PCA Forums

hey guys,

im a newbee! i just want to say hi. i current own a amd and i love it but i didnt make it (thank the guys at h.p.). i'd like to know any tips or anything i can do to make this h.p. better for me. its an amd 1.2ghz 256mb of ram, 32mb tnt2 graphics.......................it has intergrated sound so i wanna know what you would suggest for a good sound card. windows me is running on it....yuck! should i go to 98? anyone live around memphis, tn? thanks in advance guys!!!

Yeah....if you can...I would go back to 98. XP would be good too.

An Audigy would be a good choice for a sound card. 63 dollars @ http://www.newegg.com (OEM)

Upgrading that TNT would be good also. If you don't want to spend that much money a GF2 pro would be a good choice. Or the GF2 based on the Ti500 would also be a good choice.

Welcome to PCA

Memphis eh. You an Elvis fan? I am I admit.

For upgrading as GraingerGuy said a better video card would be your best upgrade. Something like the GF cards he mentioned or an ATI 7500 or 8500. You can get sb live 5.1 sound cards for around $32 at http://www.newegg.com

XP is my choice os but anything is better than win Me.

Welcome and as others have said your best bet on gaming proformance increase woudl be a newer videocard. Minimum a GF2 ti...other good ideas would be for buget(kyro2, radeon VIVO, voodoo5) for the less cash straped Radeon 7500 or GF3 ti200. if ya got LOOT GF3 Ti 500 or R 8500.

hope this helps some.

Greg

hey welcome!

video card was one on my list to change. im going to get a sound card first. i'm not to big on computer games.......well yet.....but imma probably get at the least gf2. now what are the best ways to get the most out of my amd? im just now learning bout all this stuff. im going to school at tech skills i just started, im bout finished with my a+ . next will be n+, mcse, ccnp, ccna.......anyways, thanks for the info yall, i appriciate it alot!

wannabetech:

Yes, I remember my tech days. I started out assembling power supplys, then moved on to calibrating encoders at Litton. After working at JBL measuring loudspeakers, I went for broke and started a 4-year electrical engineering degree....but that was many moons ago. Becoming a tech is going to get you places, so learn it well. There is no advantage to skipping the material, avoiding the homework, and stuff like that. Do it right, and you will gain the knowledge you need to move up in the tech department.

Regarding your system, overclocking may be possible, but you'll need to determine what model mainboard (motherboard) you have, what bios updates are available, and stuff like that. Cooling in your case will probably become an issue, so start looking for places to mount a few fans. Proper air flow, such as sucking it in from the front, and expelling the air out the back, will remove that nasty heat that affects all of us overclocking guys. But first, learn more about what you have. See what is available within the bios you currently have. Can you adjust the Front Side Bus (FSB) speed? Before you start changing the options, write down your current settings. You may screw things up enough that your machine stops booting into Windows. In those situations, you sometimes need to change a few things back in the bios to recover..... :kookoo

Welcome!

I have to agree, the best upgrade would be a video card. I can't say much on sound, as I am runnong onboard sound right now also. Which, is 128bit, and isn't bad.