sdamos Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 (edited) Greetings all. Below is the system specs for my computer. Also, near the bottom are the upgrades I was considering on a budget of less than $200 for Christmas. Please give me any advice you may have. Games are most important for me, if that helps. Here is my system info: CPU - 1.8 Ghz Pentium 4 Base Board Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Product HP System Board Version A08 _____________________________________________________ System Description Hewlett-Packard HP Vectra VL420 Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Name DESKTOP Model HP Vectra VL420 Total Physical Memory 256 MB _____________________________________________________ Product Name HP Vectra Version VL420 Vendor Hewlett-Packard ____________________________________________________ BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends Inc. Version JA.01.04US SMBIOS Major Version 2 SMBIOS Minor Version 3 Release Date 20010719******.******+*** _____________________________________________________ Operating System Caption Microsoft Windows XP Name WinXP Version Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) _____________________________________________________ System Enclosure Description Low Profile Desktop - ChassisLock: Present Serial Number N/A _____________________________________________________ CDROM drive Drive Description Manufacturer D:\ BDV316B DVD-16X E:\ CD-Writer cd16b HP _____________________________________________________ Disk Drive Id Description Model Manufacturer Serial Number Interface type 0 IDE Fixed Hard Disk ST340016A ST340016A N/A IDE _____________________________________________________ Logical Disk Name Description Size Free Space Volume Label A:\ Removable Disk NaN MB NaN MB C:\ Local Disk 38153 MB 24496 MB DESKTOP D:\ Compact Disk NaN MB NaN MB E:\ Compact Disk NaN MB NaN MB _____________________________________________________ Configuration Number of Floppies 1 Number of Parallel Ports 0 Number of Free Memory Slots 0 Number of Serial Ports 0 _____________________________________________________ Memory Number of Memory Slots Maximum Capacity 3 1572864 KB _____________________________________________________ Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce2 MX Horizontal Resolution 1024 Pixels Vertical Resolution 768 Pixels Color Resolution 32 Bits/Pixel Refresh Rate 75 Hz Adapter RAM 32 MB _____________________________________________________ Monitor Manufacturer Type Plug and Play Monitor Serial Number KR13742883 Asset Number _____________________________________________________ Network Adapter Description Intel® PRO/100 VE Network Connection MAC Address Speed 100 KB _____________________________________________________ Keyboard and Mouse Keyboard Description Keyboard Layout IBM enhanced (101- or 102-key) keyboard 00000409 Mouse Description Mouse Number of Buttons N/A N/A _____________________________________________________ USB Devices Description HEWLETT PACKARD USB Keyboard Port Name USB002 Model USB Keyboard Manufacturer HEWLETT PACKARD Serial Number Interface Class UNKNOWN Upgrades I would like to make: CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives) Lite-On 16X DVD Dual Drive, Model SOHW-1633S Beige, Retail Memory (System Memory) A-DATA 184 Pin 256M DDR PC-3200 - OEM Video Card ROSEWILL RADEON 9600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RW9600-128D" -RETAIL Upgrades I would like to make, are they compatible with my system? Will the RAM I have be compatible with the RAM I am purchasing to create a total of 512? Should I remove my CD-RW or my DVD player when I add the Lite-On CD/DVD Burner, or both? Can I overclock my CPU safely? Edited November 29, 2004 by sdamos Link to post Share on other sites
DragunLadee Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 You won't need another burner when you put the dvd burner in there because it'll burn both cd's and dvd's. It's your choice. You don't say what kind of ram you have in your system now...just what you're wanting to buy. And I highly doubt you'll be able to overclock your cpu any, if at all, because of it's proprietary nature. HP's don't take kindly to that, and frankly the wimpy power supplies they come with wouldn't hold up anyway. Your best bet would be to build your own and get away from the pre-built systems if you can. Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted November 29, 2004 Author Share Posted November 29, 2004 How do I know what type of memory I have besides looking in the case? Also, I only have $200 to spend, at this time building a new system is not an option. Any advice? I know I will not need the CD Burner, my question is should I remove both drives, or leave one of them. And if I was to leave the DVD or CDRW drive, which one would you leave in? Link to post Share on other sites
DragunLadee Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 Download this program, install it and run it. It will tell you everything about your system, including what kind of ram is in there. Everest Home Edition Well I have both a dvd rom and dvd rw drive in my system, so I guess that answers which one I would leave in. Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted November 29, 2004 Author Share Posted November 29, 2004 (edited) Ok, it says I have 256 MB (PC133 SDRAM) Way cool program by the way. So, am I correct in thinking that if I purchase any PC133 memory it will work with my system? Will the pins all be standard for PC133, all that good stuff? How do I know how much I can put in? If I bought a 512 to add to the 256 would it take it all or not past 512? Also, I see that my video card is only 32MB, that sucks. I cannot wait to get a faster one. Edited November 29, 2004 by sdamos Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted November 30, 2004 Author Share Posted November 30, 2004 anyone? Link to post Share on other sites
ManiaK Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Well, we still don't know the manufacturer of the ram... but that DOES rule out you using the ram you mentioned earlier. You can only use PC 133 SDRAM or less in it. Apparently it doesn't have DDR capabilities. Link to post Share on other sites
KRAM Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 The max ram size module you can put in your system is 512mb. So yes you can add to what you have in your system right now. You should have 3 ram slots on the motherboard, even if you have two 128mb strips in there now you should have one slot left for the 512mb strip. Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted November 30, 2004 Author Share Posted November 30, 2004 Thank you for your replies. I have 2 slots left open so no problems there. Does anyone have any recommendations of software configurations that will help my system run faster during gameplay even after these upgrades. It sounds like many of you have a lot of knowledge in software configuration as well as hardware configuration. Any advice would be appreciated. Is all PC133 168 pin or do I need to check that before I order? Also, my budget is $200, is the combination below a good choice for the money or would you all do something different? Here is what I plan to buy: Lite-On 16X DVD Dual Drive, Model SOHW-1633S V-DATA 168 Pin 256M SDRAM PC-133 ROSEWILL RADEON 9600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RW9600-128D" Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted December 1, 2004 Author Share Posted December 1, 2004 Anyone? Link to post Share on other sites
mariol90 Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Description Low Profile Desktop - ChassisLock: Present if yours is the standard desktop, a video card will fit (normal size), however if its the smaller one, a video card will not fit (unless it is a low profile, which i'm guessing you have). also, make sure you have an AGP slot. the DVD and memory look ok. Link to post Share on other sites
sdamos Posted December 2, 2004 Author Share Posted December 2, 2004 Thanks! It is ordered, hope it all fits correctly. Thank you all for your assistance. Link to post Share on other sites
IanG Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 (edited) Did you check to see if you have an AGP Slot?? I hope you did, or your not going to be able to run the video card. If you do, all looks good Edit: It looks like Mario was right. I believe it is low profile. I don't think the card will fit, even though it has an AGP slot. You might have to like keep the side off of it or something. Edited December 2, 2004 by IanG Link to post Share on other sites
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