Check out my all powerful new gaming rig!

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


You mean the RAM on the dino? IIRC (and I do need to check) the dino maxes out at 64 Meg. So thats not a huge gain over 48 Meg. Should make EU2 run smoother, though.

Better to upgrade the mobo as well. And the graphics card. And processor. New PSU would be useful.

You can keep your monitor/HD/IDE drives/keyboard, that should save some $.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike


Better to upgrade the mobo as well. And the graphics card. And processor. New PSU would be useful.

You can keep your monitor/HD/IDE drives/keyboard, that should save some $.

this time i got ya beat doc. I was mentioning to POTM last night that I could upgrade more than just the Ram, i could upgrade the CPU, for ex. But then I recalled vaguely from things ive read that i might need a new power supply, fan, stuff like that. So i said well, we could keep the case, and build everything else new. Why would we keep the case then, she asks? Cause cases cost money, I reply. But then it occurs to me, the case is obsolete - new cases have all these extra USB ports, room for extra optical drives, and stuff like that. The cheapo Aptiva case doesnt have that.

So youre suggesting i build a whole new system, but with an obsolete case, and a puny HD? Er, no thanks. I'll just keep the old system for playing old games. Stick it away till i get the urge to play something ancient. And buy or build a new system thats, well, new. Meanwhile though, I think ill add some Ram, since that would useful even with the old CPU, Mobo, etc.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Nikolai
I'd at least double the RAM for the laptop too, it's a very smart thing to do. 256 MB is very little. If POTM is going to play Sims2(and I guess she want to), 512 MB will make it a much better experience.

first we get her The Sims (the original) If she likes it, thats months of gameplay. If she doesnt like it, we wont get Sims2. So dont need to upgrade for that.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


this time i got ya beat doc. I was mentioning to POTM last night that I could upgrade more than just the Ram, i could upgrade the CPU, for ex. But then I recalled vaguely from things ive read that i might need a new power supply, fan, stuff like that. So i said well, we could keep the case, and build everything else new. Why would we keep the case then, she asks? Cause cases cost money, I reply. But then it occurs to me, the case is obsolete - new cases have all these extra USB ports, room for extra optical drives, and stuff like that. The cheapo Aptiva case doesnt have that.

So youre suggesting i build a whole new system, but with an obsolete case, and a puny HD? Er, no thanks. I'll just keep the old system for playing old games. Stick it away till i get the urge to play something ancient. And buy or build a new system thats, well, new. Meanwhile though, I think ill add some Ram, since that would useful even with the old CPU, Mobo, etc.

Well I didn't say the case. I said keep your monitor/HD/IDE drives/keyboard all of which cost money and probably aren't necessary to upgrade. You can always upgrade them later.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


first we get her The Sims (the original) If she likes it, thats months of gameplay. If she doesnt like it, we wont get Sims2. So dont need to upgrade for that.

512 MB is a very good idea anyway.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike


Well I didn't say the case. I said keep your monitor/HD/IDE drives/keyboard all of which cost money and probably aren't necessary to upgrade. You can always upgrade them later.

So youre saying build a new system from scratch, but hang on to the puny harddrive

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Nikolai


512 MB is a very good idea anyway.

ive somehow picked up that you think that


Other priorities first, though.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


So youre saying build a new system from scratch, but hang on to the puny harddrive

Are you deliberately misunderstanding my very clear suggestions?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike


Are you deliberately misunderstanding my very clear suggestions?

lets see keep the monitor and Keyboard - well when i think of the PC, im usually thinking of whats in the box - if i buy a brand name box, and add my own monitor and keyboard, is that really building a PC? Beyond that it sounds like building a PC from scratch, but keeping a couple of parts.

But i suppose this is really a philosophical puzzle. If I have an 18th century ship, the USS Constitution and I replace first one plank. Then another. Till there are no more original planks. Is it still the Constitutiion? On the other hand what if i save some planks and build TWO ships from them. Are they BOTH the Constitution?

[DrSpike]

And the hard drive. And the cd drive. And the DVD drive if you have one. Also stuff like LAN card or modem if you have them often aren't essential to upgrade.

With the monitor and keyboard (mouse even) you can save quite a lot if you don't have enough for a full upgrade.

Of course, from the sounds of your machine you'd be better off consigning it to history and starting afresh. But you usually have some excuse as to why you can't do that.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike
And the hard drive. And the cd drive. And the DVD drive if you have one. Also stuff like LAN card or modem if you have them often aren't essential to upgrade.

With the monitor and keyboard (mouse even) you can save quite a lot if you don't have enough for a full upgrade.

Of course, from the sounds of your machine you'd be better off consigning it to history and starting afresh. But you usually have some excuse as to why you can't do that.

My goodness, and here I thought you were being funny.

the hard drive, good sir, holds 2 gigs. Thats right, two gigs. Can I even load a modern OS onto that? And still have room for a modern game? If im going to keep running Win 98, is there any point to a new CPU?

The optical drive is CD, read only. Thats write no CD writer, and doesnt read DVDs.


And of course good sir, the main reason for not building one myself, is that I dont know how. While Im eager to open the box and add some RAM, im dont feel eager to build from scratch at this point. I wonder if my local shop would build one, and let me substitute my puny harddrive for a new one bought from them, ditto with the optical drive. Since that would save me some $ , and make it look better vs an off the shelf PC. Even if they were willing, theyd probably look at me funny, for putting a P4 chip onto a machine with 2 gig HD.

So, my plan remains. Let POTM use the laptop, sharing it with us occasionally. Remove POTMs stuff from the puny HD on the dino. Add RAM to the dino. Plan on a new desktop, (whether I build it, or the shop does, or Michael Dell does) in several months. At which point we will have 3 PCs - the laptop, the new desktop, plus the dino, which reduces conflict further. And then, maybe in a year, we get another new desktop, and move the dino into "save for playing old games" status. And sometime around then I may want to upgrade the RAM on the laptop.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


My goodness, and here I thought you were being funny.

the hard drive, good sir, holds 2 gigs. Thats right, two gigs. Can I even load a modern OS onto that? And still have room for a modern game? If im going to keep running Win 98, is there any point to a new CPU?

The optical drive is CD, read only. Thats write no CD writer, and doesnt read DVDs.

I see dino was a bit of an understatement. You know what you have to do.