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Upgrading existing hardware

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Upgrading existing hardware

Should you upgrade hardware made for XP?

from WinCustomize Forums

Thought I put this up for those interested to kick around.

Last year I began to feel somewhat hardware constrained.  My PC is an HP Media Center machine from mid 2005. 
I had added a low end graphics card ATI Hypermemory type to HP's standard configuration.  So, I had a 2.4Gz
AMD 3800 single core CPU, 200 GB's of HD storage, 1 Gb of Ram, and a starter graphics card. 

This was initialy adequate but, recently it was feeling sluggish and performance constrained, especially on some games. 
So, I began to wonder do I try and save up alot more for a whole new system or put in some money on upgrading what
is currently obsolete technology?

I went ahead and opted for upgrading my current system.  Here's what I added: Removed old RAM and installed 2
GB's of fast OCZ memory(PC 3200), a new power supply (Corsair 450W 80+ Cert.), a new graphics card (Full featured ATI
DirectX 9.0C 512MB card), and 300GB external HD(no spare internal slot).

So, am I happy with this decision?  Yes, it's worked out great.  The additional memory makes it possible to play
games without windows swapping out to the pagefile.  The games I play are more responsive now and with the full
featured graphics card newer games such as EE3 play well and everything can be run at higher graphics quality settings.
Moreover, since XP is still the largest installed base of home PC's, many new software titles will be made XP compatible
for awhile into the future.  I am thinking at least through all of next year.

So, I believe I can now wait until sometime next year to relook at a new system where I will get more bang for the
buck options to consider.  A super fast duo-core system will be cheaper next year as will entry level quad core
machines. 

So, what do think?  Are you sticking with your current technology?  As you may have noticed the decision for me
switched from an OS centric one, when do I need Vista?, to a hardware centric one, how to have adequate hardware
performance?  This was because I realized, for me, Vista isn't required --- yet. 

83,750 views 32 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
200 MB hard drive? How did you get Windows running?
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What do you mean? This is 1994 isn't it?
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I still fail to see why you need that much power.
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To put it simply and bluntly....because we can.
Oh and by the way the only reason I have a 3.2 score is because of my video. My score would be a high 4 or low 5 should I invest in a good card.
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Same with my laptop, the lack of a dedicated graphics card is what is bringing the score down.
Are you running x64 version of the OS? If not, then you are not seeing all 4GB of ram.
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Actually, any 32bit version of Vista can handle 4gb, it can only handle more than that when using 64bit.

Memory specifications

All editions of Windows Vista 64-bit provide increased memory support beyond the standard 4 gigabytes (GB) available with 32-bit editions. Refer to the specific edition of Windows Vista 64-bit to determine maximum memory capacity. --http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/64bit.mspx

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Actually, any 32bit version of Vista can handle 4gb, it can only handle more than that when using 64bit
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Yes, it can handle it, but 32 bit will only see 3 - 3.5 GB, therefore it will not use all 4 GB.
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Starkers: I added up how much your upgrades would cost from Ebay. $467 dollars. Not much of a savings I guess.
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Yeah, I suppose you could find those items cheaper on E-bay... where hundreds of big-time sellers are cutting each others throats through under cutting, but I purchased my components through a small, 3-man operation with excellent support & after-sales service. Furthermore, their prices are considerably more reasonable than many large retailer.... as much as $40 - $50 less in some cases

Also, I had them install the components for me... they do a more professional job than I... and the labour was free because I Spent over $500.00 and my family and friends are long term loyal customers, thus saving me another $100 or so on what it would have cost elsewhere.

Not only that, I was in the right place at the right time...the bloke who came in for a 939 socket AMD Athlon CPU, only to find they are no longer available, had them test mine and promptly offered 200 hundred smackeroos for mine when it came up AOK. Now that's a scenario you'd never come across on E-bay... on-the-spot testing and a buyer. ;)

I still fail to see why you need that much power.
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Well, let's see, I can be writing a letter in MS Word, be editing music or video, browsing WC & other sites, downloading files, moving/copying files and messing around with Stardock toys all at once.... it's called multi-tasking, and I could never have that many things open and fully functional on my old P4 2.8 with 512mb of RAM. Ah!!!... the luxury of having power to burn. ;)
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Are you running x64 version of the OS? If not, then you are not seeing all 4GB of ram.
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I'm running x86 and see 3.75gb of 4.0gb after editing in BCDEdit, but I'm told that I don't see the full amount due to having a lot of hardware and drivers installed.

For those interested in accessing 4.0gb of RAM in Windows 32bit systems, here's a link to an article containing the details as to how.... WWW Link

;)
Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, let's see, I can be writing a letter in MS Word, be editing music or video, browsing WC & other sites, downloading files, moving/copying files and messing around with Stardock toys all at once.... it's called multi-tasking, and I could never have that many things open and fully functional on my old P4 2.8 with 512mb of RAM. Ah!!!... the luxury of having power to burn.
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I can do all that with my Celeron 420 and 2 Gigs of RAM. It would get a bit slow I'll bet but It could be done.
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can do all that with my Celeron 420 and 2 Gigs of RAM. It would get a bit slow I'll bet but It could be done.
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I suppose it would be a bit slow, but the main thing is that you're happy with what you got/can do with it....as I am with mine.

I suppose, too, another reason I went for the higher power is that my missus sometimes borrows my rig and runs a few graphics intensive programs (which need quite a bit of grunt) doing walls and stuff... whilst listening to music and chatting with friends... so she'll have PSP; Photoshop; PaintNet; Apophysis; Fractal Forge and Fastone Image Resizer open along with a couple of messenger windows and a media player.... not to mention Firefox with a few skinning sites open on the tab bar.

Fortunately, she has her own, more than adequate machine, so it's very rare that she needs/wants to use mine.... usually when maintenance and/or issues are being sorted on hers. :)