Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

I want to upgrade the RAM in my desktop box, but--and I'm kind of embarrassed about this--I don't know what to get, what will work with my box and so forth. Any tips?

Also, I'm looking for a recommendation for a graphics card--something less than $200. Any tips would be welcome.

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Registered: Dec 2004
Location: Beringia
Posts: 5262

dumped again, eh?

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
Posts: 26136

.

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 4691

I spent a quiet Sunday afternoon looking up my motherboard specs.
Found out some interesting things, for instance, that getting a better CPU from newegg could run me $500-1k. Obviously it will not be worth it to upgrade that anytime soon.

Meanwhile I looked up what kind of memory to get and so forth. At newegg the price ranges from ~$150-$180 for 2 gigs. Is there likely to be any great difference among different manufacturers, or does it just make sense to go with the cheapest?

Also, as is the case with the beige box, there seems to be limited interoperability of parts with these beasties. It goes two ways: as expected, newer products won't work with the old gear, and neither will the old gear work with the new. So each box and its components have a limited lifespan because, say, if I invest $150 in 2 gigs of RAM today, I probably won't be able to cannibalize this box for the next one (incidentally, upgrading the memory on the beige box to a mere 512m would cost ~$200, but as this box will be running MythTV in addition to acting as the file and print server it's probably worth it). I suppose today's gaming rig is destined to become tomorrow's exchange server no matter what.

Well, enough waxing philosophical. Another question poses itself--is it possible to shop for gear with an eye to re-using parts down the road? Is it worth the time & effort?

And again, can anyone recommend a good graphics card? It has been a while since I could play any games, as I have been using this old Dell since 2003 (my folks got it in 2000).

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 4776

I'm assuming the machine has an AGP slot, so you're probably looking at either a Nvidia 6800 or ATI X1600PRO(The Nvidia card is generally the better performing part). $300 should get you a Nvidia 7800GS which is I believe the best performing part available for AGP these days.

As for RAM, just buy whatever is cheapest with a decent warranty.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
Posts: 26136

I would think you could just pull the RAM from your computer,go to the store and say "I WANT THIS". Maybe you can get two or three and fill up all those cool slots. Then you would have more memory. Then when the store dude knows what kind of RAM you have then he can get you a video card too. I would go to a used computer place to save some dinero.

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