Hello! This is my second post here (first was in the introduce yourself forum). I have put my system specs in my profile for viewing, but I'll go over them again here.
Back in 2004 myself and a friend who is much more computer savvy than myself built a couple of systems for myself and for my wife. At the time we spent our time online gaming playing Battlefield 1942 (with the desert combat mod). The systems we built to play that game and have served us well. They are identical except for my wife's case is red and mine is blue. Internals are the same.
Now we have evolved to playing World of Warcraft. All was well until I went to a friends house and played it on his brand new Dell machine. Not sure on the specs of his system, but it was quite a difference! It has convinced me that it is time for an upgrade to our systems.
Question one- If I were to replace the Motherboard, Processor, Memory and Video card, would I have to re-install the OS, or can I just hook it back to the mobo and go from there?? I assume I would need to uninstall ALL the drivers for the old mobo if it is even possible...
Question two- What would you recommend to use in these two systems. I will spec them both the same. My friend who helped me select the components for the existing systems no longer lives nearby and is out of the computer stuff for now and doesn't have the time to help me out ;(
I am pretty sure I need to get the motherboards replaced.. I have had a hard time finding any Graphics cards that still use AGP (seems all are PCIe now..) and with the motherboard, comes the processor. I have liked AMD, but that was pretty much because it was cheaper when I did the initial build. I would prefer to stay with AMD, but not necessary. As for memory, can I use what I have or has technology progressed beyond the stuff I have already?
Video cards- Not a clue what to get here. What will be sufficient to run WoW with all the graphics options maxed out and still get a good FPS? Right now I am showing between 10-15 fps and it is really jerky, and at times it is unplayable on busier nights, as there will be so much motion on the screen at once and lurches in spurts. On my friends Dell system, it was smooth and fast maxed out all the time no matter where and what he was doing.
Not looking to go bottom budget on these systems, but am wise enough to not pay a premium for the latest technology. I am happy to be 2 or 3 steps behind the latest and greatest. I just want to be able to use them for playing WoW and daily internet surfing/e-mail.
I would like to recycle as much as possible. My Power supplies are 480w Thermaltakes and have done well, but if I need to upgrade to more power for the videocard, then so be it. Present specs are below. Please tell me what I can reuse (I know I can reuse the DVD drives/Floppy Drive/ etc..)
Power Supply: 480w Thermaltake Purepower
Motherboard/Processor: Asus Nforce2 A7N8X-E Deluxe/AMD Athalon XP 2600+ Barton Core (333 FSB)
Memory: Kingston DDR 333 2700 (2-512mb sticks)
Hard drives- 1 180gb IDE, 1 80gb IDE (non Sata)
Video Card- Asus Radeon 9600XT 128mb DDR
Sound Card- Turtle Beach Montego DDL (new--need to keep!)
Thanks for all your help and recommendations! Also if you know where I can get th upgrade compnents online, please let me know and why I should get them there. I prefer to buy online, as only local stores here are BB and Circuit City, and I hate going there for Comp. parts... Used to have a CompUSA, but they just closed down a few weeks ago. Thank you!
Back in 2004 myself and a friend who is much more computer savvy than myself built a couple of systems for myself and for my wife. At the time we spent our time online gaming playing Battlefield 1942 (with the desert combat mod). The systems we built to play that game and have served us well. They are identical except for my wife's case is red and mine is blue. Internals are the same.
Now we have evolved to playing World of Warcraft. All was well until I went to a friends house and played it on his brand new Dell machine. Not sure on the specs of his system, but it was quite a difference! It has convinced me that it is time for an upgrade to our systems.
Question one- If I were to replace the Motherboard, Processor, Memory and Video card, would I have to re-install the OS, or can I just hook it back to the mobo and go from there?? I assume I would need to uninstall ALL the drivers for the old mobo if it is even possible...
Question two- What would you recommend to use in these two systems. I will spec them both the same. My friend who helped me select the components for the existing systems no longer lives nearby and is out of the computer stuff for now and doesn't have the time to help me out ;(
I am pretty sure I need to get the motherboards replaced.. I have had a hard time finding any Graphics cards that still use AGP (seems all are PCIe now..) and with the motherboard, comes the processor. I have liked AMD, but that was pretty much because it was cheaper when I did the initial build. I would prefer to stay with AMD, but not necessary. As for memory, can I use what I have or has technology progressed beyond the stuff I have already?
Video cards- Not a clue what to get here. What will be sufficient to run WoW with all the graphics options maxed out and still get a good FPS? Right now I am showing between 10-15 fps and it is really jerky, and at times it is unplayable on busier nights, as there will be so much motion on the screen at once and lurches in spurts. On my friends Dell system, it was smooth and fast maxed out all the time no matter where and what he was doing.
Not looking to go bottom budget on these systems, but am wise enough to not pay a premium for the latest technology. I am happy to be 2 or 3 steps behind the latest and greatest. I just want to be able to use them for playing WoW and daily internet surfing/e-mail.
I would like to recycle as much as possible. My Power supplies are 480w Thermaltakes and have done well, but if I need to upgrade to more power for the videocard, then so be it. Present specs are below. Please tell me what I can reuse (I know I can reuse the DVD drives/Floppy Drive/ etc..)
Power Supply: 480w Thermaltake Purepower
Motherboard/Processor: Asus Nforce2 A7N8X-E Deluxe/AMD Athalon XP 2600+ Barton Core (333 FSB)
Memory: Kingston DDR 333 2700 (2-512mb sticks)
Hard drives- 1 180gb IDE, 1 80gb IDE (non Sata)
Video Card- Asus Radeon 9600XT 128mb DDR
Sound Card- Turtle Beach Montego DDL (new--need to keep!)
Thanks for all your help and recommendations! Also if you know where I can get th upgrade compnents online, please let me know and why I should get them there. I prefer to buy online, as only local stores here are BB and Circuit City, and I hate going there for Comp. parts... Used to have a CompUSA, but they just closed down a few weeks ago. Thank you!