Q. I want to upgrade my computer so I can play Minecraft with a 64x resolution texture pack, and record Minecraft videos with Bandicam. I have 4GB RAM, I have an Intel Pentium Dual processor, 64 bit OS, and I don't quite know the processor, I know it is not a gaming kind for sure though. What should I upgrade to do what I need it for? And HOW do I install it? I want my price rate to be under at least $500.
A. Is your computer a generic/custom unit or a brand-name unit from Dell, HP, Acer etc? Is it a regular tower or a smaller slimline model? If it''s a brand-name computer what's the exact model number?
You'll probably only need to upgrade two things (your graphics card and power supply) but it's possible you'll need to upgrade the CPU as well. Minecraft doesn't have high hardware requirements.
The first step will be finding out exactly what you've got now. Download one of the free utilities to find out your computer's details, including the motherboard model. I recommend either SIW or CPU-Z which are available on download.com:
http://download.cnet.com/SIW-Portable/3000-2094_4-75449686.html?tag=mncol;2
http://download.cnet.com/CPU-Z/3000-2086_4-10050423.html?tag=mncol;1
Either of those will identify your current CPU and motherboard model. Post that information, then we'll know whether your current CPU is fine for Minecraft + recording. We'll also know what type of graphics cards your computer can accept (although in all likelihood it will be PCI-Express).
To find out your computer's power supply capacity you'll have to remove the cover and look at what's printed on the power supply label. If it's less than 300 watts, you'll want to replace it.
The minimum graphics card upgrade I'd recommend is a Radeon HD 6670. And for $20 more, you can get the Radeon HD 7750 or 6770.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121474
The 6670 and 7750 both run fine on a stock 300 watt power supply. But to install the 6770 your computer needs a 450W or higher power supply. So you'd need a new PSU in addition to the card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030
We'll need to know the specifics of your current CPU & motherboard model before we can suggest any CPU upgrades (if that's even required). Different motherboards can accept different models.
For games, 4Gb of RAM is plenty. 8GB helps for heavy multitasking and makes your system future-proof, but not even the highest-end games like Battlefield 3 and Metro 2033 use more than 4GB of RAM. Applications which require 8GB or more are video editing software like Sony Vegas and design/rendering programs like AutoCad, Maya and 3D Studio Max- not games.
You'll probably only need to upgrade two things (your graphics card and power supply) but it's possible you'll need to upgrade the CPU as well. Minecraft doesn't have high hardware requirements.
The first step will be finding out exactly what you've got now. Download one of the free utilities to find out your computer's details, including the motherboard model. I recommend either SIW or CPU-Z which are available on download.com:
http://download.cnet.com/SIW-Portable/3000-2094_4-75449686.html?tag=mncol;2
http://download.cnet.com/CPU-Z/3000-2086_4-10050423.html?tag=mncol;1
Either of those will identify your current CPU and motherboard model. Post that information, then we'll know whether your current CPU is fine for Minecraft + recording. We'll also know what type of graphics cards your computer can accept (although in all likelihood it will be PCI-Express).
To find out your computer's power supply capacity you'll have to remove the cover and look at what's printed on the power supply label. If it's less than 300 watts, you'll want to replace it.
The minimum graphics card upgrade I'd recommend is a Radeon HD 6670. And for $20 more, you can get the Radeon HD 7750 or 6770.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102969
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121474
The 6670 and 7750 both run fine on a stock 300 watt power supply. But to install the 6770 your computer needs a 450W or higher power supply. So you'd need a new PSU in addition to the card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030
We'll need to know the specifics of your current CPU & motherboard model before we can suggest any CPU upgrades (if that's even required). Different motherboards can accept different models.
For games, 4Gb of RAM is plenty. 8GB helps for heavy multitasking and makes your system future-proof, but not even the highest-end games like Battlefield 3 and Metro 2033 use more than 4GB of RAM. Applications which require 8GB or more are video editing software like Sony Vegas and design/rendering programs like AutoCad, Maya and 3D Studio Max- not games.
Building A Gaming Computer?
Q. i need some help on building a computer a semi budget
i need a good mother board
it this a good one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
also im thinking or running a intel core 2 quad q6600
and G.Skill 2GB ram 800 MHZ
also im thinking overclocking from 2.4ghz to 3.0 or more
so i am also gonna use the Tuniq Tower 120 universal cpu cooler 120mm
but i dont know what else i need i was thinking of putting a Nvidia Gt9500
and other stuff im a begginerg and idk nothing.. can you guys give me some good parts i can buy so i can have a good gaming computer that can take alot of gaming requirements.
thank you. ( Starcraft 2 =O )
i need a good mother board
it this a good one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358
also im thinking or running a intel core 2 quad q6600
and G.Skill 2GB ram 800 MHZ
also im thinking overclocking from 2.4ghz to 3.0 or more
so i am also gonna use the Tuniq Tower 120 universal cpu cooler 120mm
but i dont know what else i need i was thinking of putting a Nvidia Gt9500
and other stuff im a begginerg and idk nothing.. can you guys give me some good parts i can buy so i can have a good gaming computer that can take alot of gaming requirements.
thank you. ( Starcraft 2 =O )
A. First of all, get more RAM. 2GB is nice, but 4GB is better and you'll probably only end up paying about 25-30 dollars more.
Second, don't overclock. These days, processors aren't usually the bottleneck on a PC. Many games offload the vast majority of their math to the GPU, so your processor will probably be under a pretty light load while gaming. Overclocking it will just reduce its lifespan, void its (and possibly your motherboard's) warranty, and risk damage to itself and your motherboard. I don't see any reason to do it. If anyone out there wants to correct me, feel free.
The motherboard looks great. It appears to have won an award from Anantech (a popular hardware site) and has a lot of great reviews from users.
Get some faster RAM. 800Mhz isn't bad, but 1066 is better. Check out some of this fancy Corsair Dominator RAM (just $75 for 4GB!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214
As for the video card, the 9500GT isn't a bad chipset. It's mid-range, but since you're working off a budget here, then there's no reason to go higher now. However, you might consider going with an ATI card. The reason for this is the motherboard you picked supports Crossfire technology. Which is great for someone like you building on a budget because you can get one mid-range card now and then, when you have some more money, you can buy a second copy of that card and use them both at once rather than having to buy a more expensive card and discard the one you already paid for. Just make sure the card you get supports Crossfire.
As far as the after-market CPU cooler goes, I'm really not a fan of those. Generally using a 3rd party processor cooler voids your warranty on your processor. I've always gone with the retail box version of processors and just used the included heatsink/fan. The included heat sink/fan with a processor is designed for that specific processor and comes set up for use with it. With a third party heat sink, if there's any compatibility problems or if you incorrectly apply the thermal paste or something than you could be out a processor and a motherboard. Save your money and just do the retail box CPU and use the included heat sink.
You have the main components down (as far as what's important on a gaming machine). Anything else (DVD drive, hard drive, case, peripherals, etc) is up to you. Just a couple points:
-Get a name-brand power supply that's at least 600W. If you do end up running 2 video cards, you're going to need a lot of power and you'll want it to be reliable. 750W or more wouldn't hurt.
-If you can afford it, get an SSD for your OS and games to reside on and then a larger traditional hard drive for your data. This can introduce a pretty impressive speed increase. But this can be expensive, so treat it as optional for now.
-Go with a SATA DVD drive if you can find one at a reasonable price. It's much more future-proof because you never know when motherboards will start shipping with no PATA.
-Consider going with a 64-bit operating system (specifically Vista 64-bit). Your motherboard will support 16GB(!!!) of RAM, but a 32-bit OS will only support between 3 and 3.5GB. If you want to add more RAM later you don't really want to have to buy a new operating system to go with it. I run Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my desktop and it works just fine.
Second, don't overclock. These days, processors aren't usually the bottleneck on a PC. Many games offload the vast majority of their math to the GPU, so your processor will probably be under a pretty light load while gaming. Overclocking it will just reduce its lifespan, void its (and possibly your motherboard's) warranty, and risk damage to itself and your motherboard. I don't see any reason to do it. If anyone out there wants to correct me, feel free.
The motherboard looks great. It appears to have won an award from Anantech (a popular hardware site) and has a lot of great reviews from users.
Get some faster RAM. 800Mhz isn't bad, but 1066 is better. Check out some of this fancy Corsair Dominator RAM (just $75 for 4GB!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214
As for the video card, the 9500GT isn't a bad chipset. It's mid-range, but since you're working off a budget here, then there's no reason to go higher now. However, you might consider going with an ATI card. The reason for this is the motherboard you picked supports Crossfire technology. Which is great for someone like you building on a budget because you can get one mid-range card now and then, when you have some more money, you can buy a second copy of that card and use them both at once rather than having to buy a more expensive card and discard the one you already paid for. Just make sure the card you get supports Crossfire.
As far as the after-market CPU cooler goes, I'm really not a fan of those. Generally using a 3rd party processor cooler voids your warranty on your processor. I've always gone with the retail box version of processors and just used the included heatsink/fan. The included heat sink/fan with a processor is designed for that specific processor and comes set up for use with it. With a third party heat sink, if there's any compatibility problems or if you incorrectly apply the thermal paste or something than you could be out a processor and a motherboard. Save your money and just do the retail box CPU and use the included heat sink.
You have the main components down (as far as what's important on a gaming machine). Anything else (DVD drive, hard drive, case, peripherals, etc) is up to you. Just a couple points:
-Get a name-brand power supply that's at least 600W. If you do end up running 2 video cards, you're going to need a lot of power and you'll want it to be reliable. 750W or more wouldn't hurt.
-If you can afford it, get an SSD for your OS and games to reside on and then a larger traditional hard drive for your data. This can introduce a pretty impressive speed increase. But this can be expensive, so treat it as optional for now.
-Go with a SATA DVD drive if you can find one at a reasonable price. It's much more future-proof because you never know when motherboards will start shipping with no PATA.
-Consider going with a 64-bit operating system (specifically Vista 64-bit). Your motherboard will support 16GB(!!!) of RAM, but a 32-bit OS will only support between 3 and 3.5GB. If you want to add more RAM later you don't really want to have to buy a new operating system to go with it. I run Vista Ultimate 64-bit on my desktop and it works just fine.
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