Help an "old computer junky" out.

Alright so back in the day when twistedmods was around... I kept up to date on hardware like a madman. I built a new machine last year and upgraded. At this point... it suits my needs. However, by the standards of today it is now "slow".... f course, technically speaking, it would have been a month ago, right? Hah.

Anyway... I am still a huge PC gamer but I still have a difficult time understanding all these new hardware pieces. Last time I built a machine I asked the shop how big of a hard drive it would support with my IDE drives and he gave me a puzzled look and laughed and said "IDE???? Who uses that crap anymore?" and I had no idea what "SATA" was.

If you ask me about how to hook up and create a megasquirt EFI system for a trackday car, ok, cool, I can do that.

If you ask me presently about new computer technology, I'm as lost as fred flinstone in the Jetsons.

So here's the thing... I play a LOT of starcraft 2. It's smooth... MOST of the time. I also play other games like .... ok mostly Starcraft 2.

However, i still do some drafting and 3D work, so rendering faster is always a plus. I also like HD movies, however, at full screen, even on my PC it lags..

So with today's standards, what is a good idea? I read up on SLI, it sounds pretty awesome. My fear is.... I do NOT want to reformat my computer. However, if i need to, i'm willing to if I can move up to Windows 7 since it seems a lot of games are moving that direction.

I do a lot of media with my dvd drive, and play a ton of games. I also do rendering and drafting as mentioned. I also use it for editing HD movies for all my automotive events and motorcycle trips... so editing speed is good.

My current system is my listed profile computer. What would you guys recommend for a media/gaming/editing machine that will last me now and a few years into the future. I'm going to take the old machine and turn it into my media machine for the wife for her ubuntu machine since it's using a single core and she is complaining it is "Really super damn slow."

Regards,

-"D"

Go with windows 7. you won't regret it. as for hardware... do you prefer AMD or Intel? AMD is better bang for your money, but Intel has better processors right now. Just depends on what your budget is.

I most definitely have preferred AMD, but mostly since that's what I'm used to.. If the intel is a better processor I don't mind if the difference in price isn't crazy. Thank you kindly for the reply.

Ok so a lot of people will push you to get all new bigger better faster more, but I like to be different so... here goes...

For what you're doing, you'll definitely see an improvement with an all new system, there's no doubt about that BUT I'm not AS certain you'll see enough of an improvement for the cost of it. The fact is that you're already running a dual core 2.2Ghz processor. If you step up to windows 7 (highly recommended) and your board will support it, I'd push you towards a memory upgrade. 4GB of DDR2-800 will leave that 2GB DDR2-533 coughing and wheezing. There are also relatively cheap low-mid range video cards now available which will do pretty much the same to that 8800 you have so I'd DEFINITELY be looking at those two items for a start.

If possible can you let us know exactly what motherboard you have at the moment - it'll give us a better ability to say "yeah, that'll keep you going for xx years" or "Oh hell, get a new one!" lol

I think the biggest question here is what kind of budget your aiming for. Also, what size screen is this being played on? If you have a monitor that's less then 22" (arguably 24"), you have alot of budget graphics cards available to you.

17" is the display, dual monitors. Good point on the board and such. I will check when I get home since I can't remember off the top of my head.

I'd go with slave's suggestion then. Slapping another 2gb of RAM in there is probably the best thing for you right now. If you want, you can look into lower end cards of the lastest generations (ex: gts450), but again the memory is going to help out the most both in terms of cost and performance.

Firstly... you have a driver or software issue if that PC lags playing HD movies.

Secondly, that PC's not all that bad. You'd have to spend a fair bit for a noticeable difference, especially when gaming at such a low res.

Thirdly, you say you don't want to reformat. If you've had the PC that long, that's the first thing I'd want to do. It's amazing the new lease of life a new installation can give to even a well optimised and maintained system.

Now I get to come out and be the "Go big or go home" guy.

I agree with Slave on the fact that if you want to keep your current system, upgrade the memory.
I don't think that the 8800 is making starcraft lag; since starcraft is a RTS, it's more likely a lacking CPU (and/or memory)

So, if you have somewhat of a budget and want to stay AMD, I would get one of their Phenom II X6's. It's 6 cores and a bit faster clock speed than your current chip. It also is a newer architecture. This chip MAY or MAY NOT work with your current board, so I would check with Gigabyte if it will work through a BIOS update. If it won't work, then there are plenty of reasonably priced AM3 motherboards available that will support it.

So to recap:

Memory (4GB)
Phenom II X6 (1055 or so)
Motherboard if you need it
GPU

I think he's on socket 939 so any CPU upgrade will be tough. I also found out he's already running 4ghost of RAM. Personally I would now suggest a decent graphics card upgrade along with an OS reinstall. If it doesn't give the results you're after, the card will drop right into almost any new motherboard so won't be wasted money

Yeah I thought I had fully updated my profile but I didn't, I am at 4 gigs. Good points guys. I didn't get to check out what motherboard I'm running, I'm in the middle of a torque tube rebuild on one of my cars so I'm a bit busy but tonight I will dig back into it and find out.

I got a bunch of new power tools here recently... so I'd like to get back into modding, hehe.

Actually, the 4400 was AM2 (I thought it was 939) so with a bios update you could have a whole wealth of options. I just updated the bios on my media centre the other week and that can now take pretty much any of the current lineup - think it's running a 5200 at the moment (but really not sure) - whatever is in it, I actually have it UNDERclocked - less heat - less cooling required, less noise....

Yes I said it, I have an UNDERclocked PC lol

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Originally Posted by slaveofconvention

Yes I said it, I have an UNDERclocked PC lol

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Blasphemy!!!!! :eek:

Nah, it's tougher to keep an underclocked CPU stable than overclocked. Migration and such. Interesting reading out there on it.

I'm gonna go both sides on this issue. Either way though, I would recommend upgrading to Windows 7 and doing a clean install.

On the one hand, given the hardware you have and the resolutions you're working with, you shouldn't be having any problems. The fact that you are says to me that you have a software or driver issue.

On the other hand, if you're going to upgrade anyway, do what Trace said, basically. :P You might need a new PSU for that though, but tbh, if you're upgrading that much stuff I would get a new PSU just on general principles.

The one additional thing I would recommend that hasn't been mentioned yet is this...upgrade your hard drive. It sounds like you're running on a pretty old drive (not still that IDE, I hope?), and the HDD is about the only component in a computer that will actually decrease in actual performance (ie, not because of new, higher hardware usage) over time. They just wear out, nothing you can do about that.

So, if you don't necessarily want to buy a whole new system, I would get a new HDD, do a clean install of Windows 7, and you should be good. If you do want to buy a whole new system, like Trace said, Phenom II x6 (the 1055T would be my recommendation) or x4 (Newegg has a 940 OEM chip for $95 that'll do you just fine), 8GB of RAM, new HDD, new PSU, new motherboard if you want, and new mid-end GPU (I would go for a Radeon 5750), and you'll be set for several years.

You don't need really anymore than 4GB of RAM. 8GB is pretty overkill.

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Originally Posted by Trace

You don't need really anymore than 4GB of RAM. 8GB is pretty overkill.

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Says the man who recommended a 6-core CPU. ;)

6-core is future proofing. You can always add in those extra 2 2GB sticks later. Besides, he needs the CPU for encoding and editing. The RAM, not so much.

I honestly think that any GPU beyond an 8800 is overkill for low resolution RTS gaming. CPU/HDD upgrades would be money much better spent.

Best to rule out any software issues with a clean install of Windows etc. before burning money though. If he can't watch HD movies without stuttering, we know there's something wrong with that PC.

Defrag the hdd.. particularly if you are watching ripped HD videos. :)

that is a good question. phenom II x4 or x6? lol I was asking myself that just earlier.

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Originally Posted by Luke122

Defrag the hdd.. particularly if you are watching ripped HD videos. :)

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No, the HD videos are music videos and such. The regular DVD movies we watch are just plopped in the drive and watched. Good point though, maybe a driver issue? I dunno, I even wrote a batch file to kill all processes but the bare essentials. Things run quite smooth in that mode, i call it "gaming mode" but even lately it seems just not like it used to be. Even after defrag. Although looking at today's video cards, it would appear I am not quite up to par... it's a 512mb card.

BTW motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3

not gonna lie, after a defrag my system ran 1k times better. I think on older systems you notice it a lot more. defraggler is a good one to use :)

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Originally Posted by CorsePerVita

No, the HD videos are music videos and such.

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These wouldn't happen to be streamed HD videos, would they? Because in that case I point a giant, condemning finger at your internet connection. I constantly have problems with caching on my crappy little 3Mbps DSL line. ...I am sooo looking forward to FiOS...

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Originally Posted by x88x

These wouldn't happen to be streamed HD videos, would they? Because in that case I point a giant, condemning finger at your internet connection. I constantly have problems with caching on my crappy little 3Mbps DSL line. ...I am sooo looking forward to FiOS...

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No, downloaded videos. I work for the ISP, so it's my job to make sure the internet has a kickass connection lol. Download speeds are happy :) These are mostly videos downloaded over a while when bands post them up and stuff and I go "OH i need to get that". Not a lot of them. But it's nice to watch them when I feel like it. Although I kind of wonder if maybe they didn't download right on some of them which is possible.

But overall I've noticed it just oddly sort of skips the video. For instance, the audio is excellent. The video will suddenly stop, then go back and be matching the lyrics, or it'll stop, then suddenly move in fast forward x11 to "catch up". Realllly weird. Only does it on the huge resolution videos where it would take up both monitors. "High quality" seems fine, regular videos are fine. 720 resolution is "okay" but sometimes does it, and 1080 is "WTF?"

Could be my video card perhaps, or the drivers? I wiped out the drivers and reinstalled with the latest version, still does it the same. Really really strange.

what are your temps in your system? just curious as you are running stock cooling on your CPU. I also have stock cooling on my system and after taking a fan out that was running on 12v (sounded like a jet engine) I have noticed my temps increasing enough that when I watch netflix in HD it sometimes causes a hiccup where I never had a problem before. Just a thought?

What media player/codec are you using? It almost sounds like it might just be a codec problem. When you play 1080p (1920x1080) videos on your dual 17" monitors (2560x1024), it has to compress the output to a smaller resolution than it is supposed to be, which in my experience will often create artifacts or strange behaviour like you are describing.

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Originally Posted by CorsePerVita

Although looking at today's video cards, it would appear I am not quite up to par... it's a 512mb card.

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Dude, this is so incredibly not important :P

Yes, the 8800GT isn't up to the standards of modern day high end cards.

This means that playing the latest games at 5760x1080 is going to be an issue for you. This does not, however, mean that playing HD movies should be an issue. The very latest in media centre GPUs (e.g. GT430) are no match for the power of a gaming card even as old as yours.

And the amount of memory you have is kinda insignificant... 128MB is ample for even the most taxing video playback duties, and even the latest games don't need more than that at 1280x1024.

You definitley, certainly, absoloutely have a "something is not working as it should" issue. I repeat my reccomendation of a fresh Windows installation with new drivers. Remember, also, to use a media player with hardware acceleration...

If you're worried about loosing your current installation, you could always create a new one on another partition/drive just to see if it helps...

alright, fair enough. i shall do so when i get the time.

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Originally Posted by CorsePerVita

alright, fair enough. i shall do so when i get the time.

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Let us know how it goes :)

I made a similar quantum leap on my last upgrade and only offer these points:

1) I don't have positive enough words to express how much helluva better, faster, and more stable Windows 7 is compared to disgusting Vista (better than XP, too!) and, surprisingly, all of my data migrated automatically and absolutely flawlessly. I loathe Microsoft just a tiny bit less each day I discover some intelligent new Win7 feature that earns my reluctant respect and approval.

2) A top tier of AMD machine (6-core Phenom II, 890FX chipset) is roughly equivalent overall to a top tier Intel system (6-core i7, X58 chipset) - or perhaps slightly better or probably slightly inferior (the debate rages eternal between fanboys) - but it costs between one third and half as much. Maybe there's more recent better stuff out there now, but AMD certainly won the bang-for-the-buck comparison by an overwhelming margin when I was shopping for a system. "Black" or "Extreme" edition CPUs with unlocked multipliers are available at a premium, if that's your thing.

3) You just can't go wrong by emphasizing the killer motherboard before any other part. Plan big when buying chassis, RAM, PSU, and cooling so you don't pay more through a series of incremental upgrades over the next few years. Initial cost can be spread over time (and you'll get better stuff for the same cash as technology marches) if you buy the starter CPU and get your pwnage GPU cards, RAM sticks, and fat HDDs later down the road as you can afford them.

4) Performance outweighs capacity on the system HDD. SSD technology is absolutely astounding for performance and I wish I hadn't been so skeptical about it over all those years.

5) Arctic 5 just isn't da bomb like it was 10 years ago. Indigo Xtreme 2 or Shin-Etsu is the way to do it.