned, so you want to make sure that your mobo has support for these. If you are deciding to go Intel, make sure it has support for the upcoming Prescott CPU. If you really think you can survive until Fall 2004, when Intel is going to bring its totally new CPU mount for the “Tejas” chip. If you plan to go AMD, they are planning to welcome the socket 939 version of the Athlon 64 FX, which will not be compliant with old boards. With the on-coming scene of Serial ATA, make sure the mobo you plan to buy also has two SATA ports, which provides support for RAID, a blazing fast multiple hard-drive configuration. DDR2 might as well be taken in to consideration for support on your mobo as well; DDR2 will use lower voltages to reach higher speeds, which is awesome.
Video Card- This is simple, if you own a recent DX9 graphics card with the latest NV30 or R300 (Latest DX9 chipsets from Nvidia and ATI) chipset generation, you would be an idiot to buy one from the same generation, with the NV40 and R420 chipsets coming soon. The good news is, now is the best time to buy a low-budget, DX9 graphics card from Nvidia or ATI. Either the GeForce FX 5700 Ultra or the Radeon 9600 XT would be your best bet. Even though the GeForce FX 5700 is slightly faster than the 9600 XT, their benchmarks are well within the margin of error. If you still feel the need for higher speed, I suggest waiting until the newest chipsets come out, or you will only get a 10% performance increase MAX, if you own an NV30 or R300 (The latest, DX9 chipsets from Nvidia and ATI).
Hard Drive – If you have the money to blow on a 10,000 RPM hard drive, go for it. The Western Digital Raptor is the hottest product on the scene right now. I would recommend putting your operating system, your favorite aps, and your favorite games on it for maximum performance; but be sure not to overload it. Believe me, you will think you bought a brand new set-up if you invest in one of these bad boys.
RAM – If you possibly can’t wait until DDR2, than I would suggest getting 1 GIG of 400 mhz, PC3200 RAM. You can find that stuff literally dirt cheap, and it is your most cost effective upgrade. If you already have 512 MB of RAM, you can double it for the cost of a few games.
Sound System - Now a-days, 5.1 digital audio is the way to go. DirectSound 3D has been around for a long time and it is starting to evolve, but don’t worry, anything you buy now will still be supported by most games. If you have an Audigy 2 that supports 24 bit audio, great. But if you have an old 16 bit card, I think it is now time to throw it away and invest in an Audigy 2, or better, the Audigy 2 ZS platinum if you have the cash to spend. To top it off, a kick ass 5.1 system is your best bet. For the budget type, under 200$ you could get the Logitech Z-5300’s, the best low-rent 5.1 system my ears have heard. If you decide that you want a little more deviation, I would go with the Logitech Z-680’s. These babies will seriously knock stuff off the wall, and you can feel the bass internally inside your body.
Case/Cooling – Proper cooling is one thing many people overlook. A properly planned air-flow scheme can surpass a poorly designed water cooling rig. Do a search on Google on how to plan your PC’s airflow, it’s a long tedious process, but it will seriously pay off in the end. The best part of the deal, is that it is dirt cheap! Also, make sure your case will be quiet, but cool your PC as best as possible. There are many choices out there on the market, so the main thing you will look for is personal preference and aesthetics.
It's 200x2 = 400Mhz. I think I'm going to get PC3500 or PC4000. Not sure yet...
