Most of the new cards I've seen have had lower power requirements these days (especially those from the Radeon HD series) - 500 watts should be fairly adequate for most.

I'm surprised at the choice of card as well -

I don't know that much about the video cards, but isn't the 9500 considered a pretty poor choice for gaming in general?

It is a slower card by today's standards.

Even when I plug in a video card such as the GTX 260, the PSU calculator only comes up to 445 watts. If it were me, I'd invest more in the video card and less in power supply wattage that isn't needed anyway.

And I just reread the post and saw cruise said a new PC would cost $1,000... Huh??? I configured an HP with a Core i-3 processor, 4 GB RAM, 640 GB hard drive and a 1 GB GTX 220 video card for $690. WAY less than $1,000 and yes, it has 64-bit Win 7.

At ecollegepc, one configured with XP SP3, a Core i-3 processor, a motherboard upgrade, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive, the 1 GB GTX 220 video card, a Litescribe optical drive and a 460 watt power supply is $742. Again, WAY less than $1,000.

She buys (or considers) so many, it's hard to keep up

I think I lost count about 8 months ago over at MM!

(latest update)

Folks, I know this thread has fallen back to Pg 3 of the Glitches forum, and I'm afraid if I wait even a month longer, this thread will fall back to the end of Pg 4 (the last Pg) of the Glitches forum, be "pruned" and then it'll be lost.

As of now, I'm still saving up for these new PC parts prob. from Tiger Direct, and I have $400 saved up - but I'm thinking of buying laser printer after I put $200 more towards my new PC savings into my piggy bank - and **Good News** - Mom says I'll be able to buy myself both this laser printer and these PC parts next month!

Can anyone recommend a good color laser printer that's inexpensive and the kind that I won't have to worry about wasting unused color toner if one color (say yellow) gets used up but there's still some left of the other colors (cyan and magenta) yet I won't have to sacrifice quality in my printouts - especially when printing photos on plain bright white computer paper?

Thanks!


It turns out that this is what we've decided to do - thanks, Jenny, for this hot tip!

Yes - comics one day (at home), movies another day (at the mall), games another day (at the mall).

I don't know of any home users that use color laser printers. They're too expensive for most people. You can get a black and white laser printer for $100 or less if you're only printing out text and want to save money on ink.

There is also concern about laser printers causing indoor air pollution -- fine particulates that penetrate deep into the lungs.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2007/07/laser-printers-pollute-office-air.ars
You can find more links by Googling for
laser printer air pollution


I was comparing getting XP working on a current generation gaming laptop (with its proprietary parts and little or no support for XP drivers) with starting from scratch. It is at least possible to get XP working on a homebuilt computer with carefully chosen parts.

But if you're buying a desktop computer, I think you'll have fewer problems getting one ready made from ecollegepc. I don't think you'll save much (if any) money by building it yourself (or having someone build it for you out of parts you buy), and with ecollegepc you won't have to worry about choosing compatible parts or assembling the computer.

And no matter the design and what they claim, the cartridges are the nastiest, messiest things I've ever dealt with. Plus, the color ones are outrageously expensive for home use as Jenny says.

Have a new question - I might be getting my new PC sometime next month (as March ticks away). Actually, we're just going to order a whole bunch of new PC hardware from Tiger Direct (AFAIK) and one of my nephews is going to build the PC. To date I've already d/l the FreeSpace Open Offline Installer (parts 1, 2, & 3) and the FS Campaign Pack v2 (parts 1 & 2) from Hard-Light.net; and I'm going to have Windows XP and a NVida video card in this new PC - I'm a Win XP/NVida fan, and also I have a couple of brand new Windows XP driving games (Dirt and Sega Rally Revo) which I bought at GameStop this past Christmas Week of 2009, and I'm wondering - do any of you people also play racing/driving games in addition to adventure and darkside games on your PC's, and will I need SLi technology built into my new PC's motherboard to play these driving games I just bought and for this new FreeSpace Open and FreeSpace 2?

Should I invest in SLi motherboard in case adventure games start requiring this several years down the road, or by that time will it be time to build/buy a new PC?

Just wondering.

I doubt adventure games will require SLI any time soon. We probably won't even see any with "optional" SLI since it costs more to develop games with SLI and it just wouldn't be worth it for adventure games. The question is whether you're going to be playing any non-adventures that might use SLI.

I don't know any game of any genre that absolutely requires an SLI card. But if you think you might sometime play a game that has the option, check motherboard prices and see if you want to pay for the capability.

Uh, I still didn't get my new PC parts yet - as of today we're still working on my mom's studio that's off from our kitchen - we have the dry wall up, now my nephew has to apply a 2nd coat of mud to the dry wall, finish off the window by the stove, the doorway, and sand this. Then he has to paint it - the studio is 3/4 finished, July is almost here, so hopefully we'll order the new computer parts by mid-July (I think).

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Oh, and before I forget, I'll have to get a video card for this new PC that supports Shader technology, so when the time comes to order the parts, I'll provide a tentative list of these parts, ok?

Folks, I think we're almost (but not quite) ready to order these new PC parts from Tiger Direct - hopefully after Mom's studio gets finished in a day or so.

My nephew from Michigan is visiting with us and AFAICT he and my Penna. nephew were the ones who picked out these tentative new PC parts -
New PC parts from Tiger Direct

Please take a look at these pc parts and tell me if i should keep these parts or select better, more advanced parts for this new pc, and please spell out exactly what parts i should select - or tell my nephews to select.

and he's planning on putting these brand new, sparkling parts into this older case - pictured here:
tower - front A;
Tower - front B
Tower - rear A
Tower - rear B

As little as I know about building a new PC from scratch, I realize at this point some important things are missing - the sound card - am planning on running the latest and upcoming adventure games in this PC under Win XP; perhaps thinking of setting the PC up as a dual boot w/ Win XP/Win 7;

A DL DVD burner drive is missing;

and front USB ports in case I want to run MS Flight Simulator X or my driving games in this new PC and want to hook up the USB joystick/driving wheel, so -

shouldn't I discard this old tower (pictured above) and invest in a new one?

None of my nephews are computer gaming kind of folks, and they might insist on me doing things their way, but as I'm a gamer and they're not our view might conflict - so please show me how to convince both of them that the GameBoomer Way of building a new PC from scratch would be the best method all around for my new PC.

Thanks.

To Mods/Admins - this thread has fallen to the 3rd Pg in Glitches so I think I have to bump it to move it to page 1 - so sorry!


EDIT - I have to replace the video card -definitely! - (a NVida) & sound card - maybe? - (Sound Blaster Live) in my Dell Dimension 8200 (bought brand new from Dell in Nov. 2001), need advice, please, on which cards to select from tiger direct.

Were you going to keep your old Dell? Is it still functioning? You may have mentioned it somewhere in this thread, but I don't want to go searching back through 12 pages.

Does the case in your photo belong to your old Dell or is it a different one?

I'm very much in favor of holding onto old computers as long as they're still working. Every once in a while you run into a game that just will not cooperate with newer hardware -- or that crashes all the time on newer hardware.

The advantage to a newer case would be that you could get one with better ventilation. As far as I can tell from your picture, the old case has no holes in the front or sides to improve ventilation.

Are you choosing the Geforce 9500 GT because you think it will be more compatible with XP than newer Geforce video cards?

Did you want a built-in floppy drive? ***this picture of the motherboard you've chosen*** doesn't show a floppy connection. If you're going to want to play any games that are on floppy disk, it's handy to have a built-in floppy drive.

Yes, I'm going to keep my old Dell and this new desktop PC.


No, my Dell has a dark gray Dell tower. The tower in my photo came from one of my nephew's old PC that he had sitting around in his bedroom from his teenage years. He is now 22 years old, going on 23 in Sept.



Me, too - I agree with you wholeheartedly on this.

How do I explain this to my nephews? They act like they know everything (sort of) and are bent on doing computers their way rather than my way - they act like I'm a computer idiot.


No, my nephews chose this video card when he was last here this past Feb. I'd like to get the best video card (Nvida) for the new PC that I can, and also a replacement (Nvida) for the old Dell - advice, please, on both video cards?


Yes, I want a floppy drive in this new PC.

And also I want front USB ports - I don't think that tower in the photo I posted last night has any front USB ports.

And what sound card - I want to stick with Sound Blaster - should I get for this new PC? model? make? etc? etc?

And what about the DL DVD burner? What make/model/etc/etc??

Ask them to compare the specs of the computer that was in there before with the one that's in there now, and think about the additional heat being generated by the newer components. The power supply you chose is 700 Watts, which will produce a lot more heat than the power supply that was in there before, which was probably between 200 and 300 Watts. The video card you want (even if you don't upgrade from the Geforce 9500) will also produce more heat than whatever video card was in there before. Then the processor itself is also going to run hotter. So will the RAM. Nearly all of the newer, faster components of a modern computer are going to run hotter than those in an old computer, so newer cases needs more ventilation. You can put new components in an old case with poor ventilation, and the computer may work for a while. But you're apt to see problems like spontaneous reboots or shutdowns when the video card or processor gets too hot. Also when the components are subjected to excessive heat, they don't last as long.

I'd look for a case that can accommodate large fans. Large fans move more air, even when they are turning at slower speeds than smaller fans, so they are quieter.


For the new computer, I'd probably go with a newer card than the 9500. Since you sometimes play genres other than adventure games, you may want something like a GTS 250, keeping in mind that you probably don't want to spend much over $100 for the card. ***Here*** are some at Newegg to give you an idea of the price range. My brother prefers the design where there is a sort of box over the card because it helps direct the air flow. For adventure games alone, a GT240 should be adequate for the foreseeable future.

As for the other computer, from what I can see ***here*** it only has an AGP 4X video slot. And the computer has a wimpy 250 Watt power supply. So there's going to be a limit on what you can do with it. If you can find one, maybe a Geforce 7600GS would be best, or possibly a Geforce 7600GT (though a 7600GT would be stretching the capability of that 250 Watt power supply). Both cards will probably be hard to find in AGP. If you're sure you want an Nvidia, I'd be tempted to watch for one on ebay. You could probably find the older type Geforce 6200 or 5200FX cards, but they are weak cards. Do you remember what type of video card originally came with the computer?


Then choose a motherboard that has a floppy connection. Most Gigabyte motherboards have a floppy connection. On the motherboard the floppy connection may be labelled FDD.


Computer cases of that age didn't have them. That's one more reason to buy a new case.


I'm not up to date on sound cards. I expect the current SoundBlaster cards are fine, but the most recent SoundBlaster card I've used is an SBLive, which is 6 years old. The X-Fi is the current generation but the Audigy is still available and is much less expensive. You can compare prices at ***Newegg***.


There are a lot of good choices out there. First decide what type of connection you want to use -- if you want an IDE or a SATA burner. Decide if you want Lightscribe or not. Check the reviews at ***Newegg*** and find one with a good rating. If you want to buy from a local shop, take a list of the good ones at Newegg with you when you go shopping and see if you can find one of those models at your local shop.

I couldn't agree more with not using that old case for these new parts. They are going to need more cooling than that old case can provide. If cost is a consideration, there are many decent cases at Newegg for under $60. I used an NZXT case for one built that I paid $39 for after a rebate. It had a 120 mm fan in front and I added an 80 mm fan in the back for less than $10. An Antec 300 is available for about $50.

What's the difference between a IDE, a SATA, or a LightScribe DL DVD burner? I'll need this to install/play my new PC games, too.

Also, are the motherboards brought - like the ones you recommended, Jenny - are they tatooed?

And I think I'd like to install the OS's - dual boot Win XP/Win 7 - on this new machine. Where do I get all the device drivers from/how do I install them?

Speed - IDE has a max of 133 Mb/PS while SATA starts at 150, SATA II will support 300. IDE supports multiple devices (2 per port) - SATA is point to point (1 cable 1 device).



Lightscribe technology allows you to burn a label, DL (dual layer) refers to the size of the optical disc (DL discs have approximately twice the capacity of a single laver disc).



They will not be branded.



Assuming they're fairly new components, you won't have an issue finding both XP and Vista/Windows 7 drivers.

Jenny, Inland, Drac - just found out what kind of a video card my old Dell Dimension has - it's a Nvidia 64 MB DDR GeForce3 Ti 200; will have to get something identical or upgraded from this one - advice on what NVidia card/where I should get it?

The motherboard, sound card, and video card will come with a driver disc, or you can download drivers from the websites of the individual components. If the motherboard comes with onboard ethernet, the drivers for it will be included on the driver disc with the rest of the motherboard drivers (or on the website of the motherboard manufacturer if you want to get the latest drivers from their website).

Most motherboards come with onboard audio and sometimes onboard video, but if you're not using them, you don't need to install the drivers for them.

Without upgrading the power supply your choices are slim - maybe a low profile Geforce 6 6200.

EVGA 256-A8-N401-LR GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit DDR2 AGP 8X Video Card

Your AGP bus is only 4x, but the card will adjust down. Unfortunately, the card is only slightly faster than the Ti at 8x.

I'd keep the Ti. It could be useful running older 3D games that don't run well with newer cards.

Ok, I agree with you Jenny. Nate (my Michigan nephew) is coming back for a visit again in 6 weeks - this will be the end of August - so we'll order these new PC parts then.

Incidentally, Mom's studio is just about done - only a top for her desk has to be put in, the windowsills (2 windows) have to be put in, and a couple of shelves have to be put in - not much work on the part of these 2 nephews. Mom's computer stuff etc., has been put back and hooked up, including my laser printer, but the laser printer isn't hooked up - we're waiting for my ever-busy Penna. nephew to attend to all of this.

So Jenny, could you find the right Nvidia Ti video card for my Dell Dimension, please? I'm a complete moron when it comes to picking out the techy stuff on the computer, be it a PC or a mac.

Oh, and before I forget, should I get a quad core processor for that new PC or stick with that Pentium Dual Core processor that my nephews picked this Feb.? I wonder if there is such a thing as a Pentium Quad Core Processor - should I get this instead?