Korean Job Discussion Forums

[edgellskiuk]

OK I am so far from beeing a techie it is scary. I currently have a dell system:

Pentium 4 2.8
512mb ddr ram
geforce 5200 video card
soundblaster sound card
17 inch dell lcd monitor

This is all in one of Dells slimline cases. I plan on adding another 512mb of ram and changing the graphics card. To this end I have a couple of questions:

1) What is the best graphics card to move to? My budget for the card is around 300-400k won.
2) Are there any companies you know of that I can buy the card from and get it fitted on my site? (I am lazy and dont really want to lug a pc round Seoul)
3) I am worried about the size of the card, are all cards roughly similar size?
4) If the slimline case is an issue is it possible for the inner gubbins to be moved from it to another case?

Sorry for the silly questions, but I really do not have a clue on these things. All advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Demophobe]

Add the RAM if you want, but now is a terrible time to upgrade, and your system isn't bad at all. The graphic card is the weak spot, but with a sub 3GHz CPU, the best card is the 9800XT. This blows the doors off of anything Nvidia made before the 6800. The newest cards need a lot of CPU horsepower...3.2Ghz plus....unless you want to overclock your CPU, but then you will probably need new RAM, and seeing as how you are a self-confessed non-techy, overclocking is too dangerous.

Upgrading now is not a good idea because we are quickly moving into a new setup era..new CPUs, mainboards, RAM, graphics...everything will change within 6 months. Of course, computing is never future proof, but now may be the worst time to build. The last few weeks have proven very interesting...

Really...hang tight and save your money for a Christmas overhaul. Patience will yield good results.

[edgellskiuk]

Hi Demophobe,

Thankyou for your advice. I can understand at the moment is a bad time to upgrade with new cards etc being introduced. I am very impulsive so now I have had the idea to upgrade I will most likely carry it out. At christmass I will probably donate this system to my father and buy a whole new system.

The ati card seems very popular with people, would it be roughly the same size as my geforce card? I havn't changed a pc card since I changed to a 3d prophet.

Regards
Steve

[Demophobe]

Yeah, I guess the same size. That 'slimline' thing, I don't know about. I think you should check the size, but if your GeForce card is standard size, then the 9800Pro will work fine.

You will see a big difference going to the 9800Pro.

[Bulsajo]

If you're going to ditch it soon why bother upgrading? But to answer your questions,

1)go out and buy an ATI Radeon 9800 XT or 9800 pro for the 'best' or a 9600 if you want to spend a little less.

2) Super easy to install. Buy it, bring it home, put it in.


3)Nvidia GeForce have been getting thicker (taking up the space of 2 slots due to the large fans) while ATI has remained the same (takes up one slot). I think this is still true of the latest generation. You'll be fine with a 9800 or a 9600.

4) Yes, I think you could always buy a new case and move everything into it but check the systemboard first- there is the possibility it may have a form factor that would make it less than practical to do so. You'd void any DELL warranties by doing any of the above (including replacing the video card and possibly even the RAM... I think DELL warranties are based on nobody opening the case up except a DELL service tech, and that includes you).

[edgellskiuk]

Thanks Demophobe and bulsajo

I have got my assistant checking with dell about the card size issue. I am not too worried about invalidating the warranty. Dell currently supply a 9800 radeon card in some of their machines, so one of their techie people is checking if it fits etc. I can guess ,in a slimline case, heat may be the main problem but hopefully the dell techie will finish his experiments soon.

As I said before I am an impulsive person so its almost a habit to upgrade then replace.

[Giant]

I know what you mean, I usually never have the same system for more than 6 months. I just upgraded to a PIV 3.0C system 800Mhz FSB with an ASUS motherboard. It really rocks!!!

[Demophobe]

[Giant]

I am not a gamer, so I got a lower end VGA card, a Nvidia FX 5700, and I got 512 MB RAM (Single DIMM, will run Dual channel when I upgrade) for now, and will upgrade that to 1GB later this month. Then later I will upgrade again to 2GB. I have 4 slots on my system.

The mainboard is an ASUS P4P800 series.

[edgellskiuk]

Demophobe

Do not worry about taking the thread off topic. I view threads like fungus they spread whereever the wind takes them.

Giant
I am officially jealous of your new system.

[Demophobe]

[edgellskiuk]

Demophobe

Just got the final report back from dell. The ati card is too big for my case. They said I would need to change case, motherboard and graphics all at the same time. So I now have the option of finding somewhere that I can trade in the whole thing and buy new or wait. From what you have told me waiting will be the best option, do you agree?

My father doesn't need one gig of ram (he is just about at the atari console stage of computing) but I thought I would be able to move 400mhz ram to a new system or is memory changing too?

Regards
steve

[Giant]

[weened]

Well as long as we're venturing from the original path, I'm currently shopping around for laptops. I'd like to finance it in order to "exist" in the states while I'm here in Korea, so I'm relegated to the major manufacturers.

Currently, I've settled on Dell's XPS system and am on the verge of purchasing one. Now, are laptops in the same category as far as new developments coming soon? Should I wait six months as well?

And as long as I'm asking those who know, can anyone recommend a configuration that will support my gaming, music, and movie habits? My budget is around $3000. Much thanks,

W.

[Demophobe]

@ edgellskiuk: Mate, I really advise you to hold off for a while. Around Christmas is the earliest I could recommend buying new. Everything is changing, and even if you don't want to get into the latest tech, which is always expensive, the new stuff drives down the price of the old.

Motherboards are changing to make way for PCIx, the new graphics interface (AGP16x, as opposed to todays 8x), and DDR2 memory, which will eventually ramp to higher speeds than DDR, and use less power in doing so. Prescott is rumored to perhaps move to 64-bit, and is certainly moving to a new type of chip assembly...this will also affect the mainboard, of course.

Really, hang on to your system and make it a groovy gift for Dad around the giving season. Then we can upgrade together...we can get a better deal if we shop together! I will be doing an overhaul at that point as well...mainboard, RAM and graphics. Maybe hard drive too, but my RAID is pretty fast.

PM me and we can talk more about it. Where are you working anyways?

@ weened: Yes, laptops are in for a big shift too, though perhaps not as quick as desktop systems. Perhaps in 6 months there will be one or two makers with the BIG DEAL in the newest tech, but man....the price you will pay for that will be insane.
I hate laptops, because as I said a long time ago, they fast become tabletops. I mean, I love them, but hate them...you know what I mean.

The changes under way are to have an upgradeable graphics solution, in the form of PCI express. The cards will be fully changeable. It looks like the MHz race is finally over in the CPU area, now they are going for features, so this is a boon to laptops. Your 3 GHz machine today should hold a bit more of a candle to the future.

With laptops...if you must have one, buy today. The wait may not be much longer than for the desktop market, but the price is formidable....more than $3000? I dunno....