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Time for a new motherboard?

Nohbody8Nohbody8 Registered User regular
edited April 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I have been slowly working towards maxing out my computer as much as possible without having to upgrade the motherboard. The mobo is a MiTAC International Corp. Dimension 2300. I have two sticks of 512 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 video card, and 1.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 plugged into it. Have I hit the ceiling or is there anything else I can do?

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Posts

  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    You could up the 2x512 sticks to 2x1024 sticks

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  • Nohbody8Nohbody8 Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    The mobo and XP can support that? I could very well be wrong but I think I remember the guy at the store seeming to think that 1024 sticks weren't made for the type of RAM the mobo could use.

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    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] "We're the middle children of history, man."
  • AtomBombAtomBomb Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    You're maxed on RAM (that thing uses PC133 SDRAM). I would say the machine is pretty close to max and I wouldn't spend any more money on it. Actually, I would spend more money on it, but only on stuff that would transfer to the next box (bigger HDD, DVD burners and whatnot). Performance-wise I think you've got it as good as it's going to get.

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  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    AtomBomb wrote: »
    You're maxed on RAM (that thing uses PC133 SDRAM). I would say the machine is pretty close to max and I wouldn't spend any more money on it. Actually, I would spend more money on it, but only on stuff that would transfer to the next box (bigger HDD, DVD burners and whatnot). Performance-wise I think you've got it as good as it's going to get.

    Ouch, yeah - its time to start yourself a "Building a new computer" thread.

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    BNet • magicprime#1430 | PSN/Steam • MagicPrime | Origin • FireSideWizard
    Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
  • Nohbody8Nohbody8 Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Ouch, yeah - its time to start yourself a "Building a new computer" thread.

    I'll cross that bridge when I come to it and start noticing some performance issues. I don't play many games right now and the ones I do aren't enough to challenge this computer. That said, I am interested in a new HDD. I've got almost 6GB of free space on my current one so this could actually be an issue soon. Any recommendations?

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    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] "We're the middle children of history, man."
  • AtomBombAtomBomb Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    Pretty much all the big brands are good. I usually end up getting Western Digital or Seagate. Here's a 320gb SATA with a 16mb cache for $70. Might not be the very best deal (I didn't look hard), but if it is it's not bad. If you shop around more I recommend gettting something with an 8mb cache or larger and 7200rpm or faster.

    Your mobo probably doesn't support SATA drives, but the next PC you buy will. For that reason I would pick up a SATA one over an IDE. However, I've got a bunch of old PC junk and I'm sure that I've got an IDE to SATA adapter if I needed it. If you don't want to deal with that I would get this 500gb IDE (16mb cache, 7200rpm) for $100. Or, if you don't need that much space you could get this 160gb (8mb, 7200rpm) for $56. Either would work fine in a newer machine as a media storage drive (you may have to get an IDE to SATA adapter down the road, depending on the new box).

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  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited April 2008
    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3520121&body=MAIN#detailspecs

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    Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
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