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A System Critique if you please

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
Could you hardware geeks (no offence) give me a critique of my system.

I hope to have a job soon (on gap year from uni) and I am planning some upgrades when I have the money.
 
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Clements

Active member
Moderator
CPU-Z output would be more useful (screencaps of all tabs).

http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

The Windows info is less useful. Processor is probably underclocked, since a 1.1GHz AthlonXP does not exist - FSB is probably set at only 100MHz.

Graphics card: Really old. :p

Other misc stuff (Hard drives/DVD drives): They are fine.
 

smcd

Active member
Video card, CPU, and sound card is how I'd upgrade it. I have an AMD 2000+ sitting in the closet (used, working as far as I know) I can give you if you like (yes, give!). It'd be CPU only, no heatsink/fan. As far as a sound card, a simple Soundblaster Live! 5.1 or so would be a decent upgrade and might help performance a bit. video, well just about anything out currently would be a good update.
 
OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
I was thinking Athlon XP 3000+, Sound Blaster Live (about £40 one) New Mother Board, I dont think my current one would take an Athlon XP 3000+ and a Radeon 9600 PRO

I built this machine about 2 years ago, (it was my first self build) for £600 I had Monitor keyboard DVD drive etc, but mostly everything is new, and since then I got a DVD RW drive, a new HDD 200GB with an SATA Expansion Card. So all together about £750 - 800
 
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Clements

Active member
Moderator
Your slow RAM is crippling that processor a bit, but you have incorrectly set the FSB to 100MHz as I suspected, but your RAM can handle 133MHz - set the FSB to 133MHz for a free 363MHz increase with zero risk for now. Underclocking a Barton like that is not exactly great for the processor.

You have a 2500+ Barton or a 3200+ Barton, and I believe your motherboard supports FSB 400 as well. I think you have a KT6 Delta FISR or a variant.

http://msicomputer.co.uk/Products.aspx?product_id=703419&cat_id=77

Buying a newer processor or motherboard is a complete waste since you are sitting on a great processor right now but you set it to the wrong speed. A 3000+ is actually probably slower than what you have.

Buy some PC3200 RAM and you'll have a 'free' 3200+ Barton by setting your FSB to 200 - no need for any processor upgrade, and you will gain a massive increase.

If you buy a CPU and Motherboard, you are wasting a lot of money.
 
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OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
OK, now I am surprised. I am not a techy and this was my first self-built PC, how would I go about tweaking it all for performance? The RAM will be costly, but I will see what I can do.

its a MSI KT6 Delta LSR...

Now I am feeling stupid! :(
 

Eagle

aka Alshain
Moderator
mdtauk said:
OK, now I am surprised. I am not a techy and this was my first self-built PC, how would I go about tweaking it all for performance? The RAM will be costly, but I will see what I can do.

its a MSI KT6 Delta LSR...

Now I am feeling stupid! :(


Quite the contrary, RAM is cheap. 1 gb of PC3200 would do, and it isnt expensive at all. BTW, thanks for the program link Clements, that will be usefull.
 
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OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
So in the BIOS, what do I change, and how High can I change things? I am a little nervous and I dont want to screw the machine up. Sorry for being such a n00b
 

Clements

Active member
Moderator
mdtauk said:
OK, now I am surprised. I am not a techy and this was my first self-built PC, how would I go about tweaking it all for performance? The RAM will be costly, but I will see what I can do.

With the RAM you have right now, you can set the FSB to 133MHz for a free upgrade, making your processor 33% faster.

In truth, your processor and motherboard supports 166/200 FSB, but your current RAM will not allow that. Sadly, you'll have to lose the 1.5GB RAM you have to get to the speeds your processor was intended for use at. RAM is not as expensive - make sure it is PC3200 RAM. PC3200 would enable you to have a 100% increase in CPU speed with a 400MHz FSB.

As you are a non-techie, I suggest you ask someone knowledgable you know to take care of all this for you so that it is completely safe.

mdtauk said:
its a MSI KT6 Delta LSR...

Okay, your motherboard is actually pretty decent. Pretty feature-rich (as your device manager screencap shows) and supports up to a 3200+ Barton. Read here to find more info about your motherboard - including BIOS settings and other helpful info:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTE2

After all this, you can replace the TNT2 with a 9600 Pro as you say, and you can then play games like Farcry without any problem, and be able to use all the new N64 plugins that use Pixel Shaders. Your PC would take a 9600 Pro no problem - you even have AGP 8x support.
 
OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
OK, I'm going to reboot in a sec, and see what I can do in the bios. Do you think that the folowing purchases, are a good price, and the way to go. It will take a few months to save up the money (unless I find work before then) but it will be worth it I think, it should last another year or two (thats the plan)
 
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Clements

Active member
Moderator
RAM is on the expensive side... the prices next to the items are without VAT. I'd probably buy something like this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/GeIL_Value.html

2nd in the list, the GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value kit, £68 (including VAT) on special offer right now. It's better than the stuff in my PC for only £68.

Also: May I tempt you with a 9800 Pro:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/9700_to_9800_Series.html

...for the same price as that 9600XT there? It is twice as fast as a 9600XT. It is £82.

£68 + £82 = £150, saving you about £100 with a faster video card. :)
 
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OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
I have never seen that website before, I wont be able to make any purchases for a few months, but If I can get better for my money I will, thanks, I changed the FSB to 133.6 MHz and am now running at 1470.1 MHz which brings my Bus Speef to 267.3 MHz

Now is there anything else I could tweak to get my machine running better?
 
OP
mdtauk

mdtauk

Zelda Hi-Res Texturer
I dont have anything connected to those ports, so I figured I'd leave them uninstalled...
 

Clements

Active member
Moderator
Does no harm to install the drivers (as long as you are installing the correct ones of course), I personally don't these either, but have them installed anyway so the problems in Device Manager go away.
 

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