Can you check my upgrades please?Post Date: 2008-07-19 |
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ninjaearl 
Groupie 
Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 99 |
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 Topic: Can you check my upgrades please?Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 1:32am |
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I have sent in my system from Digital Storm diagnosed as probably a bad motherboard. The motherboard is old and they would need to send it back to the manufacturer if it in fact does turn out to be the motherboard because they don't carry the MB anymore. So I've asked the techs if it would be worth it to upgrade. These are the suggested upgrades:
Motherboard upgraded to a 750i
Video Card upgraded to a 9600GT
Memory is upgraded to 4 gig corsair ocz 1066
Processor is upgraded to an Intel quad Q9300
The upgrades will cost about $1121. This is the system I sent in and also the one that would be upgraded if I do this:
Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (With Side Window) (Black Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 550W Thermaltake (SLI Compatible) (Silent PurePower Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz Front Side Bus) (4MB Cache) (Conroe) Motherboard: Asus P5N32-SLI Premium (Chipset: nForce 590 Intel) (SLI Compatible) (Conroe) Memory: 2GB DDR2 Super Talent at 667MHz (Dual Channel) Floppy / Media: Digital Media Card Reader (Black) Hard Drive 1: 250GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA) Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks Raid Option: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: Lite-On CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM (CD Writer 52x / DVD Reader 16x Combo) (Includes Nero) Optical Drive 2: Sony DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 18x / CD-Writer 48x) (Includes Nero) Network Card: D-Link Wireless-G 54Mbps (Model DWL-G510) (Supports 802.11g/b) Modem: - No Thanks Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (nVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB (By: XFX) (PCI-Express) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel) Physics Card: - No Thanks Cooling: Air Cooling (Certified Digital Storm Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 1 Cooling) Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Blue Edition) User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork / Benchmarks / CDs / Manuals) Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Restore DVD Recovery Kit Protection: McAfee VirusScan Plus 2007 (Includes: AntiVirus, FireWall and AntiSpyware) Office: - No Thanks LCD Display: Samsung 19 inch (Widescreen) (941BW) (Contrast 700:1) (4 ms) (Black Edition) Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Desktop 2.0 (Multimedia Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse) Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Parts & Labor Warranty DS will send me back the new motherboard from the manufacturer when it comes in and also the old processor, motherboard, video cards, and memory. I don't know if I would be able to sell them or not. Anyway, does this look like a decent upgrade and something worthwhile for the money? The computer is one I bought for my son who only plays games on it, WOW and first person shooters mainly.
If anyone could chime in, I would appreciate it. DS will be calling me on Monday and I am leaning on doing this. Thanks in advance for any help.
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Bismark
Senior Member 
Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 120 |
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Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 3:17am |
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If that system was working well for your son to play Wow and thats what he's going to be playing then I'de say just get your new mobo. If he plans to switch to new more intense games an upgrade may be in order. The question is do you want to spend a grand on fixing this sytem up or spend a couple for a new system all together and still fix this one up for another purpose.
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Asus Rampage Formula
Core 2 Quad Q9550 2 ATI Radeon HD4870 Crossfire 4GB Corsair DHX 1066 1000W Corsair HX DS 850Si |
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ninjaearl
Groupie
Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 99 |
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Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 10:19am |
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Yes Bismark, that is what I was thinking. But I have a laptop and a very old desktop and I was thinking that when I get the the new MB, I could use the MB and his old setup and just use my hard drive and DVD's for a better desktop than I have. I might have to buy a new power supply cause my old one is I think 200 watt.
Thanks for the info Harley, I'll check on the prices of the 8800 and maybe something else for better graphics. Would the 8800 ultra be better than the SLI 7600's he has now?
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skyR
Newbie 
Digital Storm Apprentice 
Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2220 |
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Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 3:06pm |
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Don't get the 8800 Ultra.. it's redicly overpriced.
Get a 9800GTX+ for $199 or a Radeon HD4870 for $299. |
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ninjaearl
Groupie
Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 99 |
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Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 3:32pm |
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Ok, thanks for all the help. I'll ask about the 9800 GTX and Radion card. That is more in line price wise that I was looking at. I wanted something better for him that I wouldn't have to upgrade for awhile and if all I have to change out later is a video card, that would be awesome. He's a good kid, makes good grades and plays sports and all so I don't mind him playing the games. You all been helpful and I think I'll do the upgrade and have them send me the parts they replace. Thanks again for the help.
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Tyler Lowe
Newbie
Joined: 14 May 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0 |
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Posted: 19 Jul 2008 at 11:25pm |
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If you have not said "yes".... if it were me, -$50 and do the 800MHz RAM, +$50 and do the 9800GTX. Otherwise, this a a very good refresh of your system. You could also drop in a second 9600GT down the road if you like the idea of the faster RAM. I will attest to the performance of an SLI's pair of 96GT's. If you would rather not put any further money into this system for at least a year, in my opinion, you would be better off with a single 9800GTX or HD4850 over the 9600GT, and the slower RAM to keep the price the same.
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widdlecat
DS Veteran 
Joined: 11 Mar 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 840 |
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Posted: 20 Jul 2008 at 1:03am |
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I like the 4850 so far. It's really made a solid improvement on the look of EverQuest! It plays command & conquer 3 very nearly maxxed out at 1650 x 1040 res. I prefer the look of the shaders and shadows at very high as opposed to ultra high. Assassin's Creed has been nice so far, but I need to spend some real time with it to see framerates. The fan on it is a bit loud when it's being run hard though.
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ninjaearl
Groupie
Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 99 |
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Posted: 25 Jul 2008 at 6:40pm |
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I wanted to give you guys some feedback and to thank everyone for helping out. Also to Alex and Randy at DSO. I almost wished I hadn't got to reading the boards because the more I read, the more I added on. He got a major upgrade and total was a little over $1800 and the only things I wound up not changing out was the two DVD drives and the hard drive.
But his old system (only a little over a year old) will come back to me minus the hard drive and DVDs which I will replace with my very old desktop thereby giving me a major upgrade on my desktop too.
His final system turned out to be this: (and again thanks everyone)
Chassis: Antec 900
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Interior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition) Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz (1333MHz FSB) (12MB Cache) Motherboard: NVIDIA 750i SLI Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 750i SLI) System Memory: 4GB DDR2 OCZ at 1066MHz (SLI-Ready Edition) Card Reader: - No Thanks Hard Drive 1: - No Thanks Hard Drive 2: - No Thanks Raid Option: - No Thanks Hard Drive 3: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: - No Thanks Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card(s): ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 2 (Silent Artic Cooling Heat-sink Upgrade (Copper Heatpipes) Internal Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Blue Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Modifications: - No Thanks CPU Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory Windows Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts) Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based) Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Benchmarking: - No Thanks Pre-Install Game: - No Thanks LCD Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse External Storage: - No Thanks Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty |
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