FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

upgrade or new PC

Post Date: 2010-06-02
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
fuzzyweed View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 10 Sep 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13 		  Quote fuzzyweed Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: upgrade or new PC
    Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 10:15am
Hey guys,

I bought my DS computer in 2007, on a VERY tight budget (ahh.. college days).  I am trying to decide if I should upgrade this PC or invest in a new rig. 

For a new rig my budget is 2k (but I would rather not)
Monitor: Acer AL1917W:  24-bit, 19in, 1440x900 (may upgrade in the next year to a 24 inch)
Primary game is WoW with the occational other game mixing in now and then

Current issues:  Slow loading of applications, my FPS and Lag are sucking hard, making things almost unplayable.  I did a full virus and spyware hunt, didn't come up with anything.  Did a system defrag, disk clean-up, and issues persisted.

My current build:
OS:  Windows XP (which i know limits me on RAM)
Power Supply:  500W Thermaltake (Silent edition)
Processor:  Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13Hz (1066MHz Front Side Bus)(4MB Cache)
Motherboard: Asus P5N-SLI (Chipset: nForace 570 Intel)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Corsair at 667MHz (Duel Channel)
Hard Drive: 250GB Wester Digital(16MB)(7200 RPM)- only about half full)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 1MB
Air Cooled

Any suggestions on troubleshooting, new rigs, upgrades...

Thanks in advance for your help everyone.


Back to Top
!ender_ View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 10:49am
i wouldnt call that a benchmark crusher these days, but if the money isnt availible i see no reason to scrap it.
you said you mainly play wow, did it play smoothly before?
is this only a recent slow down or was it always and you just getting sick of it?
is / was the system ever overclocked?
 
there are of course some things you could change but i think there are better ways to address the problem, ill come back after you answer these questions


Edited by !ender_ - 02 Jun 2010 at 10:50am
Back to Top
fuzzyweed View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie

Email address used to purchase matched with forums account email.

Joined: 10 Sep 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13 		  Quote fuzzyweed Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 11:05am
WoW ran smoother before... it's hard to say when it started happening because I took some time off for another game.  Now, when I am in large groups it is horrible.

I don't believe the system was ever overclocked, not from what I can find in any of my documentation or system information.
Back to Top
!ender_ View Drop Down
DS Veteran
DS Veteran


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4219 		  Quote !ender_ Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 11:38am
do you know anything about reformatting? if you have had the pc for 3 years, and you didnt mention reformatting on your list of things you did to try and fix it, that could really benefit you. what i think you should do is:
 
-open up the case outside when there is some breeze use an blow out every corner with an air duster (any walmart has them)
-check/reseat all the connections, make sure you are very gentle with everything (also do this when the pc is not plugged in)
-then get a program called ccleaner, its free, check every option and delete everything on the main page, then use the registry cleaner to check for issues and delete those as well (you can save a backup if you want, i never do)
-on to spybot, also free, update it and have it search everything, including scan on boot which will allow it to check for things that could stay running in the background before windows starts
-run defragment again
 
please note that you should restart after each of these steps and probably a few times after you defrag before "testing" anything to see if it made a difference
 
if there is still no change, you will probably just have to reformat, it may not be a bad idea to do this anyway, you can also use dso's "system image" of when you got the pc or just use your xp disk and start from scatch
 
post back after you try those first few (not reformatting) options, or if you need more explination for anything
 
please excuse the rushed nature of this post as i am quick tabbing at work right now


Edited by !ender_ - 02 Jun 2010 at 11:47am
Back to Top
coolmasta View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie


Joined: 28 Jan 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 241 		  Quote coolmasta Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Jun 2010 at 12:36pm
Well you could upgrade to a core 2 quad with the same MB. Grab a 5850 and another gig of ram and you should fly at that resolution. But then after those upgrades you will be almost $600 in the hole without really any headroom to upgrade further. Personally I would buy a new DS rig on the x58 platform, at that resolution you could spend well under 2k. Even configured with a 5870 if you upgrade to a larger moniter you will be under 2k.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.0859375 seconds.