so i want a new computer

I want a new computer. current one I have isn't to old or even that bad but I have to upgrade so much (RAM, power supply graphics and maybe some other stuff) that by that time I may as well buy a new pc. mostly why I want a new one is for SC. Also a single 500 GB hard drive just isn't large enough. And now that I have a job this is the time to get it (before student loans start coming due and such or maybe moving out of my parents house and blah blah). Right now I am thinking 700-800.

Also curious to know if the AMD radeon R7 series video cards are any good. quite a few already built "gaming" pcs on new in the 500-700 range have an r7 250 2GB video. would need to upgrade the power supply on those (and depending on what they have for harddrive that to) but most have minimum 8 gigs of ram. Most I was looking at seemed to have a 300 or 350 watt power supply.

 

What is your current setup? If its not totally outdated yet you might be better off waiting till the full SC alpha to upgrade. You'll end up with a better system that way.

 

true. if I just get more RAM and another hard drive I could probably put it off at least a few months.

I know it's an I3 processor 3.2 ghz I think

amd radeon hd 6450 512 mb (so barely runs hanger module right now)

4 gigs of ram (can support at least 8)

its low end right now.

 

yeah, I'm waiting on something significant before I upgrade my video card, it may be on the low/mid end of a lot of things, but it's still doing what I need it to do, and the longer I wait the better bang I'll be able to get for the buck. Regular (non solid state) hard drives are reasonably cheap depending on how much you want for capacity, though I'm a huge proponent for SSD where ever feasible, it's still nowhere near cost effective for the bigger drives, I was able to find a 3tb hybrid for under 200, so far no significant issues have come up, aside from a bizarre issue with Firefall which I can't be certain isn't related to a series of stupid power issues and completely unrelated to the actual hard drive itself. (accidentally unplugging the computer multiple times is not good for it's health)

processor is probably pretty decent, though if it's not quad core you might want to consider updating that eventually, which will most likely mean a new mobo. definitely going to want more ram in the long run, should check the hard drive specs and see if it can support higher quality ram sticks, would be far more efficient to get a pair of 8g sticks that can be carried over if you upgrade than just filling out what is already there. (2-4g sticks are rarely used anymore, except for the super motherboards with 8+ram slots)

 

I think right now I have 4 1G sticks in there (what I didn't have much money when I bought this thing only about $400 to spend). I do remember when I bought this it could support 8g possibly 16 I don't remember exactly. But I shouldn't need more than 8 (I would probably end up going with 10 though). but what is the recommended power supply for later? 450 watt? I do want to try building a computer at some point but not sure if I'm ready yet (then again are you ever ready?)

but yeah I think I'll wait 2-3 months. which would allow me to build up money to anyways.

also what are the good brands of RAM? I think I have only ever used patriot and haven't had a problem with them. I know crucial is supposed to be good as well.

 

I think I used GSkill RAM in my recent build. Just check out reviews on Newegg. Don't get sucked into "high-end" RAM though. You can sink a lot of money into OC-ed "gaming" RAM and you get very little benefit. The money is better spent elsewhere. The SSD drives are also not a great bang for your buck as far as ingame performance. Your game will load quicker but once you're ingame the performance will be the same as a HDD.

As far as a power supply, I wouldn't use under 500w. Get a good brand. Not a good place to skimp.

 

The issue with G.Skill is compatibility. I went through 3 set of Gskill before I found out their memory was not compatible with my board. I personally will only buy Corsair or Crucial.

Good low latency RAM is worth the money. The only issue with overclocked ram is your board has to support it, but it can get some performance increase. I would agree though, put the money into VC or proc. But get a good brand of memory. I would do more than 500w PS personally, just to have room for growth and adding a 2nd VC.

 

While if you are only looking at ingame performance an ssd might not be worth it, imho an SSD is by far the best investment I have ever made as far as enjoying using a computer.

Or as a colleague of mine expressed it, getting an ssd is like getting glasses .

 

.... but i've been wearing glasses since I was 6.

 

then its like winning with cancer

 

laser eye surgery?

 

quite possibly

 

I've got an R9 270 and I'm loving it! Don't know if it's any similar to the R7 though...

 

I think r9 is the next series after.

So I got a single 8 gig ram module to replace the 2 2 gig ones I had. And my comp is reading that it is there but not using it something to do with having to change frequency (mhz) but I didnt see where to change it and my bios seems made to resist change. Also sometimes now the keyboard isnt powering up which wont let my computer boot all the way. On my phone right now but I think my bios was ameritrend or something like that

American megatrends thats it

 

So my frequency for RAM is set to 1333 Mhz I need to set it to 1600. It is using some of the 8 gig stick but only 1 gig of it.

 

try putting the old ram back in, see if it'll let you change the setting, and then put the new stick in? It's also possible it's a jumper setting, though, most newer boards have moved away from jumpers and dips simply because while it's more complicated to make the settings electronic it's -much- easier on techs, and easier for the builder too when they don't have to figure out the where to put the damn things

 

I have the old board in so I can use the computer so it is using the 2 gigs from that and 1.34 from the 8gig stick but not using the rest of the 8gig stick. so obviously its not a compatibility issue or a bad stick. I see the pins for jumpers but no actual jumpers or dips... or whatever the hell the damn things are called (actually none of the pins have them at all). I think the BIOS is at least partially locked and I think it is the latest version of that bios or at least fairly late (don't think they make the specific one anymore).

 

silly clocks are silly *nod* I've no other ideas beyond calling the manufacturer

 

looked up the specific motherboard and it mentions that nothing about 1600 mhz on their so my guess is 1600 is not supported. then why did it show up on the newegg memory finder? meh. guess I'll send it back and get something in the 1333 mhz range. but first I will use corsairs website or crucials to find something that should work and not use neweggs. And this motherboard seems to be set to T1 for timing. whatever the hell that means.

 

most likely