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fcbayer wrote: I need recommendations as to what component I should upgrade.  My computer specifications are as follows:

Pentium 4 1.7 Ghz
256 MB RAM
250 GB/40 GB HDD
(Video card not disclosed because I don't play games anyway)
Emachines

Thanks for any suggestions.

I'd add RAM. The most bang for the buck.
I wouldn't run XP with nothing less than 512MB of RAM.
So, I'd add at least another 256MB's
my 2 cents

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21528

yup, ram. it will definitley make the biggest speed diff, specially with xp as 000 said.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21538

I don't know about ram being the best "bang for the buck" on his system.

He's got a P4 1.7, so there's a chance it's a rambus system. Although it is an emachine...so maybe it has some real crappy sdram.

Check what kind of memory your computer uses before deciding, and if you can even upgrade it. Your motherboard might not support more ram than you already have. coughemachinessuckcough

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21569

well, assuming its ddr like 90% of all other p4 boxes, ram is the way to go for sure. even if it is rambus, increasing the ram is still gonna improve perfomance more than, say, upgrading his cpu, mobo or hdd. pretty much every p4 chipset will support at least 1gb ram, so i doubt there will problems in that area. matching rambus could be real pricey though, but if thats the case, hes best off doing the mobo and ram.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21585

I have two testing factors for my computer right now, i took the power supply out of my computer and tested it with a less powerful one that i knew worked well. I ran the game far cry (which is pretty demanding of your video card) and it ran without a hitch. Then i tried to run the game The Sims. The game crashed as soon as something complex started to show up (right after loading the family to actually play them). I have the DVD edition of the game and i'm playing it on a cheap 16x lite on dvd drive. could there be something wrong with my dvd drive that would explain why I can't run this game?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21600

so i'm thinking of getting a new power supply do you know which brands would be the best to choose from?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21601

the problems you are having with the sims sounds more like a software problem to me. if its locking up as soon the graphics come into play, and your other games are fine, id be willing to bet on it.

if you can in that game, try changing it to/from d3d to open gl. that should give you a place to start for now...

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21625

i have no idea how i could change that


Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21632

Some Good Power Supply Brands:
Enlight
Enermax
Fortron Source
Sparkle
PC Power & Cooling
Antec
HEC
Thermaltake
AOpen
PowerMan
Ahanix


Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21643

How about Best Power, that's the brand my supplier carries and I get them for super cheap, like 25 bucks for a 500 watt! Thermal sensors and all, and 2 fans. Never had a problem with them either.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:21651

HEY OLKMED

I am having the same problem with my AMD 3400 Socket 939 with a A8T Neo 2 Motherboard, ever since I first put it together it does not boot, I have to take the BIOS battery out, connect the power, disconnect it, replace the battery and press the power button, It tells me that there is no BIOS installed. The diagram in the manual shows the jbat upside down or something, cant figure what its supposed to mean. I installed windows after selecting default config, but I dont want to do anything unless I can figure out this BIOS problem, I guess my main thing is I need to get it to boot up all the time and remember my BIOS settings, cause this is weirding me out I dont understand why newegg would sell this stuff in a bundle package and it not be compatible. Any help would be great. I have replaced the BIOS battery, but it didnt have any new effect. Plus when it fail to boot, it appears everything powers up, it just doesnt click the motherboard to start or something, then when I pull the old BIOS battery switch, I hear a little beep from the motherboard and the BIOS error startup happens.
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:22812

Make sure the bios jumper in in the correct position. Manuals and pics can be wrong. Try it in both positions. I've had new motherboards delivered with jumpers in the wrong/clear position.
Just a suggestion.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:22817

I'll try that, someone helping me with it says that changing the jbat setting doesnt work, and that the motherboard is bunk, I have looked around the net and found a few people having the same problem which leads me the think that this isnt a bunk motherboard, but a Athlon 64 or BIOS problem, in your opinion, do you think this could be a bunk motherboard problem??

Thanks Alot

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:22822

One more thing, my friend and my brother both had to return their MSI motherboards, get them back before they worked.

just that.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:22825

Some older revision motherboards don't recognize these new A64 chips, namely a lot of the 939 pin 90nm ones. Your problem may be that you need to flash your BIOS.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:23077

Yeah i'm sure i bought the same bundle deal as you did, In the manual the jbat jumper thing is upside down the jumper should be set to the top two to keep the data. I lost my cmos bios settings everytime i started up my computer and i had to take out the jumper and put it back in for a while. I'm not sure if this is why, but it stopped doing this once i configured the cmos settings, i set the clock and made sure to select "save and exit" and it works fine for me now.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:23855

OLKMED wrote: In the manual the jbat jumper thing is upside down the jumper should be set to the top two to keep the data. I lost my cmos bios settings everytime i started up my computer and i had to take out the jumper and put it back in for a while. I'm not sure if this is why, but it stopped doing this once i configured the cmos settings, i set the clock and made sure to select "save and exit" and it works fine for me now.

Very Good.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:1584, old post ID:23858