View Full Version : Upgrading computers
NO1FAN
18-11-2004, 06:04 PM
I'm thinking of upgrading my system by whacking another 512 MB of ram and another 200 GB.
Anyone have any suggestions on where I would start looking for the hardware and also Is It feasable to do this myself? ( bearing In mind Im a beginner and have never even seen the inside of a computer :eek: )
Help appreciated :)
kolinkins
18-11-2004, 06:15 PM
I'm getting mate to do mine - pick it up from AMD Athlon 1500 to 2400, and RAM from 256MB, to, umm, 512MB I think, not entirely sure. All for £70 - is that a lot?
RDSdaEAGLE
18-11-2004, 06:25 PM
www.scan.co.uk
www.ebuyer.com
www.simply.co.uk
RickyB
19-11-2004, 06:45 AM
Whatever you do, don't go to micro direct. I'm having a nightmare at the moment that's been going on over a month and I *still* haven't got all my order. ******* disgusting
Kevin T
19-11-2004, 06:50 AM
Ram is very easy to fit. A hard disk is a little trickier, but still a piece of piss comparatively.
I'm sure you will find many step-by-step guides on the internet.
MatthewT
19-11-2004, 09:59 AM
The computer fairs that are held around croydon are quite good for these sort of things as long as you are ok at installing it yourself.
I have picked up extra memory, a new graphics card and a cd/dvd rewriter their lately and all work fine.
http://www.computermarket.com/cgi-bin/floorplan?vnu_id=4
This site tells you where they are next. There is one this sunday (21st) at Ashburton school in Croydon
Computer fairs are bloody expensive though
Son of Selhurst
19-11-2004, 10:30 AM
Crucial for memory
Novatech for spares
Don't buy from eBuyer. Great prices but far and away the worst customer service I've ever encountered.
Ended up having to drive to Hailsham to get my order from them.
Neil the Eagle
19-11-2004, 10:51 AM
Originally posted by Dave
Computer fairs are bloody expensive though
Glad its not just me that thinks so...
Niceaction
19-11-2004, 11:28 AM
Originally posted by Raf
Don't buy from eBuyer. Great prices but far and away the worst customer service I've ever encountered.
Ended up having to drive to Hailsham to get my order from them.
I would disagree. I have never had a problem with them. And I have placed a fair number of orders.
I would disagree. I have never had a problem with them. And I have placed a fair number of orders.
The returns/customer service could be better - but what do you exepect at those prices?
TopKnot
19-11-2004, 01:24 PM
make sure you buy the correct type of memory, you ideally want it to match the memory you have installed already to get the best out of it.
Goldberg Basher
21-11-2004, 02:24 AM
Mark, do what I'm considering and get an external hard drive. Just as fast as internal with the right cables and you can move it between computers. Also easily back up data without affecting your main hard drive....
anti-addick
22-11-2004, 11:54 AM
Originally posted by kolinkins
I'm getting mate to do mine - pick it up from AMD Athlon 1500 to 2400, and RAM from 256MB, to, umm, 512MB I think, not entirely sure. All for £70 - is that a lot?
You won't get a thing out of the chip change Kolinkins because AMD chips default to 1400mhz in Windows regardless of their capable speed. You will need to overclock it once fitted, ie raised the FSB voltage until it processes at it's intended rate. I have a 2600+ but despite attempts with one overclock tool I tried Windows never retained the voltage that I set. The 2500+ is supposed to be the best to overclock though, has 512k cache as well so will outperform 2600 and higher when clocked.
Have a good read up on the web about overclocking, be aware that it's posibble to shag up the PC if you get it wrong!!!
For RAM upgrade you need the # of pins and the frequency mainly.
www.dabs.com are reliable and cheap too.
kolinkins
22-11-2004, 05:23 PM
Originally posted by anti-addick
You won't get a thing out of the chip change Kolinkins because AMD chips default to 1400mhz in Windows regardless of their capable speed. You will need to overclock it once fitted, ie raised the FSB voltage until it processes at it's intended rate. I have a 2600+ but despite attempts with one overclock tool I tried Windows never retained the voltage that I set. The 2500+ is supposed to be the best to overclock though, has 512k cache as well so will outperform 2600 and higher when clocked.
Have a good read up on the web about overclocking, be aware that it's posibble to shag up the PC if you get it wrong!!!
For RAM upgrade you need the # of pins and the frequency mainly.
www.dabs.com are reliable and cheap too.
thanks for the advice, but to be honest, I dont understand a word of that. I am not fitting it, my mate who makes PCs is doing it all, I hope he knows about what you have written. I will put it to him.
1fb8
TopKnot
22-11-2004, 05:43 PM
Originally posted by anti-addick
You won't get a thing out of the chip change Kolinkins because AMD chips default to 1400mhz in Windows regardless of their capable speed. You will need to overclock it once fitted, ie raised the FSB voltage until it processes at it's intended rate. I have a 2600+ but despite attempts with one overclock tool I tried Windows never retained the voltage that I set. The 2500+ is supposed to be the best to overclock though, has 512k cache as well so will outperform 2600 and higher when clocked.
Have a good read up on the web about overclocking, be aware that it's posibble to shag up the PC if you get it wrong!!!
For RAM upgrade you need the # of pins and the frequency mainly.
www.dabs.com are reliable and cheap too.
well sort of, when you buy a new CPU and motherboard you will need to set the FSB speed and multiplier in the bios (ie 166x11.5 for a XP2500+ or whatever) so that the chip runs at the correct speed. If windows isn't remembering it though, that is a fault and would suggest a bios flash is in order. I have a XP2500+ with the Barton core and it will overclock nicely up to about XP2800+ speeds with just a little upping of the multiplier. If you want to mess about with memory timings and voltages it will go higher (but you need decent cooling).
Personally though, I don't think overclocking is worth the hassle - sure its nice to get some extra power out of your CPU, but in most cases the difference is not really noticeable unless you run benchmarking programs.
Sorry if that was just a load of gobbledegook to most people...
Originally posted by Niceaction
I would disagree. I have never had a problem with them. And I have placed a fair number of orders.
Wait until you need to get in touch with them for any reason. They don't have a phone number (it's not that they don't put it online - they just don't have one) and you have to communicate through some ridiculous eNotes system. This has you posting a message detailing your problem, and then crossing your fingers that it might get read within three days.
I'd agree they're great when all goes smoothly, but if there's even a slight hiccup with your order, their customer support will have you tearing your hair out. Never again.
James
23-11-2004, 11:15 AM
Originally posted by Raf
Wait until you need to get in touch with them for any reason. They don't have a phone number (it's not that they don't put it online - they just don't have one) and you have to communicate through some ridiculous eNotes system. This has you posting a message detailing your problem, and then crossing your fingers that it might get read within three days.
I'd agree they're great when all goes smoothly, but if there's even a slight hiccup with your order, their customer support will have you tearing your hair out. Never again. For what it's worth, I had just the same problem with Dabs.com - they also use this electronic note system and in the end I had to threaten proceedings to get a refund on a defective product.
I suspect that most of these on-line sellers are fine until you encounter a problem.
NO1FAN
01-01-2005, 10:28 PM
Just to bring this to the fore once again. Anyone had any experience with seagate?
This one in particular
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=110865
A Wooden Fish On Wheels
01-01-2005, 10:38 PM
Seagate are good drives. Don't buy Quantum.
Niceaction
01-01-2005, 11:03 PM
Seagate make good hard drives as has been said. This drive is a SATA, so make sure your motherboard supports this.
Twyford Bee
01-01-2005, 11:38 PM
Can someone remind me of the website that can detect the correct RAM your system needs? Our old comupter has 64MB of some sort of RAM and could do with some rejuvination, probably up to 256MB (it's only used for internet and word processing most of the time, nothing too fancy).
paulhgc2002
01-01-2005, 11:43 PM
Originally posted by Twyford Bee
Can someone remind me of the website that can detect the correct RAM your system needs? Our old comupter has 64MB of some sort of RAM and could do with some rejuvination, probably up to 256MB (it's only used for internet and word processing most of the time, nothing too fancy).
this one tells you what you have and can have ( http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html )
and this one tells you what you need http://www.crucial.com/uk/promo/index.asp?prog=desktop2
NO1FAN
12-01-2005, 06:05 PM
Ok people last question on this as I am ordering tomorrow.
I've seen these memory sticks and think I am going to go with 2 of them.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=27148
Do they sound alright?
yes corsair is very good RAM
I think it's £10 cheaper on Ebuyer
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=4493784808&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=66402
NO1FAN
12-01-2005, 07:09 PM
I think the reason It's more expensive Is the fact that It Is from the XMS family and has supposedly high end performance! Maybe thats bollocks though!
GeeTee
12-01-2005, 09:02 PM
Slightly different upgrade query.
I got an MP3 player for Christmas only to find that it won't work on USB 1. I bought a PCI add on of three USB 2.0 ports and have fitted them in OK but they seem to only have been installed as USB 1 capable.
It's not the wrong product and I have used the driver CD. I have Windows XP home ed.
Anyone know what the hell I'm doing wrong?
Cheers.
GeeTee
13-01-2005, 11:12 AM
Bump
Have a look to see if there is a driver/firmware update on the hardware providers website. That may solve your problem.
NO1FAN
13-01-2005, 11:19 AM
1397
Originally posted by NO1FAN
Ok people last question on this as I am ordering tomorrow.
I've seen these memory sticks and think I am going to go with 2 of them.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=27148
Do they sound alright?
Now ordered and they will be with me on Monday. I hope thay are the mutts.
How much total RAM will you have in your box after the upgrade Mark?
Originally posted by GeeTee
Slightly different upgrade query.
I got an MP3 player for Christmas only to find that it won't work on USB 1. I bought a PCI add on of three USB 2.0 ports and have fitted them in OK but they seem to only have been installed as USB 1 capable.
It's not the wrong product and I have used the driver CD. I have Windows XP home ed.
Anyone know what the hell I'm doing wrong?
Cheers.
XP SP1 has the USB 2.0 driver in. Have you got that?
http://www.usbman.com/USB%202%20News.htm
NO1FAN
13-01-2005, 11:26 AM
Originally posted by Neil
How much total RAM will you have in your box after the upgrade Mark?
I'm going from 512 to 1024
Originally posted by NO1FAN
I'm going from 512 to 1024
Well, you'll be able to run Far Cry then :)
GeeTee
13-01-2005, 11:39 AM
Originally posted by paf
XP SP1 has the USB 2.0 driver in. Have you got that?
Not sure paf but thanks a million for the link. I'll download that and see what happens.
Originally posted by paf
Well, you'll be able to run Far Cry then :)
and, more importantly, Half-Life 2 :D
NO1FAN
18-01-2005, 12:01 AM
I don't really want to start up a new thread so I'll ask for advice here.
I managed to add the RAM without any problems :lux: but I have been having problems adding the additional hard drive. Fitting It wasn't a problem a I don't think I have made any mistakes but I cannot physically see It under my computer. I know the computer has accepted it as it's listed in device manager but without it being in My computer I can't begin to format it and start shifting things over to it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
NO1FAN
18-01-2005, 07:50 AM
At this more reasonable hour. Any suggestions?
It won't be listed in 'My computer' until you format it.
I have never used XP but in win2k you click --> My comouter --> manage --> storage
Then right click on the new drive, format it and assign a drive lettter.
XP: Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Computer Management --> Disk Management
NO1FAN
18-01-2005, 08:07 AM
Thanks very much that has sorted It for me I think. Easy when you know how. :)
if your having trouble installing a new drive, all major manufacturers have a small downloadable programme from their websites, that will detect, format and install the drive anyway you want.
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