what does my stupid pop up mean please ???

[BWDOWN]

Originally Posted by VTAKYO

you can't just go and buy a 2gb stick and put it with your current 512mb stick. You need identical sticks installed or it can lead to constant system crashes.

Wrong I ran a 256 and 1Gb stick on my old PC for ages no probs at all for over 2 years. I have a 2Gb in my current system and will be adding either a 1 or 2 Gb stick soon

Of course you can have 'too much' but more is far better than less

And dont even start talking about Ram usage on crumby old XP... I'm sitting here with 2 IE windows open and downloading a 70Mb program from download.com and my Ram usage is just over 880Mb on Vista haha CPU usage is only 3%

Its 668Mb at idle with msn messenger open and thats all haha

[VTAKYO]

Newer systems seem to have an issue with mixing and matching memory. I am not sure of the specific reason for it, but it is just a general rule of thumb. It is really dependent upon the motherboard design. Some require you to order the sticks in a set sequence according to their size, some won't work with mixed types at all, but for the most of modern systems you must use identical ones. It is just safer to. But yea, I ran a 256 and a 128 in my old Pentium 2, and a 256 and a 512 in my old Pentium 3. But went to run a 512 and a 1gb in my laptop and it blue screened me. Same as when we went to put a 2gb stick into out main computer that is already running two 1gb sticks.

[Hayce]

You should be able to mix and match ram sticks provided they are of the same "ilk" regardless of size and motherboard. Standards are standards are standards... right IE?

You can never have to much ram, don't care who you are or what you do if you have ample now it will diminish as time goes on, you should aim to have the most your system can handle and your wallet can handle.
That said if you chew out 2 gig's of ram on an xp box your doing some business, hungry vista is another issue...

Sure you can increase the paging file as people have siad but why? Your masking a greater problem, that "oem" size should be sufficent, has been for me and I do a fair bit of server/dev stuff.

I may have missed it because yes, I am yet again drunk but what size is your C partion?

If I were you I'd chuck as much RAM at the thing as it could swallow, move data out of C and expand the partion. If you have spare HDD spots get a big dirty drive and transfer otherise get an external.

Quick and dirty would be to dump everything temporary, unused programs, deleted content etc... only a band aid to last until the next pandamovies.com raid though...

[mr_tec]

yea delete all your history i cleared 3gbs! meh dialup and reloading pages takes awhile now...

[Hayce]

You had 3gb's of history? Bullocks.

[mr_tec]

my computer said 123gb free after it said 126gb

[VTAKYO]

About 32kb of it would have been history. The remaining 2.98gb would have included internet cache, which is a lot! But, it would have meant less was required to be downloaded to view pages, so now you are required to load it and your internet is slower.

[mr_tec]

actually i also deleted a few progs which i think would of came up to around 1gb meh was on broadband for so long but yea ive reloaded most pages i goto so there a bit faster

[DrRubber]

so ive defragged and yea.....meh

i need more grunt.

I wonder if instead of just upgrading my current pc, instead I should buy a new motherboard that can take the mega everythings.....and build one big "dont fuck with greg" PC.

Is there a standard size for motherboards ? or do they come in a kabillion sizes....bolt patterns ??

[SLOTEG]

hayce and mr_tec have the same chicks ass as their avatar? :O

[DrRubber]

no but they are equally as dilectible

[mr_tec]

how much you got to spend? you can have a mint pc for yourself for around $400 these days

[DrRubber]

well I hadnt really bugeted to spend anything !!!!

but surely a $400 pc isnt going to be that great ???

[mr_tec]

it'll beat a dell from the warehouse

[VTAKYO]

Just get a whole new system. Don't bother with "upgrading" the current system. For about $600 you can get an Intel Core 2 Duo basic package with well branded gear, and an all-in-one motherboard. If you are just wanting to do your average stuff like watch movies, listen to music, browse the internest, etc... then this will suffice; not everyone needs a baller-spec computer.

109467 Intel (BX80557E4600) Core 2 Duo Processor 2.4Ghz LGA775 2M Cache 800FSB #E4600 $167.00
109385 Asus (P5GC-MX/1333) Intel 945GC Chipset LGA775 mATX 800FSB All In One Pentium D DDR2 PCIex16 10/100 LAN $84.59
78030 A-Data 1GB DDR2 800 (6400) DIMM 3YR $35.84 (x2)
84396 X-Case (X-1820D) ZAX Case (Black), Front USB and Audio, CPU Air Duct, 400W ATX 2.0 PSU $73.70
69810 SAMSUNG (HD161HJ) 160GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA2 $65.00
71864 Emprex/BTC (DRW2016IM) 16X Dl DVD-RW/RAM $53.40
Sub Total $515.37
Total Tax $64.42
Total Amount Due $579.79

[Moclov]

The problem with cheap case and power supply combos like the one VTAKYO suggested is they use cheap, noisy components. My parents bought a $500 pre-built special from a computer store and the thing sounds like a small aircraft about to take off. It's actually really annoying to use for any length of time. I've just replaced their case fans and power supply to make it more usable.

I'm pretty picky as far as PC noise goes, but it's something to consider at least!

[Haydz]

Originally Posted by Moclov

The problem with cheap case and power supply combos like the one VTAKYO suggested is they use cheap, noisy components. My parents bought a $500 pre-built special from a computer store and the thing sounds like a small aircraft about to take off. It's actually really annoying to use for any length of time. I've just replaced their case fans and power supply to make it more usable.

I'm pretty picky as far as PC noise goes, but it's something to consider at least!

I love Lian-Li cases and Enermax PSUs. I just don't understand why people go for such cheap shitty cases and PSUs... probably two of the most important things to consider in a computer when thinking of comfort and usability.

Greg, the core stuff that VTAKYO listed is fine for daily use, just not gaming or anything too intense. Change the RAM out for Kingston 1GB DDR2 667 (PC5300) x2. Kingston is a better brand and that particular motherboard doesn't need DDR2 800 anyway.

You could also change the DVD drive out as well - get a Pioneer 18x DL-DVD-RW for $44.

Oh and spend a bit more on the case and PSU as moclov said. you will enjoy it more.

[mr_tec]

my $400 jobbie goes fine... just i wouldnt bother for games last game i had was when diablo 2 came out... and that works just fine for me not that i play it. but i can do whatever surf web play music and work on webpages it is fine and i got roughly the same specs as that and virtually no noise

[VTAKYO]

That one I pasted is just an example of how you can build an effective (as opposed to high-performing) system on the cheap copy and pasted from the guys who built my computer. Of course you could modify a few parts to improve on things. I agree on the point regarding the case; not only the noise is of worry, but also efficiency and reliability, and the cooling qualities of the case. I have a cheap case at college which sounds like an aircraft and the buttons on it are very gimmicky.