Upgrading my pc

[Windu]

Hi,
I am new here and I am looking to get some help/advice. I had some help about a year ago and built a computer. Friend ordered all of the new parts and I helped him put it together. So my knowledge of what works together is limited. computer specs; AMG 2800(barton I think), ASUS A7V8X-X motherboard, 120 gb seagate HD, soundblaster audigy 2 sound card, pqi 512 DDR333 pc 2700 ram, Radeon 9250 128 vid card, running xp pro.

Here is where my problem comes in. My crt monitor quit on me so I bought a new lcd.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001226

I know my vid card is not doing this monitor justice. I am wanting to upgrade my vid card and maybe the ram as well. Computer has been running slow lately. I have narrowed it down to 3 vid cards;

ATI X1300 PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102677
ATI X1600 PRO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102678
Geforce 7800GS http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1067919571&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice= Not sure which one

I am looking for thoughts and recomendations, pros/cons. Newegg was some help but I need some more personalized advice.

Also about upgradeing the ram. This is my chip;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141167

I am looking to add this chip to the system.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820145504

I have been to corsair website and this chip is compatable with my motherboard, but will it slow down to work with my other chip?

Thanks for your help,
James

[thefultonhow]

The GeForce 7800GS is definitely the best of those three cards, but may be bottlenecked by your processor. You may want to look at a GeForce 6800GS instead, as you'll probably get more bang for the buck considering what processor you have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130264

For the RAM, Corsair XMS won't do you any good; just get Corsair ValueSelect.

[Windu]

For the RAM, Corsair XMS won't do you any good; just get Corsair ValueSelect.

Thanks for the reply but why will the xms not work for me? Will the value select work with my other card?
Thanks again,
James

[thefultonhow]

XMS will work, but you don't need it and you won't get any benefit from it over ValueSelect. I'd save the money if I were you.

[glc]

Why not just buy another matching PQI module? If you want another gig, get this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141166

Makes no sense putting a faster module in - and if it's stable with PQI DDR333, just match it up. Matched ram is always best.

The 6800GS is the best bang for the buck right now, and it will make your 9250 look awful.

If your computer is running slow, it's time to do some malware scanning and some cleanups. Hardware does not get slower over time - but operating systems sure do.

[Windu]

If your computer is running slow, it's time to do some malware scanning and some cleanups. Hardware does not get slower over time - but operating systems sure do.

I use ad-aware, is that what you mean? Is there a better one than that? What other kind of cleanups?
James

[thefultonhow]

Make sure your Ad-Aware is upbdated to the latest version and definitions file. Try using Spybot and Microsoft Windows Defender as well, make sure they're updated too. Finally, once you've run all those, try posting a HijackThis log in the System Security and Privacy section.

[Windu]

try posting a HijackThis log in the System Security and Privacy section.

Is this just like a regular post or is there something I have to put into it? I have little knowledge about this.
James

[thefultonhow]

Is this just like a regular post or is there something I have to put into it? I have little knowledge about this.
James

Download HijackThis from here (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html). Then follow the instructions in this thread (http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=103171), and then run HijackThis and post the log.

[Windu]

I have been reading the reviews of the 6800gs and I have a question. They talk about unlocking pipes? unlocking the quad? and number like 12/6 and 10x7. What exactly are they talking about? Link to vid card.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130264

How does the 6800 compare to the ati 1300 or the 1600. Or is there no comparison?

Thanks,
James

[thefultonhow]

From what I can gather, the 6800GS is a decontented version of the 6800GT. The GT has 16 pixel pipelines, whereas the GS only has 12. Some people have succeeded in unloking some of the four disabled pipelines on the GS. It's not really anything to worry abotu though, and you'll probably viod your warranty if you try to do any modding to unlock pipelines.

From the benchmarks I can find comparing the 6800GS to the Z1600XT, the 6800GS does slightly better in most benchmarks. The X1300 is not nearly as good, as it's a midrange card.

[Windu]

I think you have sold me on the 6800. But looking on newegg I see 3 different 6800's. What's the difference and which one would work best for my setup. Overclocked?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048+1067918817+1069609639&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

Thanks again,
James

[thefultonhow]

Get the cheapest one, which in this case is the PNY because of that rebate on it.

[Windu]

one last question, would adding 1gb of ram be overkill to my computer? I would have 1.5 after adding the 1gb chip.
Will 1gb chip even work? with 512 in already?

[thefultonhow]

one last question, would adding 1gb of ram be overkill to my computer? I would have 1.5 after adding the 1gb chip.

I am personally fine with 1 GB... unless you're planning on playing a lot of Battlefield 2, 1 GB would be fine.

[Windu]

Thanks thefultonhow, you have been a lot of help.
I just ordered the vid card and 1gb ram. Rebate on vid card ended today.
Thanks again,
James

[Windu]

Another question. I was reading some more on the pny 6800gs vid card that I bought the other day and in system requirements is says duron or athlon class processor. I have a barton. Is that going to be a problem?
Thanks,
James

[glc]

Barton is just a core - you have an Athlon XP.

[Windu]

Thankyou glc! So what is the difference between the barton and duron?
James

[thefultonhow]

There are two different types of processor names: family and core. The family is the basic type of processor, e.g. Athlon XP, Athlon 64, Sempron, Duron, Pentium 4, Pentium M, Pentium D... In each of these families there are several core revisions; they often have different process sizes, amounts of L2 cache, and sometimes instructions and pipeline lengths. So, The first Athlon XP was Palomino, followed by Throroughbred, which was a die shrink, followed by Barton, which moved from 256K to 512K L2 cache.

Duron is a family name; they have multiple cores for Durons. One of them is Applebred... that's the only one I know off the top of my head. I don't follow budget core names.

[Windu]

Got my stuff today. Does it matter what ram chip goes into the frist slot? Does the 1gb one have to be frist then the 512?
Thanks,
James

[thefultonhow]

Either arrangement should work fine.

[Windu]

Thanks again.