---- CHEAP system for a friend ------

[firebirdude]

A couple of friends and I play networked games together at work. We all have work PCs and 4 of us have seperate 2.6P4 rigs for games, while my 5th friend has an older dell laptop. (Not sure of any specs) We play a lot of C&C Generals together and my friend's laptop slows us all down.... almost to the point where we don't even want to play. Even if he plays by himself, it's still REALLY slow. Soooo.... he has decided either A: try to upgrade his laptop some how OR B: possibly buy a whole cheap desktop for work (He has a nice rig at home) He would MUCH rather do option A, but if that's impossible......B. Now, we're not sure what exactly he can upgrade in the laptop. How hard is it to add a video card to a laptop? I bet he's using integrated graphics now as are we (*sigh*) but ours holds up MUCH better then his laptop. Anyhow, I could get a model number off his laptop so we could look up the specs, but what can we do to upgrade it? Or.... as last resort..... what would be some cheap desktop components that we could put together for him? And I mean cheap! Just a few hundred dollars. We don't need a keyboard/mouse or monitor. We use the work ones with a KVM switch. But remember, the desktop is the last resort! Thanks guys!

AMD 2800+ (Barton Core)
Asus A7N8X
2 X 512MB Mushkin RAM
Sapphire ATI 9800PRO

 

[georgebeee]

look at building yourself an amd xp system based on an abit nforce2 mobo and an amd mobile 2500+ cpu. you should be able to oc it to 3200+ area. 512 mb mushkin or corsair memory is very reasonable at newegg.com. if you need a cheap video card consider either the 9600 pro or xt, or the 9800 pro. your budget, your call.

 

[DonnieDarko]

if the laptop has intergrated graphics, then he can't add a video card.

Watch out for the <b><font color=red>bloody</font color=red></b> Fanboys!

AMD64 2800+ :: MSI Neo-Fis2r :: 512mb Kingmax ddr400 :: Sapphire 9800pro 128mb :: 10K WD Raptor

Addicted, finally.

 

[phial]

most laptops don thave the option to add graphics cards, and the ones that do can only add certain ones


cheapest/best performance option would be to build a 500$ desktop based off an athlonxp (could go used, hella cheap) and a GeforceTi4200 (dont bother with the FX series, the only good ones cost a bit of money, and the cheap ones suck worse than the previous generation TI4200) or Radeon 8500/9500/9600pro , and with some cheap pc2700 ram, 512 would be perfect

an athlonxp 1700+ on a KT333 motherboard would even be decent for light gaming

-------
<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>

Brand name whores are stupid!

 

[Mr5oh]

I would just build an Athlon XP system.

MSI Board $50
2500+ XP $70
512 RAM $75 (PC3200)
Case $50
80 gig $70
Total = 315

Get on eBay and you will find TI-4400 for $15-$30. The TI-4600 are $30-$50. A TI-4200 is pretty much the same as these cards except its 8x instead of 4x

With everything in there, you could build the complete thing for $350, assuming you have stuff like a monitor and keyboard and such.



My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>
Overclocking Results: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc2.html</A>

 

[ChipDeath]

A TI-4200 is pretty much the same as these cards except its 8x instead of 4x

Nope. Ti4200/4400/4600 are all the same card with different clock speeds, and ALL AGP 4x Ti4800 is 4600 with AGP 8x, and 4800SE is 4400 with AGP 8x, IIRC.

I'll go check that, but pretty sure....

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro @412/740

 

[ChipDeath]

The 4200 is available in both 4x and 8x versions. It looks like the 8x Version Came equipped with faster memory though.

The 4600/4800 is clocked at 300/650 (Core/Mem)
The 4400/4800SE is 275/550
the 4200(4x) is 250/444
the 4200(8x) is 250/515

No idea why they didn't call the 4200 8x card something else, like they have with the other two. even more strange when you consider it's the only one which will actually have any performance increase over it's 4x brother .. should have called it the 4300 or something.

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro @412/740

 

[blackphoenix77]

$3-400 Computer-

-Asus A7N8X-X Socket A Motherboard($63)
-AthlonXP 2500+ Retail($89)
-I would pick up a used ATX case to save on S/H($25?)
-Sapphire 9600Pro($130)

All this for about $300. I would try to look for some of this stuff used. You won't need Cd-Rom right? I'm sure you could just pull it out of an old system to install whatver and put it back, get no-cd cracks. I guess you'd need speakers too..get'm used or from another machine/headphones.

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+(12x211)</font color=blue><font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green><font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>

 

[endyen]

You may want to think about an Abit NF7-M for $89 from newegg. The integrated graphics will be only slightly better than yours. If you get an xp-m chip, when you guys get upgraded again, you will be able to pick up a 6800 graphics card, and OC the processor, and still have him in the game.

 

[firebirdude]

Thanks for the replies guys. They have been a great help. I check the laptop's model number. It's a Dell Inspiron 2650. It's got a 1.7G P4, 256MB PC2100 RAM and uses Nividia Geforce2 G100 (16MB) graphics. I have already picked out most of the easy desktop stuff. Optical drives, HDD, etc. I figure he mise well buy a CD burner in case he needs to move a mass amount of info to/from the PC. And it's only $25... compared to like $18 for a regular CD-ROM. Well worth the couple of bucks I think. And I went ahead and picked out an 80G 7200RPM hard drive for him for $62....the 40G was like $55 or something. Again, well worth a couple extra bucks. Got a case and 350W PSU for $21. Good deal. Haven't decided 100% on the CPU/MOBO or the video card really. I'm thinking about AMDs new Sempron line. The 2400+ to be exact. $65 retail. If he wants cheaper, then maybe an AMD 2000+XP for $57 OEM. Or if he wants better, a 2500+XP Barton for $79 OEM. For mobo, I can get one with the Nvidia Ultra 400 chipset, 8X AGP and onboard LAN (which we need) for around $44 retail. Can't see me beating that. After shipping and everything, it's looking in the $450 range total. Can I get a few more suggestions for video cards? Trying to keep it under $100 new if possible. And 8X AGP would be bada$$. Oh and none of us have really tried overclocking anything....so we will probably keep everything at their stock speeds. Thanks for your help guys!



AMD 2800+ (Barton Core)
Asus A7N8X
2 X 512MB Mushkin RAM
Sapphire ATI 9800PRO

 

[ChipDeath]

I think endyen's suggestion for getting an Nforce2 IGP board is quite a good one - The built in graphics on that Chipset are a geforce4 MX standard, so would be adequate, plus they generally come with an AGP slot so you could upgrade later if necessary. Would add a few bucks to the price, but only $30 or so.

And 8X AGP would be bada$$.

Not really. Won't make the slightest difference unless you're shelling out more than $200 on a Gfx card, and even then you'll not notice the difference. That said though, I don't think any nforce2 boards support only 4x...

About the Semprons, they use a different rating system to the XP line, so a 2400+ sempron is <i>actually</i> equivalent to an XP2000+ (more or less)

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro @412/740

 

[endyen]

Not only does the NF7-M have decent graphics, but it also comes with 2 year warranty, and Abit quality. I cant bring myself to trust a board that costs <$50.

 

[firebirdude]

First question...C&C Generals says it requires DirectX 8.1 support, however when I look at video cards with the GeForce4 MX chipset on them, it says they only support up to DirectX 7.1. I don't really know enough about this....maybe this is a dumb question, but will that motherboard still work for us?
Next, I'm still a little leary about using intergrated graphics at all. I realize that is a bada$$ chip, but I need to make sure everything works smoothly the first time we play and my friend feels he got his money's worth. Long story short, it takes FOREVER for shipments to get to us. I need to order one time, make sure I get EVERYTHING I need, put it together, and have everything go smoothly the first time we play. I can't just make a quick run to a local place and pick up a cable I forgot or something....that being said, what are some common things that companies don't include with their hardware. I understand some pieces are OEM while other are retail, but I remember missing a couple small things when I built my PC. Example, is a floppy cable included with the motherboard? And I know the audio cable for optical drives are commonly not included...anything else? Thanks guys!

AMD 2800+ (Barton Core)
Asus A7N8X
2 X 512MB Mushkin RAM
Sapphire ATI 9800PRO

 

[ChipDeath]

C&C may well want DX 8.1 installed, but that's not the same as requiring Full DX 8.1 Hardware. The engine will simply not use any 8.1 only effects (will replace them with something easier to render).

You said the rest of you are using Integrated graphics - <A HREF="http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040211/radeon_9100-10.html" target="_new">here </A> is a fairly recent review of the current up-to-date integrated offerings. The nforce2 IGP (which is what we're talking about here) is actually still the best available. So if the rest of you are happy with the gaming performance on your (integrated GFX) P4 systems, you should be perfectly happy with this, possibly even slightly envious .

Last time I bought an Abit motherboard it came with a floppy cable and one IDE cable (as well as a load of other bits 'n' pieces). Can't remember if the CD Audio cable was included though. Google for some reviews of the NF7-M and many will show what it came with.

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro (VGA Silencer Rev3) @418/742

 

[firebirdude]

Thanks for your reply. All of you have been a great help to me. However, I really think I'm gonna steer away from any integrated graphics. Exactly as that link states, "In the end, we can only recommend PCs with integrated graphics with a clear conscience to users who are sure they will never play a 3D game on their PC. While office applications, surfing the internet and the like won't pose any problems, games are a different matter" and "Even inexpensive add-in cards in the $50 price category play in another performance league altogether." That's what I'm worried about. He'll feel he didn't get his money's worth. We won't always play Generals. Maybe our next game hook will be a little more demanding...? And we won't always be using our integrated graphics. We'll upgrade our PCs some time. I wouldn't want him to have to spend more money to keep up with us again. We could get the cheaper motherboard with no graphics, throw an extra $20 and pick up an ATI 9200 (example). Again, I really value all of your opinions and I thank you for helping me with this. However, I think I'm gonna choose to go the video card road. That being said, best bang for the buck video cards $100 or less new?

AMD 2800+ (Barton Core)
Asus A7N8X
2 X 512MB Mushkin RAM
Sapphire ATI 9800PRO

 

[malignant]

9600 Pro. Ive seen some for around $110.