[CRuzIta LUVz grlz]

So i got my tax returns and could spend a little to upgrade my system. How would you make this go faster (other than throwing it trough the window ):

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dFAMIWrZWGgB1GuJ&templete=2
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=34441
4GB Corsair DDR2 800 RAM
WD Caviar 250GB Hdd (7200RPM, 16MB cache)
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=1406&maincat_no=130
SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer

Is there even any point in upgrading this?

[Sam Parker]

Is there even any point in upgrading this?

Sure, there's plenty of room for improvement, and the motherboard is good... I have an ASUS P5Q which is very similar.

I think your CPU could use an upgrade, even my E7400 is showing its age these days. I dunno much about nVidia cards so I dunno how your 9600GT will perform on modern games.

[Minako]

Yeah the CPU wasn't that good to begin with The 9600GT is a Dx 10 card, and that model is factory overclocked. Nowadays i play mostly Bethesda's games on PC which i hear are mostly CPU intensive games, so i guess that might be a good idea. Perhaps an affordable quad-core processor?

[Marcus Jordan]

Well, how much is that costing you. The video card is somewhat on the weak side and the processor is good for a dual-core chip, but again....what is this costing you? You may be able to get better for your money.

It costs $786 but I can stretch to around $1000. I don't really understand any of this computer stuff so any help is appreciated.

[Vickey Martinez]

So again I must ask questions about my network.....

So I upgraded my desktops wireless adapter earlier in this thread, worked fine for a couple days. It was still fairly close to the router only about 5 feet away for the initial testing. The adapter seems to be working fine.....its the router that seems to be very slow.
Both of my Xbox 360s (S models with Wireless N) and my PC will refuse to hold a good connection to the router, even if they are only a few feet away. (The router in question is a Linksys E2000 Wireless N)

In order to combat the slow problems on the Xbox, I tried to place one of them in the DMZ......worked for a bit, but then it all fell down hill again. On the PC side I went into a command line and pinged 192.168.1.1 and saw that I was getting results of 150+ms. Even my hardwired test showed around 2 or 3 ms......terrible for a local network. I hooked my old wireless G router up there to test it, and its showing stable 54mbps connection with a less then 1ms response time, and I am on the second story of my house now.

Also I recently upgraded my ISP subscription speed to 12mbps, worked perfectly on my wired PCs.......but wireless was only getting about 2mbps...

Could it be a defective E2000? Everything was set up right to help speed things up (only wireless N mode......port forwarding for the select programs I needed it for, WPA2 security, static IP addresses for everything. Also I noticed that if the SSID was hidden it would drop connection much faster then it would if it was broadcasting. I am really out of ideas here. I have my older G router up now, and its working fine.....but since I use my PC as a media server, that bandwidth is very slow when some files need atleast 100mbps to transfer properly. Any thoughts on what I could try?

[Soraya Davy]

Why? There are working external versions of just about everything else (Memory, RAM, Disc Drives, ect.), so why not Graphics cards?

It's mostly a question of bandwidth. The usual options are strictly USB, which is too narrow, too slow, so the graphics is heavily bottlenecked. The very few that are not USB of some sort are as expensive as buying a game-capable desktop is, and thus, a poor value.

[^~LIL B0NE5~^]

So i did a qucik search from my favorite finnish webstores, and found the following processor for 150€: Core 2 Duo E7500, 2,93GHz, FSB1066, 3MB and for 174€: Core 2 Quad Q8400, 2.66GHz, 4Mb, FSB 1333MHz. Those would seem to be best LGA775 processors for my pricerange.

On the other hand i also found MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone OC, 768 MB GDDR5, 2xDVI-I/MiniHDMI for 160€ and a Club3D CGNX-X46024 GTX 460 1GB for 179€.

What would give the best performance increase?

I should propably find some performace tester applications to find out the weak spot, according to Windows performance index it's hard drive, followed by CPU and RAM.

[DeeD]

It costs $786 but I can stretch to around $1000. I don't really understand any of this computer stuff so any help is appreciated.

Well, wherever you're looking, it's definitely not worth looking there. That's expensive. This is what you should be looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227274
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227288
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227288
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227258
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229206

So i did a qucik search from my favorite finnish webstores, and found the following processor for 150€: Core 2 Duo E7500, 2,93GHz, FSB1066, 3MB and for 174€: Core 2 Quad Q8400, 2.66GHz, 4Mb, FSB 1333MHz. Those would seem to be best LGA775 processors for my pricerange.

On the other hand i also found MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone OC, 768 MB GDDR5, 2xDVI-I/MiniHDMI for 160€ and a Club3D CGNX-X46024 GTX 460 1GB for 179€.

What would give the best performance increase?

I should propably find some performace tester applications to find out the weak spot, according to Windows performance index it's hard drive, followed by CPU and RAM.

You may as well get the Q8400...for games that utilize quads (ie...GTA4 and Bad Company 2), it'll perform better. A little overclock on the chip will make it better than the E7500 even for those applications that don't utilize quads.

Get the 1GB version of the GTX 460.

[Ross]

Put up a thread of this post earlier, not sure if this could be seperated or in the right thread but here goes:

Hey wondering if anyone knows any programs, 'techniques' to help create grid like maps or any of the form.

Some friends and I are trying to start up a nice looking map for a series of reasons for various projects.

FPS shooter maps.

RPG world maps for table top to get an idea of the worlds were making.

Also just fun to create maps of our local area and use that for zombie type games and simulate an zombie apoclypse on homes. The usual.


I really just use an old paint program and zoom in on the squares to color in a grid like map of areas, some times even create 8-bit pics and stuff too.

Wanted to know if their is anything that is official for this kind of thing, heard google maps and some places have something similar.

[Ross]

Get the 1GB version of the GTX 460.

Well, i can't afford both of them right now, but i think it's the processor that would be a better idea.

[Robyn Howlett]

I plan on taking a computer that is decent for gaming and gradually upgrading as I get the money to do so. What is a decent computer to start with? You know, something that I can run the average game with?

[Bitter End]

What is a decent computer to start with? You know, something that I can run the average game with?

You'll need to tell us a budget that you are able to afford in order for us to give you an average build.

As for my question. Am I able to just buy a copy of W7 home premium and upgrade two computers when one is 32 bit and the other is 64 bit.

[jaideep singh]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a nice Soundcard and Speaker combo. I'm currently using my inbuilt sound and some crappy speakers I've had about 10 years. It'll mainly be for playing music since I game with my headset anyway more often than not, so something that can whack out the tunes please!

I don't have a fixed budget but since I'll be hassling my dad for christmas contributions it's best that it isn't ridiculous, what will give me the greatest bang for my buck?

Cheers.

[WTW]

Well my old Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer and cheap Creative 2.1 speakers have kept me happy for years. I also hear good things of soundcards called Turtle Beach.

As for me, i think i can infact afford a Core 2 Quad Q8400 and a GeForce GTS 450, a bit over 300€ together. Should keep my system going for some years more.

[Brentleah Jeffs]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a nice Soundcard and Speaker combo. I'm currently using my inbuilt sound and some crappy speakers I've had about 10 years. It'll mainly be for playing music since I game with my headset anyway more often than not, so something that can whack out the tunes please!

I don't have a fixed budget but since I'll be hassling my dad for christmas contributions it's best that it isn't ridiculous, what will give me the greatest bang for my buck?

Cheers.

What type of speaker setup? 2.1? 5.1?

[Sanctum]

My parents have decided that they're going to buy my brother a laptop for Christmas, rather than have him buy one himself. Unfortunately, my mom set a budget of $500. I hate to ask again, but are there even any good deals on laptops for $500 or less? The clock speeds from the 400-500 range on Newegg look pretty low to me, and I don't want to recommend my parents get my brother a crappy laptop.

At the same time though, he's probably just going to break it anyways. <_<

[Niisha]

So I have a program popping up on my laptop, Asus Live Update Version 2.5.9. It doesn't seem legit to me, non of the downloads actually work, and a couple of websites I looked at hinted at it being a type of maleware. Can someone confirm this for me?

[Eibe Novy]

What type of speaker setup? 2.1? 5.1?

Well, 5.1 I guess. What would be the best for music and films? What limits the kind of sounds system I could have? Is it just the extra space needed for more speakers or will my choice of soundcard have an influence on what I can buy. I'm basically looking for the absolute best I can get for around ￡150, that has to include a soundcard and a speaker system, as I currently have neither.

[dean Cutler]

My parents have decided that they're going to buy my brother a laptop for Christmas, rather than have him buy one himself. Unfortunately, my mom set a budget of $500. I hate to ask again, but are there even any good deals on laptops for $500 or less? The clock speeds from the 400-500 range on Newegg look pretty low to me, and I don't want to recommend my parents get my brother a crappy laptop.

At the same time though, he's probably just going to break it anyways. <_<

It's definitely going to be pretty crappy hardware for that price. Might want to look at recertified, though if you're worried about him breaking it that might not be the best idea, since they have very short warranties compared to a new laptop.

This recertified one is $500:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200075
though the screen isn't very good, but you can't really expect much for $500.

I'd honestly suggest just getting a netbook for that budget. It wont be powerful, but at least it will be very good at SOMETHING (portability, battery life) rather than pretty bad at everything.

[phil walsh]

Well, 5.1 I guess. What would be the best for music and films? What limits the kind of sounds system I could have? Is it just the extra space needed for more speakers or will my choice of soundcard have an influence on what I can buy. I'm basically looking for the absolute best I can get for around ￡150, that has to include a soundcard and a speaker system, as I currently have neither.

For that price, and for music and movies, I'd definitely suggest just getting a 2.1 system. They tend to sound much better for the price. You also very likely do not need a sound card. Virtually every recent motherboard has onboard that's just fine, especially for 2.1, and in your speaker price range any DAC improvement will be unnoticeable.

[Bereket Fekadu]

It's definitely going to be pretty crappy hardware for that price. Might want to look at recertified, though if you're worried about him breaking it that might not be the best idea, since they have very short warranties compared to a new laptop.

This recertified one is $500:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200075
though the screen isn't very good, but you can't really expect much for $500.

I'd honestly suggest just getting a netbook for that budget. It wont be powerful, but at least it will be very good at SOMETHING (portability, battery life) rather than pretty bad at everything.

Hey, I got my laptop for sub-$500 (now that my rebate finally came in). Doesn't play games, but I didn't get a laptop for that. 4.5 hour battery life, i3, HDMI out, webcam, and blutooth (I got a laptop instead of a netbook because I needed a DVD drive and wanted a bigger screen for when working in access). You can't get a great laptop for that price range, but you can get a very solid workhorse, but you gotta be willing to look for the deals, and generally quick to act when you find one. If you aren't a deal hound, though, definitely a netbook is your best bet.

[Sammygirl]

For that price, and for music and movies, I'd definitely suggest just getting a 2.1 system. They tend to sound much better for the price. You also very likely do not need a sound card. Virtually every recent motherboard has onboard that's just fine, especially for 2.1, and in your speaker price range any DAC improvement will be unnoticeable.

Any suggestions for a good 2.1 setup then? Or should I pretty much just pick the most expensive in my range and just press "Buy"?

Though generally that's almost never a good tactic when shopping.

[Heather beauchamp]

My parents have decided that they're going to buy my brother a laptop for Christmas, rather than have him buy one himself. Unfortunately, my mom set a budget of $500. I hate to ask again, but are there even any good deals on laptops for $500 or less? The clock speeds from the 400-500 range on Newegg look pretty low to me, and I don't want to recommend my parents get my brother a crappy laptop.

At the same time though, he's probably just going to break it anyways. <_<

Need to jump on this while it's still on sale:

$470 as of this post, but only in-store: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/101319/Toshiba-Satellite-L655-S5115-Laptop-Computer/

Hopefully you got one nearby...good til the 11th

Well, 5.1 I guess. What would be the best for music and films? What limits the kind of sounds system I could have? Is it just the extra space needed for more speakers or will my choice of soundcard have an influence on what I can buy. I'm basically looking for the absolute best I can get for around ￡150, that has to include a soundcard and a speaker system, as I currently have neither.

For that budget, you should just stick with high quality 2.1 speakers as suggested. If your motherboard is relatively modern, the onboard sound should be sufficient for music purposes. Here's a nice set from Logitech:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-2-1-Speaker-System-Z623/dp/B00413BI7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291849641&sr=8-1

the Z2300 are nice too:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Z-2300-Multimedia-Speaker-System/dp/B0006FFO9G/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1291849733&sr=1-1

[Leonie Connor]

Here's a hopelesly noob question: does changing the CPU require OS reinstall?

Edit: And researching some more, it seems that card (GTS 450) would require a PCI Express 2.0 interface, but my http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dFAMIWrZWGgB1GuJ&templete=2 has an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P35 that can only do 1.1 so i wouldn't get the full power from that card with the current MB. Would the performance hit make it a waste of money?

[Laura Simmonds]

So my sister's laptop is running insanely slowly lately, and after a quick look I'm fairly sure that it's absolutely ridden with viruses and dodgy freeware. I'm thinking of running DBAN on it then re-installing Vista Home Basic. I've found the drivers http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=sIyltiuq3sE6NBuf I'll be honest, my knowledge with computers is patchy at best, so before I wipe the laptop free of everything on there, is there anything that I've missed out on? For the record there's no trace of the CDs that came with the laptop that I think had everything needed for a re-install, so I'm kind of stuffed here.

Thanks in advance.