New to this! Need some help!

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bubba92103

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Jun 4, 2008
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Hey so I'm looking to upgrade my computer because it's been ridiculously slow and frozen on me a few times. So I downloaded Everest like a website suggested but now I'm totally confused as to what I need to upgrade. I've got a 22" screen I think its around 1680 by 1000 pixels or something. But I've got a big screen and I've resorted to running at 800x 600 for TF2, it's so sad. I just tend to freeze up and come to a crawling halt at times in game. I don't know what system specs to list and that'd be awesome if someone can help me out! I want to upgrade and I know one problem is I only have 512 mb of RAM so I need to know what will get me the most bang for buck! Thanks a ton!
 
to start off what kind of engine do you have under the hood. Processor? speed? What kind of Video card? how old is this machine to start with? By the looks of it i'd assume you're running something close to a 4 year old machine which could be yay or nay.

Just a few thoughts. Your Ram could definately use a boost. I ran with a Dell for a long while and 1 gig got me through just fine on lower (not 8x6) settings in game pretty easily. Depending on your video card you may want to spend some cash on that but also, if you're Motherboard doesn't support a PCIe vid card or much upgrade in terms of ram you'll be limited.



Depending on your mobo your upgrade could be extremely cheap honestly. If it's older upgrades you can still get a lot of power out of your machine for TF2 but you may want to look into building a newer comp just depending on your situation


sorry this is a tad scatter brain. keep posting your questions. i'll help any way i can.
 
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well im thinking that you may need a total computer overhall... but dont start that right away... just tell us your total computer specs, and we can go from there
 
Total Computer Specs

OK here we go!

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2600 MHz (13 x 200)
Motherboard Name Dell Dimension 8300
Motherboard Chipset Intel Canterwood i875P/E7210
System Memory 512 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (04/28/03)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON 9800 SERIES - Secondary (128 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON 9800 SERIES (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (R350)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (17041883282417)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller [A-2/A-3]

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 4D040H2 (40 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Disk Drive IC35L120AVV207-0 (120 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive _NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A (DVD:4x/2.4x/12x, CD:16x/10x/40x DVD+RW)
Optical Drive SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T (16x/48x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 114392 MB (54867 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 39079 MB (5552 MB free)
Total Size 149.9 GB (59.0 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network:
Network Adapter 3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)
Network Adapter Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection (192.168.0.134)
Modem BCM V.92 56K Modem

Peripherals:
Printer Adobe PDF
Printer HP Photosmart C5100 series
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB2 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [A-2/A-3]
USB Device American Power Conversion USB UPS
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
Battery APC Battery BackUP

OK that is just a copy and paste summary report from everest if you need more details I can get that. I thought I was pretty computer savvy but after all this my head is spinning! I'd say the computer is at least four years old.
 
yeah, sounds like ram may be your problem. I had a 9600 up until i built my new one. If you want to just upgrade your computer and get some more juice out of it look for PC3200 ram and see if you can get 1 stick of 1 gig ram. shouldn't be more than 20 bucks honestly. you could try running both sets of ram but i have this feeling that you mobo may or may not only support 1 gig of ram. Maybe i'm mistaken and it supports 1.5 gigs. if it does, great, if not: no worries.

also... when was the last time you popped open that case and oh i don't know... cleaned all of the dust out of the case? if something greater than a year is your answer i'd suggest popping it open, getting a shop vac with a brush attachment and go to town.. be gental with it but it shouldn't be too bad for ya. i did it with my dell at one point in time when i had some series video clipping issues and it cleared it right up.



fyi you can build a new machine for any range of price. so if you're interested in spending say 1500$ in the near future (not next week, more like 2-3 months down the road) buy a ram upgrade and then start saving. and get ready to build a new machine.
 
Ram is your issue here i am pretty sure. everything else looked fine to me. do like badger said and get the 3200 RAM. Also with the RAM just use one type for all your RAM. Using diffrent types cuases loses in the RAM plus creates some lag between the two when they have to connect with each other. if your only able to run tf2 in 800 by 600 i woud suggest looking at your video card settings as well. They might be limited to that resoultion for some reason.
 
Thanks a ton guys. I'll definitely do that! Should I buy in store or order from website? I also am 16 and so my dad does most of the fiddling with the computer but I've never even tought about opening the computer do i just un plug everythig and screw off the back? But in response to Dieinpeace I just recently started playing in 800 x 600. Before I had been playing in 1600 x 1200 but I haven't noticed any major changes in performance I still get periods where I get all freezy and choppy. It really drives me crazy when I join a game and for the first 30 seconds I am stuck with the same picture and the sound looping over and over.
 
for all the crap people give dells about how bad they are i can confidently say they are some of the easiest computers to toy around with when installing new products and the like. More than likely if you open up the case you can install just about anything on the motherboard without a screw.

and for ram it should just be plug and go. Dieinpeace is right though, keep an eye open for your type of ram (depending one the age of the computer it could be 2x256 or 1x512.) depending on what it is you may need to toss the ram when you install the new stuff.

also yeah, ordering online will generally be cheaper, i don't know what you have for computer hardware stores in your area but if you have a fry's it'd probably be much easier for you to head over there and buy from them in store. Don't deal with customer service, just look for the ram selection and find what your looking for. Corsair is always a safe bet.
 
Thanks a ton badger your help is appreciated! Alright I'll get back to you as soon as I get a hold of a Corsair gig of RAM. I leave for my quaker hiking camp on Saturday and then I'll be on the trail for 28 days so I'll be unavailable until late July or August.
 
Ok so it's been a while (I went backpacking on the Appalachian Trail for 3 weeks) but we got the new corsair RAM sticks and installed them now I'm running on 3.5 gigs and I want to upgrade my videocard but apparently I can only fun AGP cards and the 9800 gtx everyone is suggesting won't work!

Please help? What should I get/do? Thanks a ton!
 
How much are you looking at spending??
82.99-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102762

If you can afford it get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

also you will probably have to upgrade your power supply if you get a new videocard.
your best bet is to spend like $50 on a good quality power supply and buy a videocard that is affordable. Those 2 cards i put links for are probably the best your gonna get for an agp card and both are quite good cards. Just browse newegg and look to find a radeon 3650 or 3850 depending on your price range.

Edit:

Also dont be afraid to wait it out and save up like $600 because you can get a good pc for gaming at that price.If you think you can save up and buy one id say thatd be your best bet. but if thats not an option id say just buy a videocard.
 
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Badger said:
for all the crap people give dells about how bad they are i can confidently say they are some of the easiest computers to toy around with when installing new products and the like. More than likely if you open up the case you can install just about anything on the motherboard without a screw.
Click to expand...


It is easy to plug in some memory into a Dell, but other than that, its not really that great >_>

  • No overclocking capabilities
  • PSU connectors are almost always soldered into their plug
  • On my old Dell, the PSU has only one extra 4 pin connector, and that was pretty much the only extra power connector
  • No other new fan slots
 
Also, check out the 8800 GS graphics card.
Its pretty large, but if you can fit it in your case, its good quality for low price.

80$ at newegg with the rebate, and I run TF2 on everything maxed, filtering is set to Tri and AA is set to 4x

Framerate is a pretty decent 30, and I can probably get another 20 if I lower the settings a bit.
 
Listen, go to www.tigerdirect.com and Click on video cards, than select AGP. For I'd recommend a ATI HD 3650 for AGP. 1Shot1Kill has one running a 42" monitor. He gets nice FPS in CoD4.
 
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Honestly, I would wait on upgrading anything further because you will get marginally better performance when dumping money into an obsolete system. You can upgrade the video card, but you're much better off saving money and buying a new computer (re-use the monitor, keyboard, etc). I've read of people running into problems when even trying to ugrade their videocards in Dells, so it might not be worth the risk.
 
Thanks so much for the advice everyone I really appreciate seeing as I'm totally new to this stuff. It's great to have a community willing to lend a hand at a hats drop.

I think I'll consult my dad on this one since he's the one funding it and the computer is between 4-6 years old.
 
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