emachines computer

[the beasto]

my computer is a emachines 897mhz processor thing ( i dont no alot about computers)

anyways ive got 256 of ram, a hercules graphics card and a 5.1 sound card i added these things on.
i want my comp to be alot faster as when im opening i few progams it goes really slow, so i was wondering what i can do to make it fast.

does anyone no what the standard motherboard in these things can hold in CPU wise?

cheers kris

p.s i forgot i was going to build myself a new comp but its to much hassle for me

 

[Stu DemonD]

What OS are you running?

Adding more RAM is a cheap way to upgrade, although personally I would start again.

 

[the beasto]

operating system? erm.. its a intel celeron

i dont want to build my own comp cause i dont no what to do and will cost to much

 

[OwenS]

TBH 897mhz is nothing by todays standards, but it all depends on what you are going to use it for?


if you are planning on playing high end games your going to need something high end (3.0 Ghz+) but if your just looking for something that you can browse the net and type up letters and emails ans stuff then i would recommend anything over 1.5 ghz these can be picked up relitivley cheaply.

 

[the beasto]

i want it to be fast enough to play games on but not 24/7

 

[OwenS]

you may think i'm taking the mick but tesco's do a good pc system atm about £300 and i think it's about the right spec for basica games play

*Checking it out now*

EDIT: http://www.tesco.com/electrical/product.aspx?R=8243503&bci=266|PCs&in_merch=1&in_merch_title=Featured_Prods&in_merch_name=iQon+AMD+3000%2b+Great+Price+Family+PC+Package+With+DVD+Burner+%26+Lexmark+Colour+Printer+-+(BLACK)

 

[Liam]

Playing relatively up-to-date games on a decent system needs a graphics card and a 2.5GHz+ processor and 512MB of RAM an 80GB HDD.

A word of warning though, search for a thread by me about Emachines PC's and you may think twice about upgrading that particular PC.

Liam

 

[the beasto]

yeh i have seen those tescos pc's but i havnt got the money i have like £100 max lol

 

[OwenS]

£100.. ok well i agree with bloomfieldliam i wouldn't recommend upgrading that pc.


for 2.4Ghz processor 256 ram and a motherboard with onboard graphics and sound, for £81.04 dump in a case and add 512 ram (£25) and that shouldn't be a bad system for gaming. not high end and some games require specific graphics cards. but it shoould do the job.

 

[Stu DemonD]

What type of games are we talking about here?

Counter Strike: Source? Half Life 2?

 

[the beasto]

where can i get this stuff from? and how do i install everythink so it works?

thanks for the help

 

[Stu DemonD]

Have a look on www.ebuyer.com

 

[the beasto]

one of my mates has told me that atx motherboards are the newest kind around and this is what i will need?? also would someone be kind enough to explain what all this PCI n that stuff means cause im looking at cases and im just gettin confused

also what stuff i will need to build a comp?

 

[Stu DemonD]

You have options with GFX cards.

Onboard - as in part of the motherboard; not ideal, very limiting.

AGP - the old standard, short for Advanced Graphics Processor, although now been superceded by:

PCI-E - PCI Express graphics cards.

I am about to update my GFX card, but only have AGP as an option....

As for building your own, how much money do you have? £100

Case
Keyboard/Mouse
Monitor
Motherboard
Power Supply Unit
Case fans
Processor
RAM
Graphics card [unless on board]
Optical drives - DVD and/or CD
Floppy Disk Drive [not redundant, you try and install RAID during OS installs]
Hard disk drives
Operating System

Erm..:chin:

 

[the beasto]

You have options with GFX cards.

Onboard - as in part of the motherboard; not ideal, very limiting.

AGP - the old standard, short for Advanced Graphics Processor, although now been superceded by:

PCI-E - PCI Express graphics cards.

I am about to update my GFX card, but only have AGP as an option....

As for building your own, how much money do you have? £100

Case
Keyboard/Mouse
Monitor
Motherboard
Power Supply Unit
Case fans
Processor
RAM
Graphics card [unless on board]
Optical drives - DVD and/or CD
Floppy Disk Drive [not redundant, you try and install RAID during OS installs]
Hard disk drives
Operating System

Erm..:chin:

ive got the monitor,keyboard and mouse and yeh £100 ive got no money atall as ive just paid off my holiday which was £451

also would i be able to use things out of my emachines comp?

cheers kris

 

[Stu DemonD]

also would i be able to use things out of my emachines comp?

Doubtful - may find the power supply unit is crap.

Without knowing the spec of that machine, it is very hard.

 

[the beasto]

ok, so what do i need to go and buy then? and will i be able to use this hard drive in my emachine comp?

 

[custard]

honestly those machines often use weird bespoke specs.
you would be far better using it as is and putting cash away towards a better machine.
my pc wasnt top of the range 2.5 years ago when i bought it and its far higher spec'd than that.

 

[chaos]

I wouldn't reuse the HDD from the eMachines PC I'd buy a new HDD and have a clean install of XP or something . I built my own last year, it's fairly straightforward Have a look on www.buildyourown.org.uk