What can stay, what has to go.

[lqcorsa]

Its that time of the year for me to put in the $$ to upgrade my system. Below are my PC specs, from head to tail, (this is where the really confusing tech guys like afterburner come in :lol) what can stay for a year or so, and what should be replaced/replaced with?

Operating System: Windows XP w/ SP2

BIOS: Phoenix AWARD BIOS version 6.00PG

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+, MMX 3DNow

Memory: 2048MB RAM

Video Card: ATI Radeon X800 256MB PCI-E

Sound Card: Nvidia Nforce Audio (on board)

Motherboard: S939 K8N NEO4-F PRI Express

Power Supply: 350W

[Wheels]

hey Iqcorsa,

Just a few questions ... What's your budget and what will be the main purpose of your new pc ?

and I would say, New motherboard, new power supply and new graphic card(s)

If you have really a lot of money ... wait 2 months and see what new goodies come out for Vista etc ...

[Funky]

I dont personally see anything wrong with that system as it is. I think you can mess with it a little more, before you have to do any major change.
I dont know if you have a good sound system, but all I can suggest is get a good sound card. I have an Audigy 2 platinum, and I love it. If you want to get something better, for a little more money, I can also recommend X-Fi. I know some people might not agree with my recommendation, but that's just me.

Funky

[Playloud]

I agree with the others. That is a good system as is. Unless you want to spend a LOT of money for top of the line hardware, I would stick with what you have now. As Funky said, you may want a dedicated sound card. I have had bad experiences with on-board audio (which I am using as we speak at work. I can hear the computer in the form of static whenever the computer does something).

[Deckerd]

I'd throw away that Windows.
On secont thought, i'd always throw away Windows for general principle. Hm you better keep it:wink2:

Very good rig. I wouldn't change anything until FO comes out. It's by far enough to play FSX and lomac.

[Playloud]

If you plan on upgrading again a year from now, you can hold on to XP until then. However, if I were you, I would upgrade the sound card, and buy Vista when it comes out (since you don't have much to spend money on now, you might as well).

[Jackal]

Hi, lqcorsa.
Congrats for your powerful system! It's well assembled, so I would change almost anything of it... except for the power supply, perhaps, I think that a 350W unit only is "a little" underpowered if compared to your system electrical supply needs - and this could bring some unwanted troubles even since now.
Then my suggestion could be: why don't you think about upgrading to a 500W unit instead?:wink2: :smile:
Cheers.
Jackal out.

[lqcorsa]

Thanks for all the info. On Lock-On 1.12a, I cannot have the cockpit mirrors, I can have settings on high with heat blur, but the mirrors take away everything. With settings on medium high on FSX, I can get maximum 8 FPS in cities unless I have a FPS tweak installed witch will give me about 5 more frames (NOTE THAT THATS IN CITIES ONLY, I CAN GET ABOUT 25 TO 30 IN FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS. My sound card sucks, since its on my motherboard, if I listen closely when theres no sound coming through my headset, I can hear my computer thinking, with its little beeps, squeeks, and burps. The reason I have a small PSU is because it's what my case came with. My case is an Antec SLK1650 Black, and it comes with this PSU, but I really should upgrade it, along with a better sound card, and get a cooling system, then I'll upgrade to Vista when it's released. Also, I'll save up for a Direct X 10 GPU, so I can take advantage of Vista's new graphics. My budget is about shoot I dunno like 800 or around there. I'm thinking of getting a Nvidia card since they have Directx 10 cards, and right now it looks like the best thing ATI has is the X1950 witch is DX9 still.

The main purpose of my PC is so I can do some uber l33t gaming on my PC with incredible graphics and performance, so my mom can use all 8,000,000,000 of her songs on Napster, and so I can do school work on this computer. Thats it really...

[lqcorsa]

I think this is what I'll do,

Nvidia 8800 I can get for about $630

700W Power Supply $100

Windows Vista $100

Thats only $830 dollers, witch isn't all that bad. I can keep my processor for quite a while, at least for another year then I should upgrade. Better start saving my pennies now!

[Playloud]

Which version of Vista are you planning on only paying $100 for?

[lqcorsa]

Enterprise Version, upgrade from XP is 100 dollars. How does that relate?

[Playloud]

I don't think you can buy the Enterprise edition unless you are a business. Also, the only upgrade version for $100 would be Home Basic (not worth buying if you have vista).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/playloud/vistapricing.jpg

[lqcorsa]

As long as it supports DX-10, I'll take it hehe.

[Playloud]

You may want to spend a little extra on the Home Premium version (unless DX10 gaming is the ONLY thing you will use the OS for.)

Personally, I am going to buy Vista Ultimate. I don't know if it is really worth it. However, if it is another five years until the next version of Windows, I might as well get the full OS.

For the list of features by version, check out this link (Thanks for the link Afterburner).

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_02.asp

[lqcorsa]

Heres what I need on my computer. DX-10, basic Microsoft Office Tools, and internet.