When Should I Upgrade My System?

[Keebler Elf]

My system is working fine for me but it's a few years behind the times (to put in context, I have to use a SATA adaptor card for my newer hard drive and the screen flickers when playing World of Warcraft). I can see the time is coming to upgrade my computer but I'm wondering if I should hold off for the moment.

I have an OEM version of Win XP that's only about a year old. I know that changing my system will require replacement of Win XP due to the whole Genuine Advantage security system. I also know that new systems are coming with Windows Vista (but I'll be buying individual components and assembling myself).

Should I hold off for the time being? There's no immediate, pressing need to upgrade but I have to do it sooner or later. Would I be better off waiting until all the bugs are worked out of Vista and then using that OS? (I have no problem with Win XP). Or is no time better than the present? I figure it's going to cost me around $750 to upgrade.

 

[danibbler]

If there's no immediate, pressing need to upgrade then don't do it. The hardware will come down in price and the software will be improved. BTW, are you talking about an entirely new system or upgrading components?

 

[tboy]

Yeah, I second Nibbler's opinion. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! And don't be a lemming and buy into the attitude that you just HAVE to HAVE the latest and greatest.

As for having to replace your copy of windows xp. If you're running it on two systems then yes, you need a new copy for the new system but if you're dumping the old system, then there is no reason you can't run your windows copy on the new system OEM or not (OEM means that it came with the computer and you didn't buy it separately).

Once you own windows you can run it on any system but only one system at a time.

 

[thirdtime]

Keebler Elf what are your current system specs?
Motherboard make\model, CPU, video card, etc
Upgrading may be hundreds less than you think.

 

[basketcase]

Just install your HDD in your new system. You don't need a new OS.

My suggestion is to slowly upgrade parts.

 

[osanowo]

You don't have to replace your version of Windows. It will try to connect to the Microsoft server for another key if you change more than 3 hardware devices on your PC.
Now I've done that several times and after the third time it tells you to fuck off. I called Microsoft and without asking why they gave me a new license number.

 

[tboy]

Yup osanowo, it did that when I changed my mobo....and got a new verification/authentication number no problem from Microsoft.....

I missed the part of Keeb's post about the screen flickering during WOW play. That could be any number of things from video card, sound card, main memory, processor speed, fragmented hard drive etc.

Keeb: why not show us the specs on your system and we can suggest some things?

For eg: If your system is still agp, then you can get a kickass vid card for about $200.00 (I have a ati 512 24 bit) for a lot less than a PCI.

You can get a great sound card (fatality xfi)

Memory for older systems is way cheap now compared to the newer dual core system memory. Just be careful what you buy (the shit at Futureslop blows).

As for the newer Dual Core based mobos, they've dropped like 45% since I was first shopping for one 6 months ago so unless you're in immediate need, then hold off until winter or boxing day (at least).

 

[squigg23]

Computers are cheap nowadays compared to.. lets say year 2000. The last that I had to upgrade, I bought a basic/entry level barebone system for only $400.

From a pentium 3 to athlon 1.2gh, from 512kb of ram to 1gig, kept my old drive and added 20gig hd.

This was 2 years ago. Im sure the cheapest barebone system is faster than before. And if you want to "get the edge" on the new computer, upgrade the ones that really matter.

1. Always go for more memory.
2. Video game fanatic, get the best graphics card then weight out your option for a decent video card and a second LCD monitor with another video card -- that way you can have dual screen which is way cool than having just one.
3. Pass on hdd for now, especially if you have a dvd writer. You can use dvds to hold your data such as mp3s and mpegs. Wait for the terabyte harddrive to come out and you'll see these 500gig hdd drop in price.

My dream computer will consist of 3 LCD monitor, the main screen will be in widescreen format. Ofcourse I will need an extra video card for this that has dual output (most cards are). 2GIG of RAM. And I would get the cheapest barebone system available that can be found on that Free Computer Magazine. That will probably cost me.. well a little bit more than what I thought it would be.. hehe. But im sure my friends will not have a system like that.. hence the kewl factor. Anyways do whatever with your money, im just babbling

 

[blackdog]

Just buy a mac. You will never waste time thinking about computers again.

 

[Keebler Elf]

* Intel Pentium 4, 2.6 GHz processor speed, 800 MHz system bus speed
* Socket 478 for Intel Pentium 4/ Celeron
* ATI RADEON 9100 IGP
* ATI IXP200

* ASUS P4R800-VM
* integrated ATI Radeon 9200-based GPU (video), ATI Radeon 9100 IGP/IXP200
* does not support SATA without adaptor card

* PC3200/2700/PC2100/1600 non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory
* 512 x 2 and 256 x 2 (1024 total)


Those are the things I'm interested in upgrading. I'm also interested in going wireless.

Re: the OS. From what I've read on the net, I'm replacing enough parts that my OEM Win XP won't work as my computer will be considered a "new" unit and the OEM is limited to the previous unit.

 

[shakenbake]

Just buy a mac. You will never waste time thinking about computers again.

I'll agree with that one. In less than a year, my HD got corrupted on one of my high-end PCs at home, and I have to start all over again, because XP could not be repaired. That NEVER happend with my Mac, which I still use at home, in all the eight years that I have had it.

 

[toughb]

Try dual boot...

* Intel Pentium 4, 2.6 GHz processor speed, 800 MHz system bus speed
* Socket 478 for Intel Pentium 4/ Celeron
* ATI RADEON 9100 IGP
* ATI IXP200

* ASUS P4R800-VM
* integrated ATI Radeon 9200-based GPU (video), ATI Radeon 9100 IGP/IXP200
* does not support SATA without adaptor card

* PC3200/2700/PC2100/1600 non-ECC DDR SDRAM memory
* 512 x 2 and 256 x 2 (1024 total)


Those are the things I'm interested in upgrading. I'm also interested in going wireless.

Re: the OS. From what I've read on the net, I'm replacing enough parts that my OEM Win XP won't work as my computer will be considered a "new" unit and the OEM is limited to the previous unit.

*********************************

Get a new machine and have it set up for dual boot. Use Vista or WinXP.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I have absolutely zero interest in a Mac.

 

[tboy]

*********************************

Get a new machine and have it set up for dual boot. Use Vista or WinXP.

I don't believe windows allows a dual os with vista....

As for upgrading:

So it sounds like you're using onboard video? FIRST thing, get a seaparte video card.
2nd thing, get a separate sound card
You could also upgrade the processor to a 3.0 mhz or faster for a reasonable price. I have a prescott hyperthreading processor that was pricey when I bought it but now, dirt cheap.....

 

[thirdtime]

Your system sounds fine except for:
- no SATA support
- your video is marginal
- 512 x 2 and 256 x 2 (1024 total) ??? This should show up as 1536 MB total!!

I'd just disable the onboard video in the BIOS and get a half decent AGP video card.
You'd have a hard time finding a socket 478 CPU that's any faster these days. Everything for sale is for socket 775.
BTW tboy - You can have a dual boot with XP and Vista provided they're on different partitions.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I don't really care too much about audio/visual and I'd rather not take up PCI slots unnecessarily.

 

[samcan]

Heres what I do.
When the computer cant do what I want, I try to figure out which upgrade will get me there.
Speed= ram, processor
Space= hard drive
Gaming = video, ram
Audio = new sound card
If your comp cant do what you want figure out why.

My machine is 3-4 years old. AMD 2.2,1gig ram, 3 60hd ata133 and
cd burner with external dvd burner. My son plays Madden,Tiger,NBA,NHL all 07 with no problem and it does WHAT I needed it to do.

You can dual boot, hell you could triple boot.

Basketcase, if he transfer drive to new machine better back up as he will need to format.
My 02 cents

 

[tboy]

I don't really care too much about audio/visual and I'd rather not take up PCI slots unnecessarily.

Well, what ELSE are you going to put into them?

BTW: your mobo should have a dedicated agp video slot that you can't use for anything else anyways

and you SHOULD care about your video, that is probably the number one cause of your lag during WOW.

BTW: socket 478 processors are all over ebay...I bought one off there and it was brand new in an intel box and have had no problems in 3 yrs

Yeah you nutbar, your mobo DOES have a dedicated agp slot that isn't being used for anything...here's the link to the manual for it:

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock478/p4r800-vm/e1662_p4r800-vm.pdf

and yeah, your memory isn't being reported properly, I'll look into the manual and see if it has specs on what modules you can use. I bet you either can't use 2 512 and 2 256 together

Look on page 20, you probably have dual and single channel memory in the wrong slots. What kind of memory do you have?

 

[samcan]

Keebler, think you better take some advice from tboy and us.

Have read your posts regarding computers and you need to learn a bit more.
No offence intended, but the more you read and practice, the better you get and understand.
Have fun.

Shakenbake, I've worked with macs too and they can get just as corrupted as PCs just takes longer.
Every replaced mother boards in 800 macs because they had bad capacitors?
Not much fun.

 

[tboy]

Yeah samcan, mac users think that macs are the bomb but they ain't perfect hence why apple keeps making better and better ones. If they were/are "perfect" why do they EVER have to make a better one?

I was working on one today and it was slower than molasses in january. Why? Cuz it needed more memory....wait, stop the presses, you mean a MAC wasn't PERFECT right outta the box? It, gasp, needed an upgrade?