Custom Building A Gaming Computer

[zognogin]

Hi Ive got a dell dimension 2400 which is about a year and a half old, I Got some new games for it (Command and Conquer Generals and Empire Earth 2) But they keep jumping/jolting when i play them. So i went to 3 of my local computer shops; 1 was shut, 1 said bring the computer to them and the 3rd one said that i need a new processor or a graphics card however because its dell i might as well sell it and either buy or build a custom one.

I just wanted to know i anyone can tell me what i'd need, where to buy them and approximatly how much the bits would cost.

Thanks Jon

[RyderOCZ]

Hello Jon,

Can you tell us what CPU and Video are in the machine now?

If you don't know....how about the express service code on the back or side...that will let us look it up at Dell's site.

[zognogin]

erm.. the CPU is "Celeron (R) 2.40 GHz"
"2.39GHz"

I dont know how to find the video.

[RyderOCZ]

How much ram is in the PC? I bet that is causing most of the problems, if you only have 256MB or even 512.

Does the Monitor connect to the PC down by the expansion slots or up near the printer port etc?

[zognogin]

i dont know if i got all of the express service code because i put duct tape over it and it got stuck to the stick but what i got off the tape was 255705 and i think a 7 comes next

[SoLo]

Even tho a Cele 2.4 isnt the best chip out there it still has enuff power to handle games like Command and Conquer Generals and Empire Earth 2..i would guess that the graphic power on that machine to be onboard(might be wrong)

Here is a lil tool that people use to check if a game will be able to run on your system..it also tells you specs about ur PC.
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest

Onboard video can be good with games out there but not many that use alot of power/resources..

[zognogin]

the games do work just the graphics have to be incredably low and even then it still jolts and jumps

[zognogin]

Video Card
Minimum: 64 MB 3D DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with Hardware T & L and Pixel Shader support (NVIDIA GeForce 3+, ATI Radeon 8500+)

You Have: Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller (Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller) FAIL: Sorry, your video card does not meet this minimum requirement. Upgrade to a more powerful video card will make all your applications look better. Click the 'We Recommend' button to see some great options.

Video Card Features - Minimum attributes of your Video Card Video Card 3D Acceleration: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Video RAM: Required - 64 MB , You have - 64.0 MB
Video HW Transform & Lighting: Required - Yes , You have - No
Pixel Shader Ver.: Required - 1.0 , You have - 0.0

[zognogin]

i have 512mb RAM

[zognogin]

got to go for today but please leave as much info as possible and thank you for helping

[Sledgehammer70]

If it is a Dell 2400 you do not have the options to upgrade your GPU, as all or most of the 2400's lack an AGP slot.. and is far from having a PCI-E slot. the highest grade GPU via PCI slot are only offered from Nvidia and that would be a 5500 for around $65.00 or a 6200 which I have yet to see not sold out where ever it is sold. Performance over onboard with either of the above cards will be good but far from great...

You are better off buying a new PC if you have to buy a new Mobo, CPU & Graphics Card.

[GHoosdum]

I'm 100% certain that it's the video card alone that is holding you back.

I agree with Sledge - you're pretty limited in what you can upgrade to, since the 2400 series only has PCI slots. Unfortunately it looks as if your best bet is to upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and possibly the power supply as well (the dells only come with a stock 250W PSU). At this point, you're up in the pricing territory of a whole new PC anyway...

[profdlp]

I haven't checked for that specific model, but you may well need a new case if you go the new MB route. A good bet if you're on a budget is to look for a Case + PSU combo, making sure that the PSU is adequate for your needs.

[SoLo]

This problem that i have seen before is that onboard video.if you decided to go with just a video card (Nvidia 5500 or =)upgrade im pretty sure everyone here will agree that the experience you have in games such as the ones you mention will be GREATLY improved.Onboard video is such a basic way of processing video and like i said before onboard will run alot of games out there its really not that great for games that demand more.

BTW if you dont mind me asking..What is your buget range? This will help determin some suggested hardware for your case.

If your buget is very low($50-$100) then we can suggest some PCI 3D Cards that will work with your system.If you Buget more than that then we can start with finding some MB's,Cases,3D Cards,Ram..whatnot that will suit your needs :)

Guys if i start typin ReTarDed just PLEASE forgive me :)

[Enverex]

... so, to wrap it up, you need an entire new PC.

[zognogin]

well i live in the UK soo, i am willing to spend between £0-£350 but if im in a good spending mood i might spend more.

Soo i could use the case iv got. If not a computer shop i know sells cases. Then i could just buy a mother board and everything else needed to have a good working games computer? i might need some help putting it together but it seems straight forward. And i probably will custom build one, iv always wanted to.

[rapture]

I've just spent £350 on a motherboard and graphics card. If you want to build an entire system you're going to have to put some more money down.

[zognogin]

i can do that ... i guess ill spend however much it costs

[zognogin]

if i go and buy a case soon are there any size specifications needed? or do they all fit what im gona wana fit in it?

[zognogin]

they sell cases similar to http://www.conceptscom.net/image/casing13.jpg that

[RichD]

Unfortunately they wont all just fit. I haven't built a PC for a few years now so my terminology my be a bit out of touch. The main issue is the form factor of your motherboard. Most nowadays are ATX or M-ATX there may be some newer too. I think an M-ATX mb will fit a ATX case as it is just smaller but don't quote me on that. I used to have an AMD athlon 1.2GHz 1GB ram and a G-Force MX 440 and C&C was very slow but playable. You wont get anything much better than you already have for £350 and it will be out dated before you get back from Game with your latest purchase. Ill try and find you a decent system at a decent price.

[RichD]

Try This

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

look for this model: "Titan Vantage" AMD Athlon 64 3200+ System (FS-009-OK). Avoid anything on this page with onboard graphics. You wont get monitor and stuf with this one. Its reasonabley priced and not bad spec.

The main thing to consider is that the more you spend the less frequently your going to need to upgrade. So yes spend £500 now and it will last maybe two years. spend £800-£1000 and you can probably double the time

[edcentric]

Do you want to build it yourself?
To be honest the hardware is not a big deal. It is software that bites.

If you get a good mobo, a mid-range CPU, a bit of memory, and a good viceo card you will be set. You can upgrade the CPU and add memory next year to buy some more life.
If I was buying today I would wait a couple of weeks. The world is changing right now.
In short, an AMD AM2 mobo with the nForce570ultra chipset. ($100-120)
A low end CPU (3200+ single core $100)
A single 1GB stick of DDR2 memory ($65)
For video, a 7600GT or 7600GS are a real sweet spot for price/perf. ($150)
This brings us to about $450 without a case, PSU or any drives. But it gives you an idea.

[zognogin]

im alright at working withsoftware soo thats not to much of a big deal. i think that if i build one i get exactly what i want and ill learn how to replace the chips if i get a new one but if i wanted a computer that was quickly made i would buy one from a company like RichD suggested.

so .. i think i might end up building one because it could be interesting to do. so i think i will build one.

[profdlp]

...i think i might end up building one because it could be interesting to do. so i think i will build one.
You will learn a great deal along the way and will likely become an expert on how your computer works. That alone makes it worth the effort.

It's a lot of fun, too. :cheers:

[RichD]

If you do build one I can not stress enough to but the best motherboard you can. When I first built a PC I chose my processor then got the cheapest board which would accept that chip. Consequently a year or so later my CPU was strugling and I had to buy a whole new system. If you buy a top notch mother board and the cheapest processor that fits the board you will have plenty of overhead left on the board to upgrade CPU and RAM later down the line. Kind of what edcentric was saying.

[edcentric]

Now, you are in the UK? So you need a source.
We will have to wait for some of our brothers from that region of the world to speak up.
Then we can work on a specific parts list.
In the US we would send you to Newegg. No question.

[Enverex]

www.komplett.co.uk
www.ebuyer.com
www.scan.co.uk
www.dabs.com

In order of preference.

[zognogin]

Yay thank you :D

[zognogin]

ooo could u guys tell me what to look for in a processor and mother board. iv never completely understood

is these ones good ?
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=310790
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=42HZ&CategorySelectedId=11143&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11143&v=2#infoarea

ill buy the better of the two

[edcentric]

I wouldn't build 939, I would go to AM2 now.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320229
Like this one.

And this for a CPU
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320784

[rapture]

I'm going to add overclockers.co.uk (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/) to your list of online stores. Best place for graphics cards by far...

[zognogin]

once iv got themw hat else do i need to buy?

im gona guess graphics cards etc but tell me anyway

and im still not sure what to do bout a case

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/7950_Series.html
im gona be saving up for a while for any of these

[V|P]

If you go with cards that use more than one explansion slot (the things on the back of your PC that look like cheap alluminum foil), make sure you don't have too many other cards like modem eslot fan etc, because it makes it a bit hard to work in the case, and with the fan in the GPU going, it gets really dusty so cleaning is a must atleast once every 2-3 months.

[Enverex]

I'd have to advise away from OcUK, I've heard nothing but hatred towards them in every field (the people that work there and their methods of things).

[rapture]

Have you ever met anybody that likes their employer?

[zognogin]

??? probably why?

[V|P]

I'd have to advise away from OcUK, I've heard nothing but hatred towards them in every field (the people that work there and their methods of things).

Have you ever met anybody that likes their employer?

??? probably why?

That's why. He wasn't really asking you to help answer your computer question. :thumbsup:

[RichD]

I use overclockers almost exclusively now. I have never had a bad deal from them and they are competitive on price. The only people I have ever had problems with was dabs when they refused to refund goods which were damaged on arrival and insight direct with long delivery times.

OC are fine

[Enverex]

Have you ever met anybody that likes their employer?

What does that have to do with anything? I'm refering to customers having very bad experiences, not the staff (having bad experiences WITH the staff, not the staff having bad experiences). Meh, maybe they've changed over the years and this has all blown over then.

Although this may be worth a read (although slightly dated now):
http://rage3d.net/board/showthread.php?t=33796684

[airbornflght]

Um. No offense to the guys that own computer shops, but I would not spend a dollar pound in one of them. You are better off purchasing off one of the internet stores in the uk, they will undobtably have much better prices.


I'm not sure about how much the price of componets over in the uk are, but here, you can build a decent computer (with a new monitor sometimes) for around 800-900 dollars, which comes out to around 500 pounds at the moment.

We can look around, and I think that depending if you want a new monitor you might get away with 450 pounds for the whole build.


although, if you buy really high end componets, it is going to shoot the price up, the 500 pound estimate will most likely get you a nice computer that will be a fairly well performing computer, I will get a list of componets up shortly.

[Enverex]

Heh, doesn't work like that Airborn. Add 20% VAT, 20% UK extortion and you're looking at around £800 anyway.

[airbornflght]

Case: Cooler Master Cavalier 3 Silver (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=303822) -- 49 Pounds

PSU: Not Sure

Optical: NEC ND-3550 (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314090) -- 22.99 Pounds

HDD: Western Digital 250GB Caviar (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=309535) -- 55.01 Pounds

Mobo: MSI K9N Platinum (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320229) -- 85 Pounds

Processor: AMD AM2 Athlon 3200+ (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320784) -- 65.01 pounds

Memory: OCZ Platinum DDR2 800 2 Gigabyte Dual Channel Kit (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=320721) -- 158 Pounds

Video: XFX Geforce 7600GT (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=318606) -- 140 Pounds



That brings your total to right around 575 pounds without the psu. It came out high because I get you a 2gb kit of ram, and a decent video card, but you said you wanted a higher end Video card anyway, like a 7950GX2 I think it was?

Anyway, there is something to start with, and everone else can run with it.

[airbornflght]

Heh, doesn't work like that Airborn. Add 20% VAT, 20% UK extortion and you're looking at around £800 anyway.


what is vat and uk extortion?:confused:

ok, i found value added tax, but nothing for extortion.

[jradmin]

Um. No offense to the guys that own computer shops, but I would not spend a dollar pound in one of them. You are better off purchasing off one of the internet stores in the uk, they will undobtably have much better prices.


I'm not sure about how much the price of componets over in the uk are, but here, you can build a decent computer (with a new monitor sometimes) for around 800-900 dollars, which comes out to around 500 pounds at the moment.

We can look around, and I think that depending if you want a new monitor you might get away with 450 pounds for the whole build.


although, if you buy really high end componets, it is going to shoot the price up, the 500 pound estimate will most likely get you a nice computer that will be a fairly well performing computer, I will get a list of componets up shortly.


This is not necessarly true. Some builders (like myself) don't charge overhead for parts. It's the overhead for the parts that makes alot of shops seem to expensive.

[airbornflght]

This is not necessarly true. Some builders (like myself) don't charge overhead for parts. It's the overhead for the parts that makes alot of shops seem to expensive.

yeh, but the shops that dont are pretty much a rarity. I work with a guy that owns a computer shop, and he charges a 20% markup on parts + $35/hr. Which is pretty decent around here, because some of the shops charge up to $70 to set your computer on the counter, he will look at it for free.

[profdlp]

A shop that specializes in repairs is almost always going to tack a premium onto the replacement parts they sell, if for no other reason than they don't buy enough of each item to get a big discount from the wholesalers. The repair shops I worked for hardly stocked anything, and certainly nothing more exotic than a generic MB, RAM, etc. If we needed anything more expensive than a network card we would often have to wait for an overnight delivery from the supply company.

Shops that offer a lot of new system builds are often much more reasonable in price parts-wise. They know they're likely to need a bunch of each individual part every month and can order in bulk.

[airbornflght]

Yeh, the guy I work with keeps 0 inventory, thus he also has 0 overhead, as he works out of his home. He doesnt make a killing at it, but I belive he makes around 40k a year, and that is his side job. Pretty interesting fellow; he is a janitor at a local school that I'm working at, and his wife encouraged him to go to college, so he got a degree in CS and got multiple certs, 7 years later there he is.

[Switch0]

OK, I bought a new computer entirely so i could play Elder Scrolls 4: oblivion, i used srtest.com to scope my comp. Only thing im short is the video card, now i avoided getting a video card with the package because i want the best one...But i was assuming I could run this game with the onboard video being that my cpu is 3.2ghz, but it seems it requires 2 things...

Video HW Transform & Lighting

and

Vertex Shader Ver

Is there a way to download the necessary things to avoid these requirements or add them...IM wanting to play right now not in 4 days...:doh:

[rapture]

But i was assuming I could run this game with the onboard video being that my cpu is 3.2ghz
No chance, Oblivion is probably one of the most graphically intensive games available.

Here is some light reading (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2746) for you. You want at least a X1900XT to play this game as the developers intended.

And no, you can't download hardware :)

[primesuspect]

I have a pretty nice video card by most standards (Radeon X850XT) and it plays oblivion reasonably well - i'd say "medium" settings - definitely not as pretty as the game can be, but it works. I have an AGP card for sale that would definitely play oblivion on medium-low settings. My kids played oblivion for months with this card and they loved it. Does your computer have an AGP slot?

[Switch0]

no agp no, pcie pci only

[airbornflght]

yeh, I have a 6800GT, and oblivion brings it to its knees with just about everything maxed out, I am only getting like 35-40fps, although, im sure that since i only have an a64 2800+ the cpu is the bottleneck. Now if I back some of the setting down to medium or so i get a steady 60 or so.

[rapture]

Prime, problem with the x850 is the lack of HDR. You're really missing out on how good this game can really look.

[airbornflght]

No HDR for me either:(

[primesuspect]

yeah i know... but HDR == $$$ which I don't have :D

[airbornflght]

I dont even really know what HDR is, all I know is that when I tried to enable it in oblicion, my computer sard:


"BORK BORK BORK I DONT THINK SO MOTHERF'ER ...PLEASE INSERT GEFORCE 593020494GTX!!!1!!one! AND TRY AGAIN

[zognogin]

ok :D i have alot to think bout thank you