Hi - first time post -I need to fix an AMD computer and was wondering which path to

[clambo]

Hi,
This trusty PC was mainly for running my faves - Battlefield 1942 , call of duty, - it did great except it slowed down when my son and I tried Battlefield2 and halo (multiplayer and single player)


System:

AMD atlon 1.6 cpu 1800+
nvidia 4600ultra 128mb ultra video card
384 mb ram pc2100? i think
asus av7333 MB
(onboard sound)
60 gig HD (still only 45gigs full after 3 years)
10/100
300 or 350 watt pwr supply (prob300)
*Windows xp-pro without updates


I think the system is corrupted now - even with the norton security firewall and antivirus etc. because the windows updates could never be installed and I couldn't patch anything without a real windows disc. It starts twice - works ok and then bombs unexpectedly every 30 minutes or so. (NEEDS FIXING)

here's the bad part - the shop that built this for me never gave me the windows disc. (I didn't pay attention)
I guess this MUST GET A NEW WINDOWS DISC INSTALL and I'm ok with that -

My questions are

1. which windows? XPpro or XPhome or xpmediacenter etc?

2. should I buy a new HD and set it up with that and then once everything is great - hookitup and grab the old family photos etc that were on the old HD? Whats a good HD sizedata ol

3. what is a good lowercost cost videocard that would play battlefield2 online without frameyness?

4. should I buy a low cost more powerfull cpu at the same time?

5. more memory worth it?

****I'm kind of strapped and would like to keep as this low as possible

(I'm saving for a new fast system to give to us for Christmas well after the cpu prices fall this July)

Thanks!

 

[wolfram]

My questions are

1. which windows? XPpro or XPhome or xpmediacenter etc?

2. should I buy a new HD and set it up with that and then once everything is great - hookitup and grab the old family photos etc that were on the old HD? Whats a good HD sizedata ol

3. what is a good lowercost cost videocard that would play battlefield2 online without frameyness?

4. should I buy a low cost more powerfull cpu at the same time?

5. more memory worth it?

First, remove Norton, it´s a GREAT resource hog. Thy the free AVG antivirus.

1.- I would choose XP professional, but if you want to keep costs as low as possible, get XP Home, it is very good. I fully recommend it.

2.-That depends on you. If like high res videos or movies, or a lot of photos, I recommend a 160Gb HD. If you don´t like that, a 80GB should be plenty.
What is your current HD?

3.-Again, that depends on the motherboard. It could have a standard PCI slot (the long white ones) AGP ( a little shorter slot located near the CPU) or PCI-Express ( the fastest and better slot). If you can tell us the EXACT model of the motherboard, we can help you.

4.- If you can afford it, yes. Go with AMD if possible.

5.- Sure, you should have at least 1024MB of RAM if you wanna play Battlefield 2 without too much lag.

Hope this long post helps!

 

[wolfram]

Also, THIS USEFUL THREAD should tell you how to swap motherboard without losing all your data!

 

[clambo]

Hey, thanks for your input.

Ok should I just turn Norton off when playing bf1942 online? - but not uninstall it? ie: keep it for browsing?

or are you saying to run AVG antivirus when I'm online gaming?

XP Home I think will be the choice

I guess an 80 G would be plenty for me I have a 60 w/8meg cache now

It's an Asus AV7333 with pci and 4x agp SocketA

Is there still a socketA AMD cpu to shoot for that has a "sweet spot" in performance and price?

and Ok 1 gig memory it is - Thanks.

 

[swker98]

you should dump norton completley and get
AVG free and Zone alarm free

go for the 3200+ its quite cheep now, if you cant swing that look into the 2500+ or 3000+

 

[wolfram]

Ok should I just turn Norton off when playing bf1942 online? - but not uninstall it? ie: keep it for browsing?

or are you saying to run AVG antivirus when I'm online gaming?

Is there still a socketA AMD cpu to shoot for that has a "sweet spot" in performance and price?

Dump completely Norton. Uninstall it. It is the worst antivirus program. You´ll be better with AVG.

Regarding the socket A CPU, they´re difficult and VERY EXPENSIVE to get. I would upgrade to socket 939 and an Athlon 64 CPU. They´re becoming cheap. I´ve got mine for only $99, and it´s not a "value" CPU.
However, that depends on your budget of course.

 

[KingCody]

AMD stopped making athlonXPs quite some time ago. socketA is now 3 generations behind (socket-A > socket-754 > socket-939 > socket-AM2)

you cannot buy them new anymore. but you can still find them on ebay. some sites like newegg still sell a few socket-A "newer" sempron models (which are rebadged t-bred cored AthlonXPs). the best socket-A CPUs were the Barton core models.

although to be honest with you, in my opinion it's just not worth buying another socket-A processor at all. the best bang for the buck right now is a socket-939 setup. socket-939 CPUs are still great processors and will allow for future upgrades. and with the release of the AM2 platform and the upcoming release of the Intel Core2 Duo processors, socket-939 prices have dropped for the time being (they will probably go back up again once K8L is released)

for not much more than you would pay for a high end socket-A CPU alone, you could upgrade the mobo and CPU to socket-939.

**EDIT** wolfram beat me to it, i guess i spent too much time typing

 

[wolfram]

**EDIT** wolfram beat me to it, i guess i spent too much time typing

Poor keyboard and poor fingers!

 

[KingCody]

yeah, I tend to keep switching from watching TV to typing, and back again. so even a short reply takes a while to type. :haha: haha :haha:

 

[clambo]

Thanks guys

I'm possibly going to get a AMD 2400 for 50 on ebay or if that takes too long to wait for or I'm out bid then I'll spring for the new MB 929 and AMD.

Any suggestions there for MBs CPUs ? Combos?

Thanks!

 

[KingCody]

what's you budget?

will you need to re-use an AGP video card or will you buy a new PCI-e video card??

EDIT: $50 seems like alot for a 2400+, that's a pretty low end chip for the XP line. the 3200+ is the best you can get for it. if your mobo has good overclocking features and the BIOS will accept a mobile CPU then the AthlonXP-M 2500+ is the best one around, you can easily overclock these chips higher than 3200+ levels

 

[wolfram]

And if you get a 3200+ Barton, you can fry some eggs on it! :giddy: :haha: