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Stumped . . . should I upgrade anything or stand pat?

XMan

XMan

Lifer
I'm getting that "itchy-palm-upgrade" syndrome thing. So what components would you "vote off of the island" of my PC? 😉

T-Bird 1GHz at 1200 (9x133)
512MB PC133
Epox 8KTA3
Western Digital 30.7 GB HD 5400rpm
UltraPlex 40X
Plextor 8X/20X
Internal Zip SCSI
Soundblaster Live Value (Altec Lansing ACS45)
Asus V6800 Pure GeForce DDR
Sony GDM-2038 21" Trinitron

I'm pretty satisfied with everything except HD, video card, and speakers. I'm thinking 10,000rpm SCSI, Radeon, and Klipsch 4.1. But would the difference be worth the grand or so such an upgrade would set me back?
 
Go for the sound upgrade. Personally, I think the Santa Cruz is a much better card than the Live!, especially for gaming. Also be sure to listen to the Boston Acoustics BA-4800's. Speakers are very subjective, so listen to all flavors that you can.
 
I agree a new IBM 75GXP would make you smile... 🙂 And either a new Radeon 64 VIVO or Evil Kyro II would brighten up you day... 😉
 
"itchy-palm-upgrade" what, like the hair's growing in? Hehe, sorry...


You've picked up on what could use upgrading. I've still got a Superquad, so I can't say much on sound. Now speakers, hehe, I've got a Marantz 2275 running a pair of MTX 1540's. The whole floor hears me play CS...

Might the 10k be a bit overkill? Could you do with a good 7200 IDE? A whole lot cheaper...
Maybe a $77 Radeon LE?

(and just give me and my 366 celly the trickledown)
 
I actually like my SB Live card - I upgraded from a Vortex 2 - but I'd like some nice surround speakers like the Klipsch to get the full worth out of the card.

I don't know, I've had my heart set on a Quantum Atlas 10K II for a while . . . but I really can't justify it. I don't do video editing or anything like that, I just play games, word processing, MP3 encoding from WAV (I'm currently translating all of my comedy albums from tape and record to CD and MP3).

And for the games I play the original GeForce works fine. NBA Live 2001, Baldur's Gate 2, MechWarrior 4. Maybe I'll wait till the GF3 is a bargain basement price.

So . . . speakers and HD? I'm settled on the Klipsch, is the 75GXP the best 7200rpm as Bartman suggests?
 
You've gotta get a Radeon. 32meg or 64meg. It'll shine on your monitor. No kidding.

I'm currently enjoying mine. I'm rediscovering it. 128x anisotropic filtering tweak's out. CounterStrike play is at another level. Great 2d already. Overall very nice.
 
If you're happy with the SB, by all means then stick with it, otherwise i would have said get the Santa Cruz paired up with a set of BA4800s.... good sound for a good price (about 200 bucks total), amazing difference when i upgraded to that combo from a SB Live and cheapo Labtec speakers. I'd ditch the WD 5400rpm drive in favor of Maxtor 7200rpm drive. The vid card isn't tops, but it's not horrible either... it's good enough for now, unless you're a gaming addict... i'd get the h/d and sound system now, and wait for the Radeon 2 for your next vid card upgrade. Just my $.02 🙂
 
At least get a 2nd hdd to use as a master hdd. Preferably a IBM 75GXP but if you want a cheaper hdd than any Maxtor / Quantum 7200rpm's would do just fine.

Also, your sound card's fine unless you're a real audiophile. As for speakers I have the same set of speakers and I don't believe it's worth my money to upgrade. The only thing I would upgrade to are the BA4800's, the Klipsch speakers are overrated in my opinion after listening to them at a local Best Buy.
 
forget upgrading your hdd...minimal noticeable difference...

upgrade your sound set up...and your monitor...joking about the monitor.

sound for sure....get an hdd last
 
Don't listen to him, he's eeeeevil! 😛 😉

Upgrade your HDD NOW, or else. How can you stand using a 5400rpm WD drive? That'd utterly horrible, yuck yuck yuck! Upgrading that to a new ATA100 7200rpm 2MB-buffer hard drive from IBM, Quantum or Maxtor will give you an ENORMOUS speed increase.

Oh, yeah, and that 64 Meg Radeon is a good idea too. 🙂
 
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