Looking for upgrades on my desktop.

[SaviorSelf]

Mainly wanted to get a new case to start with, and not sure what size I would need. Seeing people with impressive setups in the desktop thread, I wanted to step mine up a bit. I got this computer around a year and a half ago iirc, and it's ran FFXI pretty well, even maxed out. As always, something better comes out every few months. I'm not saying anything is definite, more just looking for what I should aim to improve and a few choices, i.e. if I should get a new graphics card, a link to a few cards with various prices.

Link to the website with the specs:
Gateway Support - Specifications

For the cases, just picking a few off of newegg that look cool. Which of these will/won't work?

Newegg.com - APEVIA X-CRUISER-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - XCLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply - Computer Cases

tl;dr With above specs, what could be improved?

[Askari0]

From what I see you already have a pretty decent setup. All I can think of to add off hand is maybe a little more RAM, a better graphics card, and possibly a little faster processor (This is the least of your worries imo)

In terms of RAM as far as I know DDR3 is atm no better than DD2 and may actually be worse. Your setup might also not be able to handle DDR3, I'm not sure if a special port is needed for it or not. RAM is also pretty cheap right now.

2 more gigs wouldn't make a huge difference but it's cheap enough and if your running vista then you'll be able to use all 4 gigs of it.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Another option but really superfluous comapred to the other.
Newegg.com - Patriot Viper 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory


From what I see you don't really need a new processor but if your looking to upgrade it's one of the things that you might want to get, you just HAVE to make sure that your motherboard supports the new processor or else your getting a new motherboard to. If I weren't at school right now I'd look up a motherboard that is compatable with these but...

Quad-Core, pretty cheap actually and is top of the line, without dropping a grand, atm.
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

$1000 Processor for giggles:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 Nehalem 3.2GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops


Graphics cards. Probably the only thing that is going to make a huge difference in your gaming experience. Atm they are pretty damn cheap as well. You can get a damn good 1GB card for about $120, which is actually pretty incredible since the technology for 1GB cards is more or less brand new.

1 GB DDR5 (I have no idea on DDR5 I didn't even know it existed until now. You'll have to reseach it a little)
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - MSI N250GTS-2D1G-OC GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H467P1GP Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready iSilence 4 Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - MSI R4870-T2D1G Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Once again big boys for giggles:
Newegg.com - DIAMOND 4870X2PE52G Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-Bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - EVGA 017-P3-1294-AR GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


Hope this is some help along with what other people post.

EDIT: If you don't have to, don't buy a new case. It'll be a realy pain in the ass if you have to take apart your whole computer, move it to the new case, and then hope you got it back together right. If your new at building a computer you really don't want to try anything new and possibly difficult. The less chance you give yourself of screwing something up on accident the better. Cases are really only for the looks unless your getting one with all the extra fans and maybe a cooling system. Even so a good heat sync and you don't need to worry about all those fans.

[Kryssan]

Ask has a good point about the case. This is one of the reasons I prefer building my own computers because you always know exactly whats in it and you can typically do it for cheaper if you know where to look/how to shop for it.


That being said, good brands for cases would be like Cooler Master, Thermaltake, Lian Li, and Antec. I seriously doubt you'll ever be disappointed with the quality you get from those brands. Silverstone is good for HTPC computers as well. Chenbro makes some of the best server cases. I've currently got an XClio case and a NZXT case, which are alright, the XClio was a nice build, the NZXT I have some complaints with regarding it's construction, but that's how it goes. When you stray from the good brands you know you're always taking a chance.


You won't be able to put DDR3 into that motherboard so I wouldn't even try it. Look for some decent DDR2 memory made by XMS, Corsair, or Mushkin if you're into hardcore gaming and want to play with voltages/clocks, or just go pick up some Kingston sticks if you just want a RAM up - or if you want to be sure it works. Kingston works in just about anything first try so long as you pick the proper speeds.


As for graphics, if what you have does what you want, don't change. Reason being you only have one slot anyway, and due to the age of that board and that it is a Gateway it is likely that's a PCI-E 1.0 slot, not a 2, so you're brand new spiffy card will probably be bottlenecked by the board. That said, if you do decide to upgrade, I've found XFX, EVGA, HIS, BFG Tech, and Sapphire to be some of the best brands. I'd include ASUS, but they have quality control issues sometimes. Not a problem if you're ok with RMAs. Look for something with a decent amount of memory, speed, and pipelines. Check the reviews for the cards, see which ones run the hottest and either take precautions for it or chose another card. We can get more indepth if you want later.


If you intend to go way overboard, might want to think about a new power supply too. 700W should be ok for a one gfx card system, but if you need to upgrade that, you will never go wrong with a PC Power and Cooling or Thermaltake power supply. I love PC P&P to death. Those PSUs will run forever on whatever you have (providing of course its large enough to handle the job, but they have a PSU for everything so no worries). A few other brands worth mentioning, CoolMax, Antec, for example.


For the processor I really wish your Gateway linked specified the chip type. Could make a guess that it's LGA775, but that's something you don't wanna be guessing on. If you want to upgrade this, find out exactly what you need. Then go find out what your MB can support. Some older MBs don't have the BIOS support for newer processors. These are things you need to know before you start looking for a uP. When I build I always find the MB I can use best for the job and then go hunting for everything that'll fit on it, and since you're probably keeping that MB and you don't know it's stats you need to find out. Once again, this is why I prefer to build my own.


Hopefully this wall o' text post is some help to you, if you have some more specific questions later I'll look into them for you.

[Olo401]

A few things about cases..

- Decide what size you're going to need. The most common size available is Mid-Tower (or standard ATX), and it's also the most widely used. If you want or need extra expandability for RAID arrays, and you have an extra-tall space to put a computer, consider a Full Tower.

On the other end, if you need something small in size for a home theater PC or small space, look into a Micro-ATX case.

- Heat Factors. Cases these days are made either from steel or aluminum. Aluminum dissipates heat much easier than steel, doesn't rust over time and it's MUCH lighter in weight. It's also more expensive.

- Quality. Not necessarily how the case looks, but how it's laid out. Does it get good airflow? Are the rough edges of the metal buffed down to prevent cuts? Where are the front ports located, if it has front ports at all? Are the HD bays (or even the CD/DVD bays) toolless?

Of the cases you picked out I'd get the Apevia X-Jupiter. It's got at least two 120mm fans, toolless bays & snap-in HDD rails, bays that are turned the right way so they shouldn't block a long video card.. stuff you expect to see in any $50-100 case these days.

Some other ones in the same price range to consider for mid-towers are the NZXT Apollo & Tempest, Antec 300 or 900, and Cooler Master Centurion or NV-690, and maybe NZXT's new Panzerbox. For full towers you can't really get better than the Coolermaster's HAF 932, Cosmos and ATCS 840 or Antec's 1200.

And if you've got the money... Lian Li's Armorsuit series is fantastic. It's like a domaru for your computer parts, only more useful and better looking..

BTW in my reading it's almost always better to get a case without a power supply included. The ones that are included are typically low wattage and low quality.