Processor, ram, video card HELP!

[JoshDaMan]

Hello everyone, I have been getting the news letter for a while but I am new to the forum. I play Everquest but I have a intel celeron processor, or pentium one, 128 ram, and integrated graphics, which means *poo* for the game. I lag alot get disconected all the time and can not use sound, new character models or anything! So what i would like to know is this: What processor, video card, and ram should I get? I would like at least 512ram or more, 1 Ghz or more, and a nice video card with atleast 32mb ram. I know pentium 4's are nice but I heard that AMD's are starting to get better, I also would like to know what brand of ram I should get, I know DDR ram is really good. I would also like to know if I should buy 512ram or just upgrade with different ram upgrades. And a nice video card like geforce 4 or something. SOrry this is so looooooong but if you could help I would apreciate it a whole lot! Thanks!

[ADRAMELK]

I guess the first question to ask would be your budget, how much are you willing to spend? What are you planning to use you computer for?

[JoshDaMan]

Well I want the best I can get for the stuff I listed up there, I am going to save up so I need the amount so I can start saving up to that

[JoshDaMan]

Oh yeah sorry, I am using it for gaming, the game everquest<BR>I also want to listen to music download it and surf the web

[GNXtreme]

My machine is still in process but right now it will handle everything that I have thrown at it.&nbsp; I am looking at about $800.00 USD so far.&nbsp; I just bought bits and pieces at a time and it has taken me about 6 mos to get it running, but I am pleased now.&nbsp; BTW pricewatch is your friend.

[JoshDaMan]

Ok look, I guess this is what I would like you to do, please post the name of your favorite(and in your opinion the best) brand name and type or whatever or processor, brand name of ram, and brand name video card

[GNXtreme]

Ok, IMO the processor to go with would be the Athlon XP...the palaminos are good but if you have the extra cash go with the T-bred.&nbsp; As for ram...I prefer Kingston, it is fairly inexpensive and performs really well, Curcial has also been good to me.&nbsp; Now for the video...I personally prefer the GeForce 4 Ti series, my budget only allowed for the 4200 but all of them are great cards.&nbsp; I have also heard good things about the Raedon 8500 cards.&nbsp; As for the brand of GeForce4 that I would recommend...I have a Visiontek but Gainward and PNY also make good cards.

[JoshDaMan]

Thanks a whole lot, now to go to Fry's and see this hideous amount that I, a 15 year old living in a relativley poor family, will have to save for lol ! It will take a while... I have a whole 30 right now!

[JoshDaMan]

Well I found these at pricewatch, would these be nice selections??<BR><BR><BR>AMD<BR>Info...<BR>7/13, 11:46 AM<BR> Athlon XP 2000+ Palomino 1.67GHz (Socket-A) 266FSB Processor, OEM. AX2000DMT3C (ABS19-103-323)OEM. 30 Days DEALER Warranty. ( Not 15 or 20 Days Dealer Warranty )<BR>(Part - ABS19 103 323)<BR> $ 138 Free FedEX Saver $138 1-2 days ABS Computer Technologies, Inc.<BR>Info...<BR>800-876-8088<BR>562-695-8823<BR>CA <BR><BR><BR>Kingston Technology<BR>Info...<BR><BR><BR>7/19, 11:26 AM<BR> 512MB PC2700 333MHz DDR Memory Manufacturer Part# KVR333X64C25/512 Lifetime Warranty. 512MB 333MHz DDR PC2700 DIMM CL2.5 <BR>(Part - 80065-KGOOGLEGEARPART#)<BR> $ 155 $0.5 Flat Fee 2nd Day Fedex $155.50 GOOGLEGEAR.com<BR>Info... <BR>510-739-1890 <BR><BR>CA <BR><BR><BR>Vision Tek<BR>Info...<BR><BR><BR>7/18, 12:04 PM<BR> * IN STOCK * Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4200 128MB DDR AGP TV OUT (lifetime warranty by Visiontek) RETAIL BOX GeForce 4 Ti 4200 - 128MB DDR memory - 4X AGP part#30001600 <BR>(Part - VCVTGF4TI4200-R)<BR> $ 194 $5 Flat Fee by UPS Ground $199.00 Micro-Pro, Inc.<BR>Info... <BR>888-881-0231 <BR><BR>OH <BR><BR>What do I want to look for in these things? Like i seen 64bit on some of the ram, do I need to check that, help?

[zogmool]

don't forget a new motherboard. All that stuff will be useless if you don't get one.<BR><BR>(The above is just incase you don't already know -- I'm just wondering because it's not in the list)<BR><BR>You said you were looking at getting "CL2.5" memory... In my opinion, CL2.5 is worthless when you can get CL2 (slightly faster per speed) for about the same price. I won't even buy if it doesn't say, and I won't bother with latencies higher than 2. It's commonly listed "CAS 2 latency" as opposed to CL2, though they mean the same thing. -- Just something to keep an eye out for.<BR>

[GNXtreme]

You definitely need a good motherboard.&nbsp; There are several good ones out there, just depending on what you want to do with it.&nbsp; Do you want RAID, LAN, USB 2.0?&nbsp; Many different options to choose from.

[JoshDaMan]

Ok I see the CL2.5 in the description and I will find a CL2 thanks<BR>I been meaning to ask about a motherboard also like you said, what do all those options give me? I mean likea description if you will

[zogmool]

USB 2.0 is pretty common with new motherboards. It's just like the old USB, only it's faster. You can use it for hooking up newer controllers, printers, scanners, and other external devices. (I like USB mice much better, espescially for games. You wouldn't think it'd make such a difference, but it does.) USB devices also have the benefit of being very easy to setup.<BR><BR>If you get a motherboard without a LAN, it can be added later for fairly cheap should you need one. It's for broadband connections to the internet. It hooks up to a cable modem, for example.<BR><BR>A RAID controler will likely require that you buy new hard drives to use. With it you can create "RAID arrays" to speed up the drives' reading performance, and in some setups, the write performance. You probably don't need it, but it's still an option if you want it. Some setups will split the files into sections, then spread them out over the drives. The different drives can then read simultaniously to increase performance. A drawback of such a setup -- using two drives, for example -- is that you have twice the likelyhood of a problem than if you just used one drive. Other setups include one or more backup drive. This can waste space, however, and only boosts read performance while the writing performance stays at the speed of the backup drive. -- Keep in mind, you can use the RAID controller without creating an array. It just serves as another controller in that case, so you can have four extra internal drives.<BR><BR>I think another good option to look for is serial ATA for future upgradability.<BR>

[JoshDaMan]

OK thanks I think I will go with the USB

[GNXtreme]

I have 4 USB 2.0 ports.&nbsp; I can see a difference between 2.0 and 1.1...I like the 2.0!&nbsp;

[GNXtreme]

I was not aware that the paralell was faster than usb....thank you for the knowledge crypto...

[Nitehawk]

Standard parrallel is faster than USB, except that microsoft has not optimized any of their firmware, drivers, software, whatever to run the parrallel port as fast as a USB port.<BR>I've noticed, on a friends computer, that using a parrallel zip100 drive is much faster in the Linux OS as opposed to any version of windows.

[ADRAMELK]

Im pretty sure that PS/2 is even faster that paralell.

[Joe]

A little note about your ram you picked out .. be sure yo pick your motherboard that you are buying first before the ram .. if you dont but a kt333 based board then that pc2700 will be more or less useless when you can get away with just buying pc2100 ... there is not much difference in the two anyways. <BR><BR>Epox 8k3a+ - 120 (accepts pc1600/pc2100/pc2700 ... kt333board)<BR>athlon xp 1800 - 70ish<BR>512megs pc2100 - 94bux<BR>geforce 4 ti4200 - 150ish<BR>40gig hdd - 70ish<BR>lite-on 16x dvd - 40ish<BR><BR>the above specs will be a basic system that i am sure will fit your needs and more. I put the "ish" at the end of the prices because hardware prices change constantly. IF your jsut going to play evercrack and surf the net .. that system above will be way more juice then you could possibly need or be able to utilize

[GNXtreme]

Agreed PJ...