Ok, be honest. I dont need the aboslute best... but I do alot of gaming and high-end video work so I require a good cpu, ram, and video card. Tell me what needs to go, my dad bought me all of these parts and I know that some of them are crap. What would you change, what would you keep?
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
CPU: AMD Athelon(tm) XP 3000+ (about 2.1Ghz)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 with 128Mb memory
Case/CPU Cooling: Fan based (my system runs way too hot)
RAM: 2x 512Mb
Power Supply: 450W (dont know the brand off hand)
HDD: 2x 160GB (Maxtor 6B160P0)
DVD Drive: BENQ DVD DD DW1620 8x DVD+/- RW
CD Drive: CDWRITER IDE5232 52x CD+/-RW
What is good what is bad?
2007-02-23 06:24:45 · 8 answers · asked by wickink 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
Your processor is good, but outdated. Your video card is very outdated and wasn't even good when it was new. Your biggest problem if that you are using an outdated motherboard. It's not bad, just outdated. The Athlon Xp 3000 is the best processor it can have so you'll never be able to upgrade that. It is also using an AGP slot for the graphics card so you can get a good card, but soon they will stop producing AGP cards.
Overall, it'll make a pretty good gaming machine with a new Video card like an Nvidia Geforce 7600GS for abot $160. Just be aware that for gaming, it will become outdated soon.
EDIT: I forgot to mention what a poster above me said. Athlon XPs do run hot. Typicall over 50 degrees celcius. Newer Athlon 64s run closer to 30 degrees.
Ok, some people are giving bad advice. His system CAN NOT use a PCI express card. It has an AGP slot
Sidprak: He has the best processor available for that motherboard. Buying a better processor would mean buying a new motherboard.
2007-02-23 06:36:06 · answer #1 · answered by taskr36 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not good..
the only thing I'd keep outta that is the harddrives (in a MIRROR setup, not a STRIPE setup), the DVD and CD drive.
If you are doing "Video intensive" stuff, you'll do better w/ a higher end Graphics card GeForce 7x or 8x family. You need at least 2gb of memory as well for "video work".
If you upgrade the video card and memory, then you can probably get by w/ that setup, however it wont be blazing fast...but it'll suffice..
and yah..get some better cooling..
ALSO you want a 500+W Power supply since most newer video cards require the video card to be connected directly to the power source (via one of those harddrive power connectors).
Athlon XP is about 3-4 years old...IF you're going to upgrade, go w/ an AMD 64 w/ AM2 interface OR Core2Duo from intel..both of those chips run a lot cooler, and also require less energy.
While the Athlon XP was a great chip way back then, there were issues of power consumption and heat..
2007-02-23 14:30:55 · answer #2 · answered by m34tba11 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats not a bad rig (I have 2 of them, almost part for part), but the XP3000+ is a bear for video editing because of the on chip cache. You need something with 1MB or more of L2 for serious editing. You will need an Athlon64 or Intel Core2Duo, otherwise those rendering times will drive you to drugs or something. However, you will double the price of the mobo and CPU. Its worth it though! Also, if nothing else, change out for a GeForce 7800 video card with 256MB for the gaming and go for 2GB RAM. (the 8000 series does not come in AGP, so the 7800 is as good as you can get)
[EDIT]: Yeah true taskr.. Thats why I mentioned the 7800 as the best card he could possibly get for that board.. It comes in AGP and PCIe ;-)
2007-02-23 14:36:31 · answer #3 · answered by Taz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, first I would go to 2 x 1Gb RAM
And right now, Intel Core2Duo beats AMD by a long shot.
450 watts is probably sufficient for your box. I like the Antec dual fan setup. They are very quiet.
I would upgrade your video to a PCI express card. Maybe a geforce 7800 series.
without looking up the specific drive model, I would make sure the HD is SATA2, and be sure to remove the restriction jumper if your SATA ports support SATA2. Most drives that are SATA2 are shipped from the factory jumpered for SATA1.
If your system is running too hot, and you only have a little money to sink into it, fix that first. Get a first-rate cooling unit and bring the temp down. That will do more for stability than anything else. Second on the list would be the RAM.
2007-02-23 14:55:15 · answer #4 · answered by boonietech 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You need a better video card to maximize gaming performance. Something 256MB or at least with better acceleration.
Also you may want to shoot for 2 gig of RAM to off-set the crappy video card.
With that, you could swing WoW at 40 fps.
2007-02-23 14:33:20 · answer #5 · answered by Chyvalri 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's really close to what I have, and mine works great. It plays the latest games and is actually quite fast. If anything, I would upgrade the video card and maybe RAM and CPU.
2007-02-23 14:28:27 · answer #6 · answered by Yoi_55 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd get a better video card if I were you, but it depends what you're playing I guess...
2007-02-23 14:29:18 · answer #7 · answered by terabytemaniac 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
please CHANGE THE PROCESSOR
everything else looks good from my point of view
2007-02-23 14:57:43 · answer #8 · answered by sidprak 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋