Ok, Tax Refund = Upgrade.... to what...

[Bokishi]

polar bear poo WTF

[Oerwinde]

So it turns out my 3rd year engineering friend is wrong, and my RAM won't fit. So I have to spend another 200 bucks on RAM. So I was like "Geez, I have to spend 1000 on this upgrade, I should just buy an AGP card and stick the rest in savings" Then I looked at the price of an equivalent AGP card... I was going to pay $230 for a 7600GT PCI-E, for a 7600 AGP its 500 bucks. So screw that.

[Oerwinde]

Ok... So here's what I got.

 

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...cs&promoid=1068

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...39&promoid=1068

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...GY&promoid=1068

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...el&promoid=1068

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...GA&promoid=1068

http://search.ncix.com/displayproductdetai...anufacture=EVGA

 

Plus AOE III as a free bonus.

 

Turns out its their 10th anniversary. So thanks to me waiting instead of buying everything right away, I was able to get the 3.2 GHz processor instead of the 2.8 GHz, for 30 bucks less than I was going to buy the 2.8 for. So with all the discounts, it came to the same price as just the motherboard, burner, video card, and processor before. Only I got the RAM, Media card reader, and better processor. Lucky me. This should last me at least 2 years.

[metadigital]

I'd get an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775, too, as the default HSF is noisy and ineffective.

[Oerwinde]

I'd get an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775, too, as the default HSF is noisy and ineffective.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'll see if they have one when I go pick up my order. I'm used to noisy fans with my dual Xeon system. It roars. So I'm not in a big hurry.

[metadigital]

Nvidia GeForce 7600GT

The 7600GT is the replacement to the 6600GT ... is a big improvement over the 6600GT, as it has 12 pixel and texture processors (four more than the the 6600GT), eight ROPs (four more than the 6600GT) and five vertex pipes (two more than the 6600GT). The 7600GT also includes the same pipeline optimisations that Nvidia made to the high-end-7-series GPUs.

 

However, to keep costs down, the 7600GT has only a 128-bit memory interface, which could restrict its performance at high resolutions and AA/AF settings. Helping to offset this is 256MB of fast GDDR3 memory running at 700MHz (1.4GHz effective), while the GPU speeds at 560MHz ... our test PC drew just 194W from the mains running 3DMark06 ... it supports SM3 and SLI ... much faster than the 6600GT it replaces ...

Need for Speed:Most Wanted at 1,280 x 1,024 with low AA and low AF, and in

FEAR and Quake 1,024 x 768 at full detail.

 

However, because of the 90nm process, the 7600GT is also extremely overclockable and we managed to increase the GPU frequency to 680MHz, and RAM to 850MHz (1.7GHz effective). At these settings, FEAR was playable at 1,280 x 960 with 2x AA and 2x AF, while Quake 4 was playable at 1,280 x 1,024 with 2x AA and 8x AF.

 

The 7600GT performs well (particularly when overclocked), and is fantastic value for money. If you can't afford the

[Oerwinde]

Ok, so I got everything, installed everything, and now windows won't start. Tells me to check for viruses or check my hard drive settings. It started fine before.

[Bastilla_Skywalker]

Tax refund= getting rich, means putting all your money in a term and let it sit there and gain interest=getting more rich.

[Oerwinde]

Tax refund= getting rich, means putting all your money in a term and let it sit there and gain interest=getting more rich.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

or buy lots of fun computer parts. That turn around and not work.