I opened up my computer today, something I don't do terribly often. Foolishly I forgot to check how many RAM slots I have left. I have a horrible feeling I only have the two slots in total
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I do actually know ppl who run AMD64 systems and they've had less trouble with those than with the original p4 systems intel put out.
Oh and you'll definitely want at least a 400W power supply to run an X800 (which hubby recommends and wishes he could afford right now). My advice is to get the best and highest wattage power supply you can afford. Hubby recently bought a SuperFlower power supply which has nice quiet fans and a lovely blue light inside (yeah I think the light is overkill too, but his whole system glows blue from fans and a cold cathode in addition to the power supply ;-)). It cost him about $80 (I think) and is 400W. Unless you're going to stack your computer full of hard drives and optical drives, 400W should be plenty of juice to run your system.
If you've got at least 512meg of RAM in your system, don't bother putting any more in. Any possible boost you could get would be minimal and not worth the cost.
Good luck! Oh yeah, and don't believe everything you read in reviews, ESPECIALLY online reviews. Check out some magazine reviews of stuff and compare the systems they're testing them in to yours. Also what games are they running, and whether the games are DirectX 9.1 games or DirectX 8 games.
Damn, I was afraid of that. I'm a little concerned about whether I can fit a bigger PSU in my case (having no idea if 400W is bigger in physical size), it seems a bit tight at the moment though I have very little in there.
I will need another HDD sometime. Running close to filling my 80Gig. I'm a hoarder but over two years, that's not too bad. My other system was 20!
They are DirectX 9x games.
I was thinking of putting off the RAM, thanks for confirming that being a good idea.
Something else I've been considering is a UPS. It's probably not necessary but I've had to get rid of the powerboard with cut-off because our light switches keep tripping it and it's awfully irritating. They're pricy and I don't know just how worthwhile it'd be (we get very few storms, though I know spikes aren't limited to storms).
By the by, I do take things in reviews with a grain of salt but as I've no real idea myself it can be tricky figuring out the good bits from the hype.
I just called around the four computer stores here. Harvey Norman have a power supply 12cm fan, blue LED (:p) for $89.
@Tech has a powersupply, either 400W or 450W (he can't recall) for $49. They are also the only ones outside of online retails that stock the card in question (X800). Theirs is an Asus and includes Vivo(?) and DVI etc etc. 256MB.
My current GeForce is an Asus and I've had no trouble with it. Don't suppose hubby has any opinion?
I note you're not in hospital being induced. Did I stuff up the timeline? Perhaps that wasn't until this afternoon. If so, best of luck.
Me to hubby: Would you buy an Asus brand X800? Hubby: Sure why not? They have a 3 year warranty.
I think you can safely count that particular purchase endorsed ;-)
I would stay away from any power supply selling for under $70 if you want quality (although personally I don't care enough about my system to put quality parts in it -- hence my constant hardware issues). They're pretty easy to research online if you're serious about getting a quality power supply with a decent warranty.
Inducing appointment was in the morning, but they send you away to give it time to take effect. Second appointment was in the afternoon. Third and final appointment was late that night.
I think you can safely count that particular purchase endorsed ;-)
Thanks. I'm glad it has the seal of approval. I might consider the Asus then, though it costs a bit more so first off I need to look into what these abbreviations are :) VIVO and DVI, their exact meanings.
Here google...
I had the same thought about the power supply. Dear doesn't always mean better but really cheap generally suggests less than desirable quality. I'm more of a quality person because I'm a scrooge. ;)
Thanks again for (both) your help.
Inducing appointment was in the morning, but they send you away to give it time to take effect. Second appointment was in the afternoon. Third and final appointment was late that night.
Oh. I don't know how these things work. Good luck. ;)
Oh and you'll definitely want at least a 400W power supply to run an X800 (which hubby recommends and wishes he could afford right now). My advice is to get the best and highest wattage power supply you can afford. Hubby recently bought a SuperFlower power supply which has nice quiet fans and a lovely blue light inside (yeah I think the light is overkill too, but his whole system glows blue from fans and a cold cathode in addition to the power supply ;-)). It cost him about $80 (I think) and is 400W. Unless you're going to stack your computer full of hard drives and optical drives, 400W should be plenty of juice to run your system.
If you've got at least 512meg of RAM in your system, don't bother putting any more in. Any possible boost you could get would be minimal and not worth the cost.
Good luck! Oh yeah, and don't believe everything you read in reviews, ESPECIALLY online reviews. Check out some magazine reviews of stuff and compare the systems they're testing them in to yours. Also what games are they running, and whether the games are DirectX 9.1 games or DirectX 8 games.
Reply
Damn, I was afraid of that. I'm a little concerned about whether I can fit a bigger PSU in my case (having no idea if 400W is bigger in physical size), it seems a bit tight at the moment though I have very little in there.
I will need another HDD sometime. Running close to filling my 80Gig. I'm a hoarder but over two years, that's not too bad. My other system was 20!
They are DirectX 9x games.
I was thinking of putting off the RAM, thanks for confirming that being a good idea.
Something else I've been considering is a UPS. It's probably not necessary but I've had to get rid of the powerboard with cut-off because our light switches keep tripping it and it's awfully irritating. They're pricy and I don't know just how worthwhile it'd be (we get very few storms, though I know spikes aren't limited to storms).
Reply
I just called around the four computer stores here. Harvey Norman have a power supply 12cm fan, blue LED (:p) for $89.
@Tech has a powersupply, either 400W or 450W (he can't recall) for $49. They are also the only ones outside of online retails that stock the card in question (X800). Theirs is an Asus and includes Vivo(?) and DVI etc etc. 256MB.
My current GeForce is an Asus and I've had no trouble with it. Don't suppose hubby has any opinion?
I note you're not in hospital being induced. Did I stuff up the timeline? Perhaps that wasn't until this afternoon. If so, best of luck.
Reply
Hubby: Sure why not? They have a 3 year warranty.
I think you can safely count that particular purchase endorsed ;-)
I would stay away from any power supply selling for under $70 if you want quality (although personally I don't care enough about my system to put quality parts in it -- hence my constant hardware issues). They're pretty easy to research online if you're serious about getting a quality power supply with a decent warranty.
Inducing appointment was in the morning, but they send you away to give it time to take effect. Second appointment was in the afternoon. Third and final appointment was late that night.
Reply
Thanks. I'm glad it has the seal of approval. I might consider the Asus then, though it costs a bit more so first off I need to look into what these abbreviations are :) VIVO and DVI, their exact meanings.
Here google...
I had the same thought about the power supply. Dear doesn't always mean better but really cheap generally suggests less than desirable quality. I'm more of a quality person because I'm a scrooge. ;)
Thanks again for (both) your help.
Inducing appointment was in the morning, but they send you away to give it time to take effect. Second appointment was in the afternoon. Third and final appointment was late that night.
Oh. I don't know how these things work. Good luck. ;)
Reply
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