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Posted: May 25, 2009 03:42 am  | |||
      IRC Nickname: Lefty Group: Emeritus Posts: 3340 Member No.: 1055 Joined: June 30, 2008 Total Events Attended: 211    | So I have my dad's old laptop that I have been using for about 18 months now, and I have been working with 1 GB of RAM. There are a few things that I would love to do on it, but when I do them, the computer bogs down and lags. The main two things that I am wanting to do is play HD RuneScape (when I go fullscreen, no music, highest detail it works fine, but that is the only way it doesn't lag), and I would love to be able to watch movies while playing RuneScape. Well I have been looking at upgrading the RAM on the computer from 1 GB to 2 GB. Would this upgrade in RAM allow me to do these two things or what? Also if there are any more details needed, I should be able to provide. --------------------      | ||
Posted: May 25, 2009 09:29 am | |||
 IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49 | First off, I need to know the processor speed in order to determine much of anything. Second, an extra gig of ram will do nothing but good. If your computer is a dual or quad core system, I suggest going for at least 4gb(so long as you have a 64-bit OS installed). 2GB is good for a single-core/32 bit system. -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link  I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||
Posted: May 25, 2009 11:37 am | |||
 IRC Nickname: Dnovelta Group: Emeritus Posts: 2750 Member No.: 130 Joined: January 20, 2008 Total Events Attended: 137 | Like Robbie said, adding RAM never does any harm. If you're adding a second stick and using the one that is already there, just make sure the speeds match up - you don't want to pay for a better one when your current one runs at a slower speed. Also, it's possible that your computer will be able to RUN both easily but the QUALITY of the movies or RS may not be great. Sometimes I do that on my Mac when I use the lower graphics setting (256 MB not the 512 MB setting) and my movies start to lag. It's fine when I play in Standard Detail, but HD it lags. I'm able to run loads of other things (iTunes, multiple browsers with multiple tabs, Skype, mIRC, TS, etc.) but the videos lag a bit. Just a heads up. --------------------   | ||
Posted: May 25, 2009 02:47 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: Lefty Group: Emeritus Posts: 3340 Member No.: 1055 Joined: June 30, 2008 Total Events Attended: 211 | Here is a bit more information that is just basically copied and pasted.. Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard System Model: Pavilion zv5200 (PR465UA#ABA) BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz Memory: 1022MB RAM Page File: 1270MB used, 1190MB available Card name: NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go 64M -------------------- | ||
Posted: May 26, 2009 04:14 am | |||
| IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49 | After taking a look at that new info, two things come to mind: 1, you probably will be able to run a movie(you may need to do some special settings though - I suggest using Media Player Classic when you do). However, just because you can play a movie, doesn't mean you can play that same movie full-screen. You can probably play at whatever the origional resolution is, like 640X480 or 720X480 for a DVD. 2, its time to upgrade. That computer is ancient. My -old- computer that is perhaps 5 years old now was faster than that, and it started getting too slow for me. You can get a top-of-the-line AMD system for less than $800 nowdays, if you are willing to buy the parts off Newegg and assemble it yourself(About a days work, anyone can do it). If you want to go this route, I can help you. -RobbieThe1st -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||
Posted: May 26, 2009 11:49 pm | |||
| IRC Nickname: Lefty Group: Emeritus Posts: 3340 Member No.: 1055 Joined: June 30, 2008 Total Events Attended: 211 |
I would definitely love the latter, but the thing is getting it past my parents. My dad did get a smile when I said that you said that this computer is ancient and when I told him that you had quoted a top of the line computer at $800, he questioned me.  So yeah. If you want to send a link to a wishlist, or tell me what you picked out for the computer, I would greatly appreciate it. Hell, I really appreciate the information that you have given me so far. -------------------- | ||
Posted: May 27, 2009 05:25 am | |||
| IRC Nickname: RobbieThe1st Group: Founder Posts: 770 Member No.: 2 Joined: December 26, 2007 Total Events Attended: 49 | Ok, lets see. Starting from the basics: Motherboard: MSI 790GX-G65 CPU: AMD Phenom II - You have two options:Memory: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Power supply: This is one component we really really do not want to skimp on. We have a few options here - According to a calc I used, the recommended minimum wattage was approximately 500W, so anything from 500-750 is fine. Anything above that is just plain overkill, and you pay for it.
Hard disk: Yes you could spend $$$ and go with a SSD, but only a couple of sparse ones are as good as a good hard disk actually. And some can be -much worse-. Go with proven technology here, and get a good old spinning harddisk. I strongly suggest the Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB. It is the best harddisk I have found in terms of both speed and price-per-GB. If you imagine yourself needing more than 640GB(hard to do actually), you can get three of them and set up a "Raid 5", which gives you 1280GB of space, and the ability for one drive to fail without losing any data. Optical drive: Lets add a good old DVD burner, like this LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black IDE Model GH22LP20, or you could upgrade to a Blu-ray reader, like This: LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-Ray DVD ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner or a Blu-ray burner, like This: LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L. I personally would wait on getting the Blu-ray drive for a few more months; they are sure to come down even further, and adding a drive after the fact is trivial. Case: Ah, the case. This is very much of a personal preference, but you need one that will keep this(powerful and hot) rig cool. Something like This: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black Steel ATX Full Tower That system, with my first choices comes out to $869.93. You can see the list Here. I didn't include an OS as it is kind of a personal item; The above system will run good old windows XP 32-bit, which you could copy from your old computer(Costing $0). Or, you could use Ubuntu Linux, which would also cost $0. Or you could go use Vista(Ick) and that would cost... a bunch. Or, you could even go download the Windows 7 beta, install that, and in 6 months when it expires go buy a full copy. There you have it. A Wall-O'-Text explaining exactly what you can do. Do show it off to your parents, see what they think of it. Also, do note that this is a "top-of-the-line" type build, and not your average budget build, or dell junker. If you get the parts I suggest(any combination of them), and don't try to find lower cost substitutes(A couple of people I know have tried this... to disastrous results), it should work perfectly for you for a good long while. Hope it helps! -RobbieThe1st -------------------- Old Avatar - Paypal donation link I am left handed, and proud of it! Retired from RuneScape. Old forum posts: 2275(s4+s10+wg.com)+1759(z6 old account)+474(z6 new account) Total: 4508 Join date: 4/16/05 | Get Firefox 3.5 now: http://www.getfirefox.com | RobbieSwich for Firefox | ||
Posted: May 27, 2009 05:30 am | |||
| IRC Nickname: Lefty Group: Emeritus Posts: 3340 Member No.: 1055 Joined: June 30, 2008 Total Events Attended: 211 | Definitely helps! Thank you so much. I will make sure my parents see this tomorrow.  -------------------- | ||
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