[Jamie Lee]

I've read the http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001402%2040000048&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&SrchInDesc=460&Page=1&PageSize=20 is a beast for the price. Seems to be the card I see recommended more and more on different sites for the "bang for your buck" pick.

Yes. I installed my Antec 650 upside down in the 900 and never had any issues. Though, make sure not to drop any screws in it. I usually covered it with a piece of paper when undoing things.

[Skrapp Stephens]

768 MB version for about 200€ on the finnish shop i usually use, not bad. I'll keep that in mind, but i think i'll stick with just the case for now

[Sudah mati ini Keparat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229194or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227261

I had the 2nd one in mind but the first also looks good.

[Vicky Keeler]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229181or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227261

I had the 2nd one in mind but the first also looks good.

The first is better than the second.

[Lily]

The first is better than the second.

Whoops, I meant to put this one in the first link.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229194

[Lory Da Costa]

Well the graphics card in that one isn't as good as the GT 240, but it has a better processor. I believe that's on that Tig says can be unlocked to a quad core processor as well, but that depends on the motherboard as well and I'm not too well versed on that subject (I was too afraid to go that direction myself, and just bought a quad core).

[Roy Harris]

So I moved into a new apartment and tried to do some programming with my laptop that didn't go over too well (actually even when I was at home). I can write the code fine but the 700 line program I wrote which isn't even that complex took quite some time to compile so I am thinking of buying a cheap machine for development only. It won't be connected to the internet at all and will only need to run Visual Studio (both 2008 and 2010) and possible a couple of Adobe products.

Here is the catch though: very limited budget.

I do not need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, or operating system. I want to spend around only $200-250 if possible. The machine must also not use much power. I am not worried about size of the case really just no full towers please.

Any suggestions where to start with this?

[NO suckers In Here]

Well the graphics card in that one isn't as good as the GT 240, but it has a better processor. I believe that's on that Tig says can be unlocked to a quad core processor as well, but that depends on the motherboard as well and I'm not too well versed on that subject (I was too afraid to go that direction myself, and just bought a quad core).

Actually the Athlon II X2 255 and all Athlon II X2s is straight dual-core. It's the Phenom II X2 and even X3 chips that potentially have unlockable cores.

So I moved into a new apartment and tried to do some programming with my laptop that didn't go over too well (actually even when I was at home). I can write the code fine but the 700 line program I wrote which isn't even that complex took quite some time to compile so I am thinking of buying a cheap machine for development only. It won't be connected to the internet at all and will only need to run Visual Studio (both 2008 and 2010) and possible a couple of Adobe products.

Here is the catch though: very limited budget.

I do not need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, or operating system. I want to spend around only $200-250 if possible. The machine must also not use much power. I am not worried about size of the case really just no full towers please.

Any suggestions where to start with this?

Damn, that's a tight budget. May have to shell out a little more over $250 for something resonable and I hope you have a spare DVD drive.

CASE+PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119218
CPU+MOBO+RAM Combo:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.466394
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152244

It'll be a lil over $250 for just that. Add another $20 for a dvd drive if you need one.


OR....you can go with one of Tiger Direct's budget kits:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6630647&CatId=332
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6570252&CatId=332
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6637560&CatId=332
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6637573&CatId=332


The power supply in a lot of these machines svck, but will probably suite your purpose. The last one will need a CPU fan+heatsink.

[abi]

Is there any point in getting a 512mb version of a 8400 when it costs 25% more (I know it is only ￡5, but I am skint) than the 256mb version?

The 8400 has DDR2 SDRAM with a 64bit interface. Would it have any noticeable difference in games, bearing in mind that the newest game I play is 6 years old.

[Ysabelle]

Well, my system is migrated to the new case, and as you can read, mostly works. One issue though, i have a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer soundcard, and when i connect the case's front panel audio connector to it Windows (7) says the device has a fault (Code 0)

And yes, the pins i connected it on the soundcard are marked "front panel"

[Emily Rose]

Well, my system is migrated to the new case, and as you can read, mostly works. One issue though, i have a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer soundcard, and when i connect the case's front panel audio connector to it Windows (7) says the device has a fault (Code 0)

And yes, the pins i connected it on the soundcard are marked "front panel"

Connectors on the creative cards are proprietary....meaning they are different because they want you to use their front panel product.

There does exist a layout of which pins to connect to somewhere on the internet.

[Naomi Ward]

I'm currently buying my laptop but I'm just curious if I should spend $30 bucks on a better processor. I can either get the core 2 duo with the 2.0ghz or 2.13ghz. Is that worth $30 bucks?

EDIT: It also upgrades Vista to 7. That must be worth $30 and the screen is a bit larger as well. I'm going to get the 2.13ghz then I guess.

EDIT2: I can't decide if I want the bigger screen though. It just seems overkill. I don't really need the Windows 7, I'm content with Vista. The processor doesn't seem to be that much more powerful and the size may be too big for my liking. So I'm officially going with the cheaper one.

[Francesca]

Connectors on the creative cards are proprietary....meaning they are different because they want you to use their front panel product.

:rolleyes: Well, my next computer will not have a creative card, it gives all sorts of headaches...

And a modular Power source, too many cables :ahhh:

Well i guess i'll just do what i've done before and plug the head phones to the soundcard :shrug:

[Josh Sabatini]

:rolleyes: Well, my next computer will not have a creative card, it gives all sorts of headaches...

And a modular Power source, too many cables :ahhh:

Well i guess i'll just do what i've done before and plug the head phones to the soundcard :shrug:

Well like I said you can still connect them you just need to find the pin diagram or find some sort of adapter thing.

Found it after a better search as I misspleled something...

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/audio-general-technical-discussion/131120-creative-x-fi-pinout-antec-lanboy-case.html

[Nick Jase Mason]

:celebration: :woot: I bought it. Now lets hope it isn't doa...

[Lily]

Is there any point in getting a 512mb version of a 8400 when it costs 25% more (I know it is only ￡5, but I am skint) than the 256mb version?

The 8400 has DDR2 SDRAM with a 64bit interface. Would it have any noticeable difference in games, bearing in mind that the newest game I play is 6 years old.

512MB VRAM on that card is a sham considering the DDR2 chips and 64-bit memory interface. A 6 year old game that comes to mind is Halflife 2 and perhaps FEAR. In reference to games like that, that 8400GS would cripple before it could even be in a position to utilize 512MB VRAM...so to me that extra memory is mostly wasted.

I'm currently buying my laptop but I'm just curious if I should spend $30 bucks on a better processor. I can either get the core 2 duo with the 2.0ghz or 2.13ghz. Is that worth $30 bucks?

EDIT: It also upgrades Vista to 7. That must be worth $30 and the screen is a bit larger as well. I'm going to get the 2.13ghz then I guess.

EDIT2: I can't decide if I want the bigger screen though. It just seems overkill. I don't really need the Windows 7, I'm content with Vista. The processor doesn't seem to be that much more powerful and the size may be too big for my liking. So I'm officially going with the cheaper one.

Wouldn't have made that much of a difference anyway. 130MHz is not going to get you much.

[Kate Norris]

Wouldn't have made that much of a difference anyway. 130MHz is not going to get you much.

Seriously Tig, thank you very much for your help. You're knowledge is extremely high in the computer world. I know it isn't much but I want you to have this... :icecream:


:P

[Frank Firefly]

512MB VRAM on that card is a sham considering the DDR2 chips and 64-bit memory interface. A 6 year old game that comes to mind is Halflife 2 and perhaps FEAR. In reference to games like that, that 8400GS would cripple before it could even be in a position to utilize 512MB VRAM...so to me that extra memory is mostly wasted.

Ok, thanks. Much appreciated :foodndrink:

[Cool Man Sam]

Hey all.

I'm hoping to do some tinkering with the 2 computer systems I have at home. I've never pulled a computer fully apart before or put an entire computer together. But I have a pretty good idea where things go and I've done many Ram, HDD, GPU, and CPU upgrades in the past. I hope that knowledge is enough to do this without screwing up. The main reason I'm doing this is because I want to upgrade to Windows 7 using the HDD I already have in System 1 and putting it in System 2 (my main computer).

So here are the 2 systems.

System 1:
Windows 7 64 Bit
E8400 at 3.0Ghz
9500GT 1GB graphics card
120GB HDD
400 Watt power supply

System 2:
Windows XP 32 bit
E8400 at 3.0Ghz
Nvidia GTS250 1gb graphics card
2 harddrives. one is 1TB the other 250Gb (which is my primary HDD with XP installed. The 1TB drive stores video clips for my Machinima)
650 Watt power supply.

Pretty much what I want to do is take the HDD from System 1 which has Windows 7 installed and make it my primary hard drive in System 2. The issue I'm having is that the 250gb hard drive already in System 2 has windows XP installed and its the primary hard drive. And I have no bloody idea how to bring the Windows 7 hard drive over and make it primary without screwing up my software, graphics card, and all the other stuff... do I make sense?

I thought about just using System 1 as my main computer and just take the GPU, HDD's and other stuff from System 2. But that would mean I need to take the PSU as well because 400 watts obviously isnt enough for the GTS250. I may as well be building a brand new computer!

Any help with this would be fantastic and I would be forever grateful

Regards,
Aaron

[Penny Courture]

Hey all.

I'm hoping to do some tinkering with the 2 computer systems I have at home. I've never pulled a computer fully apart before or put an entire computer together. But I have a pretty good idea where things go and I've done many Ram, HDD, GPU, and CPU upgrades in the past. I hope that knowledge is enough to do this without screwing up. The main reason I'm doing this is because I want to upgrade to Windows 7 using the HDD I already have in System 1 and putting it in System 2 (my main computer).

So here are the 2 systems.

System 1:
Windows 7 64 Bit
E8400 at 3.0Ghz
9500GT 1GB graphics card
120GB HDD
400 Watt power supply

System 2:
Windows XP 32 bit
E8400 at 3.0Ghz
Nvidia GTS250 1gb graphics card
2 harddrives. one is 1TB the other 250Gb (which is my primary HDD with XP installed. The 1TB drive stores video clips for my Machinima)
650 Watt power supply.

Pretty much what I want to do is take the HDD from System 1 which has Windows 7 installed and make it my primary hard drive in System 2. The issue I'm having is that the 250gb hard drive already in System 2 has windows XP installed and its the primary hard drive. And I have no bloody idea how to bring the Windows 7 hard drive over and make it primary without screwing up my software, graphics card, and all the other stuff... do I make sense?

I thought about just using System 1 as my main computer and just take the GPU, HDD's and other stuff from System 2. But that would mean I need to take the PSU as well because 400 watts obviously isnt enough for the GTS250. I may as well be building a brand new computer!

Any help with this would be fantastic and I would be forever grateful

Regards,
Aaron

Níeh?ggr or Dogsbody (o where art thou) would probably have a better explanation on what your options could be in light of this potential software issue. From my point of view, I don't really see you carrying over the hard drive from S1 to S2 and being able to run Win7 successfully with the different motherboard. I have never been able to swap out motherboards in systems I've built and have an existing OS install work for the new board...EVER. Something always ends up bugging up or gets iffy to the point that I just reinstall the OS. Hopefully you have the OS disc and have that option to reinstall should you go your preferred route.

With the other route, swapping in a new PSU is not that big of a big deal, but you will be left with a puny capacity primary drive.

[Georgine Lee]

Níeh?ggr or Dogsbody (o where art thou) would probably have a better explanation on what your options could be in light of this potential software issue. From my point of view, I don't really see you carrying over the hard drive from S1 to S2 and being able to run Win7 successfully with the different motherboard. I have never been able to swap out motherboards in systems I've built and have an existing OS install work for the new board...EVER. Something always ends up bugging up or gets iffy to the point that I just reinstall the OS. Hopefully you have the OS disc and have that option to reinstall should you go your preferred route.

With the other route, swapping in a new PSU is not that big of a big deal, but you will be left with a puny capacity primary drive.

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess this really is difficult and it wasnt just me thinking it was. Hopefully Níeh?ggr or Dogsbody will be around soon.

Edit.
I should probably let you know I don't mind wiping the entire 120GB drive and reinstalling Windows 7 on it while plugged into system 2. It's the existing XP installation on the 250GB drive that I'm worried about ruining.

[Abel Vazquez]

Thanks Kyle and Tig. I'll probably stick with the cheaper route.

[Pumpkin]

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess this really is difficult and it wasnt just me thinking it was. Hopefully Níeh?ggr or Dogsbody will be around soon.

Edit.
I should probably let you know I don't mind wiping the entire 120GB drive and reinstalling Windows 7 on it while plugged into system 2. It's the existing XP installation on the 250GB drive that I'm worried about ruining.

:shrug: I have put my existing hard drive with XP installed on it onto a completely new motherboard after the first died... and run with out any difficulty other than reinstalling some programs and drivers. I just used the http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1738.... Of course your experience may vary.

Blah..... That only applies for XP let me go see if there is one for 7.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/186935f9-a93b-49c0-b13e-f5193f72f348

[Jonathan Egan]

:shrug: I have put my existing hard drive with XP installed on it onto a completely new motherboard after the first died... and run with out any difficulty other than reinstalling some programs and drivers. I just used the http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1738.... Of course your experience may vary.

Blah..... That only applies for XP let me go see if there is one for 7.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/186935f9-a93b-49c0-b13e-f5193f72f348

Thank you for searching

[Logan Greenwood]

bump :ninja: