Graphics Card and RAM

[LondonBVE]

I thinking about upgrading my computer in December, hopefully I can. I noticed that graphics card come with motherboard manufacturer name and the original too.

Example: Gigabyte nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS and nVdia GeForce 8600 GTS respectively.

So if I got a Gigabyte motherboard I must buy a Graphics card with Gigabyte infront of it or just the original?

Next is about RAM, does certain motherboard allow certain RAM model?

Regards,
Alan

 

[D306]

RAM- Yes. Check your make of RAM before buying a different one, as there are different types.

 

[Daniel]

Regarding Graphics cards, as long as your motherboard has the correct slot to take it it's fiine. I'm currently on a Dell with an Nvidia 6800, and my other computer has an Asus motherboard with an Nvidia GeForce FX 7200.

 

[mbonwick]

It's not so much the make of RAM, it's the type. My PC here uses SDRAM (now becoming obsolete), whereas other PC's I use have DDR2 RAM. Google your motherboard and it should tell you.
Graphics cards, it's not just about the slot, it's the slot specification, e.g. AGP 4x, AGP 2x, PCIe 16x etc etc. Again google your motherboard and it should tell you.

 

[devon_metro]

Otherwise Device Manager will tell you.

 

[yorkie]

Device Manager won't, but this will: http://www.freshdevices.com/freshdiag.html

 

[devon_metro]

Strange, Could have sworn thats how I found out that my motherboard had an AGP slot.

Silly me.

 

[Muppet]

You can mix and match hardware for your computer.

Example:

ABIT Motherboard
XFX 8800GTS 640mb
Corsair Crossfire Ram 800MHz 2GB

Just make sure you have AGP or PCI-E as mentioned above.

Also make sure you get a good PSU as Geforce 8 cards are Very Power Hungry

 

[mbonwick]

And make sure that the AGP or PCIe slot revisions match..you really don't want your new, expensive graphics card exploding now do you?

 

[LondonBVE]

My Upgrade Plan:

1. MSI P6N SLI-FI with Intel Core 2 Duo E6550, 2.33Ghz. Cost: £165
2. nVidia GeForce 8600GT, 256MB. Cost: £68
3. Seagate SATA II, 7200.10, 250GB, 16MB. Cost £38
4. Kingston PC5300, 667MHz, 1GB. Cost: £22
5. Samsung 20X Int SATA Dual Layer DVD Writer. Cost: £20

Total Cost: £313 (All sums has been round up)

From the following crap specification:

1. MSI 845PE Neo with Intel Pentium 4, 2.4GHz.
2. nVidia GeForce MX/MX 400, 128 MB!
3. Seagate, 40GB!
4. 256MB RAM!

The total cost of all this crap cost even more than what I am upgrading more than 5% is what I can say.

P.S Feel free to give me advice on what to upgrade.

 

[mbonwick]

Installing XP on to a SATA drive can be a bit of a problem, will you be using Vista?

 

[devon_metro]

I'm a bit concerened that you are not getting a new motherboard?

Does your current one support two processors?

 

[Tom]

MSI P6N SLI-FI is a new motherboard.

 

[yorkie]

Does your current one support two processors?

MSI 845PE Neo only supports one CPU.

LondonBVE - you won't notice much speed difference in CPU terms with a dual core CPU unless you are using multi-threaded applications. How often are you at, or near, 100% CPU usage?

 

[LondonBVE]

100% no, or maybe I do not notice. With 85% - 90 %, I have got it 5 times after meddling with Sim City 4 and MSTS which crashes before I could even exit.

Installing XP on to a SATA drive can be a bit of a problem, will you be using Vista?

I will be sticking with XP and I will never ever install Vista into my desktop computer unless there is good review on Vista SP1 than I will consider buying one. I am also surprise at the price of XP Pro here too. XP Pro = Windows Vista Premium! Now I am looking for a store which sells a reasonable priced XP Pro SP2 or SP3, provided I bought it after the release of SP3.

 

[devon_metro]

No. Vista Ultimate is equivalent to XP media centre.

 

[yorkie]

No. Vista Ultimate is equivalent to XP media centre.

No - Ultimate is more than that. Vista Home Premium is roughly equivalent to XP Media Centre Edition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista_editions_and_pricing

 

[Tom]

But we all know that Vista is utter crap

Mac OS X ftw!

 

[Daniel]

Was reading about Vista today. I've bought a new Dell laptop, and it's got a dual core processor, but the OS, Vista Home Premium, only supports one processor.

 

[devon_metro]

No - Ultimate is more than that. Vista Home Premium is roughly equivalent to XP Media Centre Edition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista_editions_and_pricing

That is what i meant to say.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Was reading about Vista today. I've bought a new Dell laptop, and it's got a dual core processor, but the OS, Vista Home Premium, only supports one processor.

LOL

Mine works fine.

 

[yorkie]

Was reading about Vista today. I've bought a new Dell laptop, and it's got a dual core processor, but the OS, Vista Home Premium, only supports one processor.

Yes, so what's the problem? You have one; it supports one.

I've never seen a laptop with more than one CPU anyway

 

[Tom]

But yorkie - some free operating systems (*cough*Darwin*cough*and*cough*Linux*cough*) already support more than 1 CPU on all versions...

Mac OS X is quite good really - it has Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. What's so great, is that they're all the same price!!

 

[Beaker]

It also gives you bird flu by the looks of it...

 

[Tom]

Yes, yes it does.

 

[LondonBVE]

I am now illegally online since now is my exam period. Anyway about the SATA DVD drive I may replaced with a Sony one. Or if better if I have sufficient money, I am grabbing for Mac OS X, simply love it but it is really expensive over here.

1000 pound and above for an iMac! I getting the second best one which is around 1500 pound.

 

[Tom]

1000 pound and above for an iMac! I getting the second best one which is around 1500 pound.

What?! hock:

My iMac was only £949!!!

 

[devon_metro]

I am now illegally online since now is my exam period. Anyway about the SATA DVD drive I may replaced with a Sony one. Or if better if I have sufficient money, I am grabbing for Mac OS X, simply love it but it is really expensive over here.

1000 pound and above for an iMac! I getting the second best one which is around 1500 pound.

Hardly illegal

What?! hock:

My iMac was only £949!!!

only

 

[Tom]

For what I've got - it's quite reasonable ...

• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
• 1GB RAM
• ATi Radeon HD 2600 Pro (I think!) - 256mb dedicated RAM
• DVD (dual layer) rewriter
• 20" screen
• Teh best OS on the planet!!!

 

[LondonBVE]

The price I posted was actually a random guess, well it actually cost £993.883(the 3's will never end) but I prefer a 2GB one so it costs £1,079.02.

My Choice

The thing with Singapore is that though there is one big Apple Office in the Central Industrial District but unfortunately things here is always more expensive even though they are produced here. The only thing cheap for electronics here is: Seagate Hard Drive. The hi-tech industrial district near my house already have 2 Seagate offices and one more under construction nearby too!

 

[Tom]

That link is dead so I don't know what you're referring to!