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New computer accessories

5K views 45 replies 19 participants last post by  73 Nova Guy 
#1 ·
Just installed a new 60 Gb Western Digital ATA100 7200 rpm drive to replace my old Maxtor 10 Gb ATA33 5400 rpm drive and my computer absolutely smokes now! I got it on sale for $119 CDN a month ago, just never had time to install it.

HoooooWeeeee! :D

Finally I have a hard drive capable of keeping up to my new 128Mb Radeon 9000 video card. Next is a new motherboard and AMD 1800+ processor to compliment the new parts (I'm runnin a 700 Athlon now).

Think I'll take her down to the strip and see what she'll run in the quarter...

How much horsepower do I have? :p

What computer hardware upgrade has given you the best bang for the buck?
 
#3 ·
I went from a 486 to a AMD 1900+, 60gig HD,CD burner,and GForce4 video card....that is about the equivalent to going from a 4cyl Fairmont to a LS6 Chevelle.
I am planning on adding another 40Gig HD dedicated for mp3 and Videos and upgrade the Memory, my mother board will max out at 1 gig DDR memory...thats what I am looking at.
Definately go with the AMD Athalon though, my motherboard has dual monitor and dual processor capabilities...wow, dual monitors...double the ebay and hotrodders BB <img src="graemlins/mwink.gif" border="0" alt="[mwink]" />
Later,
WEIMER

[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: Weimer ]</p>
 
#8 ·
512MB RAM. biggest increase in output i ever saw with my mac.

my imac runs like it's on steroids with an IBM 80GB HD, DVD, CD burner, agfa scanner, and zip drive. still, a half gig of RAM is the best $70 i ever spent.

adding lots of RAM to your machine is like adding more cubic inches to your engine. you can never have enough!
 
#9 ·
man I feel slow now I am just running the new AMD Athlon XP 3000(2.16ghz) with 2 sticks of PC2700 DDR333 SDRAM 1GB and a GeForce4 TI 4200 128MB DDR AGP 8X Video Card plus 2 burners 1 cd/dvd rom , fd , 2 Maxtor 250.0GB EIDE Ultra-ATA/133, 5400 RPM harddrives well that is my home computer my work computer is a 2.0ghz Dell POS both have a 100 mb connection but the one at work gets more of a work out.

I was going to get a westerndigital hd but I have had way to much problems with themin the past.
4 Jaw Chuck get the Athlon XP 2400 instead you will like it more and will not be sorry and it is only a few more dollars.
 
#11 ·
Thanks Mean, I'll take that advice from you since you seem to have the AA Fueler of computers there.

I have a 2GB Jaz SCSI drive (don't waste your money-junk) and a Backpack CD burner and a really nice Creative CD-ROM with remote, right now I have 256 of RAM and many people have told me not to go any higher with WIN98 since it actually runs slower? I would upgrade to XP but all my games for the little ones need 98 to run.

I gave the computer a workout last night with GTA3 and Nascar 3 just to check it out and sure enough that cheesy Maxtor drive was the bottleneck in my system. I love being able to turn all the graphics to "max" in 32 bit and still enjoy glitch free gaming...of course the games are for the kids... :rolleyes: :D

The twin monitors was a novelty that has worn off, I almost never turn the other monitor on now. I guess I have enough trouble concentrating on one stream of information never mind two. I'm still waiting to hear from the wife on how Simcity 4 works.

I think Daddy is going to load up Rogue Spear, F18 and Unreal Tournament tonight and do a little terrorist hunting myself. :p

Lock and load! <img src="graemlins/drool.gif" border="0" alt="[drool]" /> :)
 
#14 ·
Originally posted by Weimer:
<strong>I went from a 486 to a AMD 1900+, 60gig HD,CD burner,and GForce4 video card....that is about the equivalent to going from a 4cyl Fairmont to a LS6 Chevelle.
I am planning on adding another 40Gig HD dedicated for mp3 and Videos and upgrade the Memory, my mother board will max out at 1 gig DDR memory...thats what I am looking at.
Definately go with the AMD Athalon though, my motherboard has dual monitor and dual processor capabilities...wow, dual monitors...double the ebay and hotrodders BB <img src="graemlins/mwink.gif" border="0" alt="[mwink]" />
Later,
WEIMER

[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: Weimer ]</strong><hr></blockquote>


More like from the fairmont to a top fuel funny car.

I am looking at upgrading from a desktop to a laptop. I usually sit in front of the TV and surf the net on my work laptop. The wife also wants a laptop so she can do the same when I am gone. The desktop has modem issues, so it is a good excuse to move up.

Chris
 
#18 ·
I'm part of a lan gaming community at <a href="http://www.whempys.com" target="_blank">www.whempys.com</a>

If you're running 256Megs of ram, I'd suggest getting at least 512Meg total. I've currently got 768Megs, so I can play in an Unreal Tournament 2003 server I'm running without lagging my machine. if you're looking for the best bang for the buck right now, it's gotta be an Asus A7V333 or A7V8X with an Athlon xp2100 and 512Megs of ram with a Nvidia ti4200 or an ATI 9000PRO 128. And if any of you guys are having computer dificulties, just give me a holler and I'll be glad to help you out :)

[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: 78novaman ]

[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: 78novaman ]</p>
 
#19 ·
Hmmm...looks like daddy's gonna get himself another stick of 256...ah heck might as well fill her up and put in two more and make it a full 768 Mb. :D

Hey Bull! The language we are speaking is known as Geekerese, there are many known dialects such as "Pocket protector", "Taped Eyeglasses" and even one known as "Wedgie Target". Many people are afraid to be caught speaking the language due to being mistakenly attacked in high school for being a "Wedgie Target". Many waist bands gave their lives in that war... :p
 
#21 ·
I'd have to say upgrading to an amd 1900+w/512 megs of ddr ram.I also went w/the geforce4,a good deal w/good performance.I've got a Maxtor 20gig/10000rpm harddrive as well.Now all I need is to get DSL or cable and I'll be able to download porn like ther is no tomorrow.Bruce <img src="graemlins/evil.gif" border="0" alt="[evil]" />
 
#22 ·
Damn I'm just waitin for prices to come down on some of the computer stuff.

MY computer has 1.8gig pentium 4 and 256 MB rambus.

That and a radeon 7500 with 64 mb ddr. That was about the best thing out there when I bought it.

I can't wait for rambus to come down in price but they are really pushing the DDR Ram which is limited (to make money, why else?). Then I'm upgrading to 1 gig ram.

Also I need a bigger hard drive I have a 40 gig maxtor that is filled to the max and has been nothhing but a pain in the *** because it doesn't hold partitions like I want it to.
 
#23 ·
I will never understand mac users. And I really don't understand why someone who is at a hotrodders site would want to use a mac. Please enlighten me! I figured that people that work on upgrading old cars would do the same with a computer. But instead, it seems as though a few of you are bent on buying a throw-away computer. ***news flash fellas*** a mac is just like a new car, you buy it, keep it a year and then throw it away. A pc is like an older car, you can upgrade it to keep it around a few more years.

BTW, at whempys lan parties, there are 70-100 attendees, and there are no macs except one to manage the registration list :D

<img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" /> <img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" /> <img src="graemlins/evil.gif" border="0" alt="[evil]" /> DEATH TO ALL MACS <img src="graemlins/evil.gif" border="0" alt="[evil]" /> <img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" /> <img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" />
 
#25 ·
I just upgraded to a P3 866. 1Gb ram,and a 64 MB Ge force V card.

I have 2 dedicated 40 Gb drives for MP 3's, a 20G and 10GB for games and a 20 for my o/s and business crap running through a promise atapi controller.

2 - 40 x 12 x 24 cd burners and a DVD rom.

The ram made a huge difference going from 128MB to a gig. The processor made a slight difference -from a 450 to 866.
 
#26 ·
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verd'Sd�Sô>�T^ >�TçªÜ>�Ud‹ >�UÞõUõ�Uõ>�Uõr="0" alt="[evil]" /> <img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" /> <img src="graemlins/crash.gif" border="0" alt="[crash]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

Well, first of all, I am a Graphic Designer by trade. No self-respecting designer would use anything BUT a Mac.

Secondly, I'd be willing to bet that your experience with a Mac consists of little more than tinkering with them a little over the years. You clearly don't know much about them but rather repeat anti-Mac rhetoric you've heard other people spew.

Thirdly, it's just a plain fact that people keep their Macs longer than PC users keep their PC's. Also, that Macs hold their value longer than PC's do. I sold a 3 year old G4 that only had an upgraded video card and additional RAM (512MB total) for $1600. You can get brand new PC's for less than that.

I don't hate PC's. They are powerful, affordable machines and good in their own way. But to say Macs are throw away and a lesser product is just ignorant.
 
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