The new computer build...

[timmer]

yea it has 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2ghz not 3 different cpu's but they havent been able to yet make the apps and games utilize both cores cant wait till they do though

 

[marshall5]

Ok, I'm starting to wonder if I should just upgrade on the desktop I have to save a bit of money. But then again you may laugh. We purchased a Dell Dimension 2400 a little while back due to it being very cheap, it has a 2.6ghz P4, 512mb ram, and of coarse a crappy graphic card. Would this computer have some good gaming potential if I installed a very powerful graphic card and added some ram? I take it the processor isn't that bad for gaming...correct?

 

[aliasaid]

are you sure its a p4? i think dimension 2400 only have celeron processors. and it doesn't look like it has an agp slot anyways.. so you can't install any video card, unless its a regular pci graphics card, which you cant use for gaming.. or at least i don't think you can... i don't know much about them, i doubt there is a great market for regular pci vid cards.

if you want save money... you can use same case/powersupply/HDD/cd-rom, etc/floppy, and buy new mobo, cpu, ram, vid card... and then when you get enough money to buy case/powersupply/HDD/cd-rom, etc/floppy, you can put your old computer back together and you have 2 computers again. you can let your wife use the dimension 2400... im assuming you're old (thirties) and married because you said "we purchased"... if im wrong, appologies!

anyways, this is what i would recommend:

all from newegg:

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $129.50

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - Retail $146.00

eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $169.00

Rosewill 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model RW400/1024KITDP - Retail $91.99

all comes out to $536.49 plus any applicable taxes/shipping.

you said you want MAXED setting... well if you have significantly higher than $536, then you can upgrade to a better video card (even tho 6600gt is really good) 6800gt pr 7800gtx (much more expensive), and then go for faster cpu, and case and all that other junk... but for $536, you could do quite well.

unless of course you really do have a p4 2.4ghz with an agp slot, then ignore everything i said and go spend $500 on an agp vid card and you should be good to go.. hehe.

this is just my amateur opinion.. so if someone thinks i've said some stupid stuff, feel free to ridicule and correct me.. hehe..more of the latter i hope.

good luck.

 

[marshall5]

In system info, it says the processor is like 2654mhz. On the case the sticker says P4. Could it still be a Celeron?

 

[Counter-Strike]

It's a P4. Well that 2.6 is fine. I would say get an Intel based motherboard with a PCI-E slot, check what socket that processor is. Then switch it over to to a case, get some good cooling, upgrade to 1GB of RAM, and get a 6600GT. Then you could OC the 2.6 Ghz to maybe 2.8+ But if you want a full out gaming computer, here is what I recommend for a little less $$:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Can easily be OC'ed)
Motherboard: DFI LanParty nF4 SLI-DR
RAM: TwinMOS 1GB (2x512) PC3200 RAM
Video Card: eVGA 6800GT PCI-E 16x
Case: Pick one. Aspire X-Series Is Great.

Switch over drives, and that there is about $500~

 

[hikaricloud]

Good luck upgrading a Dell. They make it frickin' ridiculous to do so. Mainly, the motherboard. I would recommend replacing the motherboard, because the Dell mobos are the cheapest of the cheap, and go bad quicker than most. But...in all newer/year old or so Dells, they make it next to impossible to replace the mobos. Instead of holes for standoffs, they use "ground clips" on a metal plate. We had to drill our own holes and use a dremel tool to get a new motherboard just put in.

On top of that, the wires for the power/hdd lights/etc. are incompatible with any other motherboard, save Dell. they have 5 wires, all different colors, not color coded at all, all into one mini plug that doesn't fit anything else. rewiring it is a pain. And the USB is like mini IDE cable, it will never fit into normal USB pins and it is impossible to splice it.

personally, i would go ahead and build a new machine. out of all the name-brand PCs, Dells are the biggest pain to upgrade.

But if you want to save on money, you can take the processor out of the dell, maybe the ram (if it is DDR333, PC2700) and even the hard drive if it floats your boat. make sure to find what socket the processor is to match a mobo with it, and make sure that mobo will support the RAM you have. if it is SD-ram, which i doubt, no point to saving it. You can replace the stock heatsink/fan if you so choose to, but really, you have a lot of different options here. It's all a matter of preference.

Sorry to be so long winded.

 

[marshall5]

Ok, I'm just going to do a whole build then. My main concern was the best graphics card, which has 3D output ability, as it will be used with a VR headset.

 

[pc_boy]

see for yourself

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2330&p=2

and, the best video card is coming out tomorrow, july 26th, 2005... so wait a little on that.

and, what's your budget for this build? If you got a lot of money to spend, get this:

Athlon 64 FX-57
DFI or ABIT or MSI mobo, maybe crossfire
OCZ or Corsair XMS PRO 2GB of fast memory
ATI X900XT-PE
good psu

you might also want to check out this thread since it clearifies some common quiestions

http://techist.com/showthread.php?threadid=57810

good luck!

 

[marshall5]

Thanks!

 

[marshall5]

So the Fx57 is the fastest processor for gaming? I didn't see it in the chart that is why I ask. What are the differences in those mobo's? I'm going all out, so I will spend more for the best. Is the X900XT-PE the new card being released tomorrow?