New system advice please.

Dcully

Ok guys im thinking of egtting a new system.
my current one is a brand model Packard Bell P4 1.5,384mb,Gforce 4 ti 4200.
I have heard i cannot upgrade my cpu,TBh i dont know this for a fact .
When i go into system information through windows it says maotherboard is manufactured by NEC.Is this correct ?Do NEC make motherboards?

Basically if i simply cannot upgrade cpu im gonna have to get a new system.I checked out Komplett.ie but all they have is bundles ie mobo,ram,gfx card.this would be fine if i was skilled enough to install software and everything else but unfortunately i can only stretch to Gfx card and ram in this respect.
I have been told to stay clear of brand names this time around, so that rules out Dell ,or does it?What ya think guys?What about Alienware?
Sorry for all the questions guys but i want something approaching
3.0 Ghz,512 ddr,GF4 Ti or better .

If im have to get complete new machine ill sell existing one .
If im spending big dosh now i need it powerfull to save upgrades too soon after.
I wish my mobo supported faster cpu as gfx card i have is superb and i can easily get more ram.
Any advice much appreciated.

BTW what are those Dell Dimensions like i see advertised on tv?

Creamy Goodness

putting a pc together is like eating cake smetimes i like to do both at same time. every thing comes with manuals even if your 100% unsure.


alienware is way too overpriced but i do like their new cases

Chowley

Building your own PC really will save you a lot of money.It really isnt a hard thing do either even if your not confident there are loads of guides for it on the net.

I had a delll before wouldnt buy one again very problematic.But have heard the current ones are good.

Build your own computer and I recommend you go the AMD route.This is often up to personal preferance.But look at ot this way you dont need to spend all that money on intel chips which you wont need for a long while.You get yourself an athlon xp 2700 or 2800 plenty of ram and good gfx card yould save loads of cash and you wont need to upgrade for a long while.No one needs a P4 3ghz or a xp3200+ their just milking the cash cow.:ninja: :ninja: :ninja:

Adrian

If you can afford an alien ware get an alien ware
they are the best

ozt9vdujny3srf

I'd say your best bet if you don't want to build is www.elara.ie.

otherwise buy the parts seperately from komplett and elara and build it (a monkey could do it).

On a side note, THat sysyem seems fine and i can see no good reason for you to upgrade unless you are playing some very demanding games orusing power hungry apps.

Raz

Yes your current system is fine, it's twice as fast as my current home PC. :rolleyes:

To try find out for sure what Motherboard you have you could open the case up and look at the MB. What you'll be looking for is white print on the circuit board that's larger than the rest. If you see NEC anywhere then that's what you're looking for and you'll know indeed that your board was made by NEC

If you managed to find the exact name of your board then you'll most likely be able to find your spec sheet somewhere online and this will tell you the limits of the board ie. highest supported CPU, RAM limits, BIOS version etc.

The cpu in your system runs with a 400MHz FSB* afaik. Therefore your current motherboard should run any P4 with a 400MHz FSB.
(Feel free to correct me people)
If it was Packard Bell that told you your CPU can't be upgraded then they're filling you with crap IMO.
I think there's a 2.6GHz P4 that runs a 400MHz FSB. Your system should accept this with a smile plus they're not very expensive.
If you want to upgrade your RAM then you'ld want to know what speed it runs at. (266MHz, 333MHz, 400MHz. That's PC2100, PC2700 and PC3200 respectively) If you found the spec sheet it'll tell you.

Putting in things like a new CPU or a new motherboard isn't that difficult, all it takes is a little patience, time and a lot of care.
There's guides all over the net. Intel have one for installing their processors, installing a motherboard quite literally entails screwing it into place! It's intimidating cos you've spent a lot of money on these bits and you don't wanna break 'em but that doesn't mean it's very difficult.

Hope that helps you decide,
Raz.

*FSB = Front Side Bus, you can usually see this figure on the processor specs when shopping on Komplett.ie

I hope I didn't write that to noob-ish for you

Captain Trips

A good place to start would be to just go for a
mobo
CPU
RAm

bundle. You can get almost every config, and the deals Komplett run are pretty competitive.

Forget about everything else for the moment.

At the same time, to build your new system, get a new case. Your current box will prob be ATX, or something standardised, but TBH the cases rarely have good power supplies or slots, etc., . SO get a nice new case for maybe 50 to 100 quid.

Makes it much easier to start building a new system if you can start installing the new mobo straight away, all instructions as mentioned abive will come with it, and the screws will be in all the right places, very straightforward.

Basically I's say got for what I mentioned above, and get a new case, maybe a new PSU also (A good 400W+ one, with plenty of ports for case fans and hard drives).

Going to 2500+ or next step up or two with half a gig and a recent mobo, with case and fan shouldn't set you back more than 500 or so.

Conlai

NEC own PB. They aren't bad, PSU's a bit weak though. Post the model IMedia ???? and I can tell you what you can and can't upgrade with it

ando

Originally posted by Captain Trips
and the deals Komplett run are pretty competitive.

Could you get a good system from Komplett for about €1200 ? I'm starting to play Battlefield 1942 now, but my P3 500 is showing her age, I just want something that will play the game smothly with a good amount of frames per second

Capt'n Midnight

I thought that all AT format mother boards were made by the lads in Taiwan or the Leixlip.

Best thing to do is check the BIOS version - if the board does not have a unique identifier on it.

NEC make a lot of chips so the presence of the name NEC on a chip on the board proves nothing.

If NEC own Packard Bell - well those guys have been using intel MB's on consumer PC's for just as long as DELL / Gateway

Conlai

Hate to tell you but Intel stopped making mobo's in Leixlip a long while back, transfered production to Purto Rico (spelling???). Anyway PB also stopped using intel mobo's a while back, mainly use MSI boards now and the odd Gigabyte.

Chowley

Puerto Rico. Seeing as you asked.