Computer help/ upgrading

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

What boards can I get that are better than this and will fit in the same case?

I have this motherboard...

Intel 945G Express

533 MHz

• Internal - 3.5" x 1/3H,

Front accessible - 5.25" x 1/2H,

Front accessible - 3.5" x 1/3H

• Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1.0 ( 1.0 ) x Processor - LGA775 Socket,

2.0 ( 0.0 ) x Memory - DIMM 240-pin,

1.0 ( 1.0 ) x PCI Express x16

• Interfaces 1.0 x Hi-Speed USB - Generic - 4 pin USB Type A ( 1 in front ),

1.0 x Network - Input - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 2 in front ),

1.0 x Keyboard - Line-in - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25) ( 1 in front ),

1.0 x Serial - VGA - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style),

1.0 x Parallel - Output - RJ-11,

2.0 x Microphone - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style),

1.0 x Modem - Line-out - Mini-phone mono 3.5 mm,

6.0 x Headphones - Phone line - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15),

1.0 x Mouse - RS-232 - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,

1.0 x Display / video - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9),

1.0 x Audio - Generic - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,

1.0 x Audio - RJ-45

• Desktop type Monitor included,

Budget desktop system

Processor

• Type Intel Celeron D 356 / 3.33 GHz

• 64-bit Computing Yes

• Installed Qty 1.0

• Max Supported Qty 1.0

• Processor Main Features Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology

Mainboard

• Chipset type Intel 945G Express

• Data bus speed 533.0 MHz

Cache Memory

• Type L2 cache

• Installed Size 512.0 KB

• Cache Per Processor 512 KB

RAM

• Installed Size 512.0 MB / 2.0 GB (max)

• Technology DDR2 SDRAM

• Memory Speed 533.0 MHz

• Memory Specification Compliance PC2-4200

• Form Factor DIMM 240-pin

• Features Dual channel memory architecture

• Configuration Features 1 x 512 MB

• Upgrade Rule Max 2 x 1 GB module

Storage Controller

I also have a Nvida 9400GT and a Dynex 7.1 sound card

2 gigs memory upgrade.

Click to read more...

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

What boards can I get that are better than this and will fit in the same case?

I have this motherboard...

Intel 945G Express

533 MHz

• Internal - 3.5" x 1/3H,

Front accessible - 5.25" x 1/2H,

Front accessible - 3.5" x 1/3H

• Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1.0 ( 1.0 ) x Processor - LGA775 Socket,

2.0 ( 0.0 ) x Memory - DIMM 240-pin,

1.0 ( 1.0 ) x PCI Express x16

• Interfaces 1.0 x Hi-Speed USB - Generic - 4 pin USB Type A ( 1 in front ),

1.0 x Network - Input - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 2 in front ),

1.0 x Keyboard - Line-in - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25) ( 1 in front ),

1.0 x Serial - VGA - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style),

1.0 x Parallel - Output - RJ-11,

2.0 x Microphone - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style),

1.0 x Modem - Line-out - Mini-phone mono 3.5 mm,

6.0 x Headphones - Phone line - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15),

1.0 x Mouse - RS-232 - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,

1.0 x Display / video - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9),

1.0 x Audio - Generic - Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm,

1.0 x Audio - RJ-45

• Desktop type Monitor included,

Budget desktop system

Processor

• Type Intel Celeron D 356 / 3.33 GHz

• 64-bit Computing Yes

• Installed Qty 1.0

• Max Supported Qty 1.0

• Processor Main Features Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology

Mainboard

• Chipset type Intel 945G Express

• Data bus speed 533.0 MHz

Cache Memory

• Type L2 cache

• Installed Size 512.0 KB

• Cache Per Processor 512 KB

RAM

• Installed Size 512.0 MB / 2.0 GB (max)

• Technology DDR2 SDRAM

• Memory Speed 533.0 MHz

• Memory Specification Compliance PC2-4200

• Form Factor DIMM 240-pin

• Features Dual channel memory architecture

• Configuration Features 1 x 512 MB

• Upgrade Rule Max 2 x 1 GB module

Storage Controller

I also have a Nvida 9400GT and a Dynex 7.1 sound card

2 gigs memory upgrade.

lol...... just about any...motherboard / CPU / RAM will be better than what you listed here. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

what's your budget, & what's this machines primary purpose..??

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

gaming and music, multi media. online chat, online classes, Budget is cheap but not to the point of buying crappy stuff. Tell me what I need to get and what I can salvage if there is anything I can salvage... $200-$600 at most.

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

ok...... the listings don't actually state what motherboard you have, it only lists the chipset (945G), so....... do you have a full ATX case (full size desktop tower) or is it a micro ATX..??

i'll need to know this before i list possible options, also what screen will it be attached to (resolution)..??

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

LG 22 Widescreen LCD Monitor and a 15in emachine flat screen. The computer is an emachine... W3609 model FTL... but it works... It is probly medium size tower.

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

ok..... its a standard ATX board.

& your screen im guessing is @ 1280x1024 on the 15'' & 1920x1200 / 1080 on the 22''

so.... if i was building a budget gaming / media rig, here's what i'd buy with that budget. (all items listed from the EGG, you may find them cheaper where you are but im in the UK so i'll do my best)

your HDD's we'll keep but you'll need to reinstall windows as were changing the main components (i recommend windows 7 x64), your soundcard should drop straight in here too.

CPU...... Q8300 = $150, 45nm quad core...bloody good chips.

Mobo.....Asus P5KPL = $50, would of preferred a P35 chipset but i think this is equivalent to it.

RAM.....DDR2 800mhz x2 / 4GB = $66, this stuff has a CL5 rating & will be plenty fast enough for your needs.

GFX.....ATI HD5770 = $194, DX11 ready & leaps & bounds ahead of your 9400

or..... Nvidia GTX460 = $154, also DX11 ready & fast as fk!!

total, roughly.....$460

not too sure about your PSU, might also wanna look at that, but thee above is not a bad setup at all... this setup should give you very respectable framerates, & it'll be 10x faster than what your currently running.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

ok cool PSU? Say wut?

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

sorry... your ''power supply'' (PSU), it probably wont have a dedicated 6pin connector off the 12v rail for the GFX cards, but the cards i listed use very efficient Architecture so power draw will be minimal.... you could just use the 4pin to 6pin molex connections supplied with the cards...

but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it..//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

I upgraded that. It came with a whole lot more thingys than the original one.

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

sweet!!

then crack on buddy...... lets get some visceral gaming experiences going on!!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

what HDDs are you using..??, & what are you gonna do about windows..??

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

original hard drive. and it has a cdr and dvdr

Vista basic.

 

[d2k 10+ year member]

what size HDD..?? optical drives will transfer without issue.

we dont want Vista on the new machine, the reason W.7 was created was b/c Vista is an absolute resource hog!!, great OS if you have a top spec rig, but if not it'll bog itself down b/c of the way it caches...

W.7 took all that was good from Vista & utilized XP's speed...

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

just realize you prob need another OS as the OEM vista you have likely wont work with a new board

whats the resolution of you monitor? 1680x1050 or 1900x 1200?

and if you look around wait a tad you can get that GTX460 for near $100