luv4skating

Or do I need to spend that much?

Right now I have a ATI 9600se, but I really want to up-gradeI really want a Nvidia 6800GT 256 AGP, does it have any overheating problems?

My System specs are

Dell 8200 Pent.4, 2.0GHz, 768MB Ram, Windows XP

Sarkast

You wont be able to get a 6800 working in your DELL system. Reason is - your power supply wont be able to handle those cards.
So in order to upgrade to a 6600, 6800, ATi X800 etc series card you will first need to buy a 450-500W power supply - which wont fit into the DELL case - so you also need to buy a new case.

luv4skating

What Case do you reccomend

waffleweed

antec makes really good cases and power supplies. i have an antec case and an antec power supply and my power supply has been working great.

i really like antec cases and i recommend antec to anyone wanting to buy an antec case. antec cases provide good cooling, plenty of room and lots of bays, and also their case is pretty sturdy.

good videocards right now to get are the 6800GT and the ATI X800XL.

Sarkast

Its impossible to suggest a particular case without knowing what you are looking for and what your budget is. You dont necessarily need to buy a 150$ brand name case - a 30$ case and a decent power supply can do the job just fine.
If you start looking for a new case just try to find one you like and fits your budget - and then google a review for it.
What you need to look for is a ATX formfactor case - and its probably a good idea to look for one with the options to mount 1 or 2 120mm fans so you can have good airflow through the case as this is important nowadays - with components inside the case (RAM, HDD, gfx card, CPU) easily cranking out 150-200W of heat.

luv4skating

What do you think about these cases:

RAIDMAX Blue 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATX-868WUP" -RETAIL


- Specifications -

Case Type: Gaming Case
Color: Blue
Material: 0.7mm SECC
Drive Bays: 5.25" x 4/0, 3.5" x 2/4 (external/internal)
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2xUSB2.0, Audio
Power Supply: 420W
Cooling System: 2 x in-take temperature control fans
Motherboard Compatibility: ATX Form Factor 12" x 10.5" or smaller
Dimensions: 7.8" x 17.7" x 17" (WxDxH)

Model#: ATX-868WUP
Item#: N82E16811156137

Rating: Vote(s): 44 Review(s): 28
FedEx Saver Shipping $15.99


No
(ETA:4/13/2005) $52.00



Antec Solution Series Black ATX Mid Tower Case, Model "SLK3000-B" -RETAIL


- Specifications -

Case Type: Mid Tower
Color: Black
Material: Steel
Drive Bays: 5.25" x 4/0, 3.5" x 2/5 (external/internal)
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2 x USB
Cooling System: 1 x 120mm rear fan, side Air duct
Motherboard Compatibility: Standard ATX
Dimensions: 18.3"(H) x 8.3"(W) x 18.6"(D)
Features: Removable Side Panels, Removable Drive Cages for 3.5" drives

Model#: SLK3000-B
Item#: N82E16811129152

Rating: Vote(s): 20 Review(s): 13
FedEx Saver Shipping $15.99


Yes $55.50

With this case I can get a 500W power supply but would that be over-kill?

Heres another:


RAIDMAX Silver Case 10-bay Case without Power Supply, Model "ATX-268WSP" -RETAIL


- Specifications -

Case Type: Gaming Tower
Color: Silver
Material: 0.7mm SECC Steel
Drive Bays: 5.25'' x4, 3.5''(External) x2,3.5''(Internal) x4
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: USB2.0 x2
Cooling System: 80mm Side Panel fan x2
Motherboard Compatibility: ATX Form Factor 12" x 10.5" or smaller
Dimensions: 16.2''Hx8''Wx17.8''D

Model#: ATX-268WSP
Item#: N82E16811156019

Rating: Vote(s): 48 Review(s): 37
FedEx Saver Shipping $15.99


Yes $29.00

Thoughts please.

Sarkast

I'd say from an airflow point the antec is probably the best. The first one gives you lots of options to have fans installed aswell. The last one really doesnt have much to offer when it comes to airflow - especially the back.
You could compensate by buying a power supply with a huge 120mm fan. Or if you are not too bad with a dremel etc then you could probably modify it.

Seeing that you had the antec on the list with 50$ plus may i add my case to the list of posible candidates ?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...148-003&depa=1

If you dont like the way it looks - then dont even consider it of course. But airflow is great (i have a front and back 120mm fan in it). Here is what i did to the inside:

luv4skating

Very nice case.....I now have a Dell 8200 Series this is everthing that it had when I bought it:

1 3T622 ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), 850E, AUDIO, TRANSFORMER SKY DIVE MINITOWER, DIMENSION
1 9K795 PROCESSOR, 80532, 2.0G, 512K, 400FSB, SOCKET N
1 7N242 KEYBOARD, 104, UNITED STATES, SILITEK, LOW COST, MIDNIGHT GRAY
1 735HE MOUSE, PERSONAL SYSTEM 2, 6P, 2BTN, WHEEL, 1.3A, MICROSOFT, MIDNIGHT GRAY
2 4T234 RAMBUS INLINE MEMORY MODULE, 128, 400M, 64X16, 4C, 40
2 9578D CARD (CIRCUIT), MEMORY BOARD, MEMORY, PRINTED WIRING BOARD, CONTINUITY, RAMBUS
1 1P930 KIT, COMPACT DISKETTE, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE, ROXIO, V5.2
1 6J118 COMPACT DISK READ WRITE, 680M, I, 5.25" FORM FACTOR, 24X, NEC CORPORATION, CHASSIS 2001
1 1K636 MODEM, V.92, DATA FAX, INTERNAL, PATRON, ASIA, LATIN AMERICA, NORTH AMERICA
1 8N275 COMPACT DISK DRIVE, 128K, I, 5.25" FORM FACTOR, 48X, LENGTH/LONG, 8481B, CHASSIS 2001
1 7E840 KIT, SPEAKER, 120V, HK395, SAMSUNG, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
1 5H175 CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, NV17, FULL HEIGHT, DIMENSION
1 9M556 DISPLAY, CATHODE-RAY TUBE, 17, DUAL, E772C, MIDNIGHT GRAY, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
1 5R212 FLOPPY DRIVE, 1.44M, 3.5" FORM FACTOR, 3MD, NO BEZEL, NEC CORPORATION, CHASSIS 2001
1 7J378 HARD DRIVE, 40G, I, 1N, 7.2K, 40G/P, MAXTOR VIPER
1 6K223 KIT, SOFTWARE, WKS-STE2K2, 5.25" FORM FACTOR, ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MFGR., ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 3R352 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WINDOWS XP HOME, COMPACT DISKETTE W/DOCUMENTATION, ENGLAND/ENGLISH, A02
1 3K021 CARD (CIRCUIT), NETWORK, ETHERNET, 10/100, GVC-REALTEK

I have upgraded the harddrive to 120G, the Monitor to ViewSonic ProSeries P95f+ 19 in.the v-card to ATI 9600se and the Ram up to 768.

What I'm trying to do is not just change the v-card (although I had planned on just changing it until I had saved enough to buy a new cpu) Than I found out from Dell that to upgrade from 2.0 to 2.4 would be over $700 so I said that for $700 I could Build a nice new rig, so I want to get a ATX form factor and 939 socket a New CPU, MoBo, Case, 550W powersupply,and 6800GT v-card what I would like to do is keep my HardDrive and my Ram but I'm not sure about that.

I would like the slots to be PCI

Any suggestions?

Sarkast

Looks like your PC is using RAMBUS memory - correct ?
If so you wont be able to transition it over to a new system as the Socket 939 (and nearly all others aswell) use DDR memory (or DDR2 for newer intel platforms).
You can of course take your harddrive out and use it for your new system.

This is only my opinion so dont let that influence you but:
Maybe the best choice would be to sell the PC as it originally was or with the parts you cannot put in your new PC - and put that money towards your new build as you are pretty much starting from scratch anyways.
As you said you'll need a new case, mobo, cpu, RAM, PSU etc.
I should also mention that you wont be able to use the windows XP that came with your DELL so factor in a version of windows XP (home is around 80-90$).

I am not sure what exactly you mean with " youd like the slots to be PCI".

luv4skating

I beleive their the V-card slots I going to switch from apg to pci, and yeah it is RAMBUS memory, but I'm keeping my Monitor, and hard-driveI had no idea that Dell was such a RIP-OFF but that OK I got good use out of it!

Any suggestions for CPU, MoBo, Gaming Rig in mind?

Sarkast

I am more of an "intel guy". So i cant really suggest a particular board that would suit your needs best. But i think socket 939 with an AMD64 is defenitely the way to go for you (obviously gaming is your main interest - correct?)
Now you just have to figure out what features your new board should have (SATA, RAID, etc etc) and that should limit your choices of Socket 939 down to a handful of candidates. After that just google some reviews as you can find one for nearly every board out there especially the new ones - that should help you to decide.

luv4skating

Correct gaming and longivity, can you tell alittle more about the features?

I'll also Google them.

bnm81002

please help me out but what are the makes and models of those cards, looking for a good card for my soon to be built computer? thanks

Sarkast

The 6800GTs are from nVidia - the X800 from ATi.

Of course you can always find these cards from other manufacturers like XFX, BFG, Saphire, Asus, Gigabyte and about 200 others. They arent any worse (for the most part) than the "original" - but usually cheaper.

bnm81002

are there anything else along with those models like Pro, Premium, Deluxe, etc? I've seen some other video cards with updated models/versions with some of these words? thanks

Sarkast

Yes there are always diffrent models like Pro, XT, XL, SE etc. Usually that means they differ from the original in some way - number of pipelines, clockrates etc. So you have to be careful and look at the specs and how an "XT" might differ from the standard. There are plenty of reviews for any card imaginable on the web so a simple google search for a prticular model will let you know how well it performs compared to other similar cards.

luv4skating

Could you give me some more info on the mobo/cpu features and what to stay away from, remember this is going to mainly be a gaming rig.

Sarkast

Thats something you need to make up your mind. You have to ask yourself:

Do i need SATA, How many SATA drives would i like to be able to connect.
Do i want Raid and which modes.
How much memory do i want to be able to put on the board.
Do i want to overclock.
What audio do i expect from my board (5 channel, 6-8 etc).
Do i need more PCI or PCI-E slots.
Do i want SLI capability.
Do i need Firewire etc.

bnm81002

one other question I forgot, sorry
how much of a PSU is needed, 350? 400? 450? 500watts? or more? thank you

Sarkast

That depends on what card you decide and what the rest of your system specs are. (A lot of drives, fans, lights etc)
The wattage printed on a power supply also doesnt mean much if its not a brand name trusted company. What you have to make sure is your PSU has at least 20-24 Amps output on the +12V rail - or even more.