5-6 Yr Old Computer - Any chances of revival ?

l33t

Adept
Hi Everyone ,

This is my first post in TE and boy am I delighted !
I am looking for some help in upgrading my desktop which is about 6 years old , I can play games like counter strike 1.6 on the computer but only at 800x600 resolution and that too at 70 fps odd , following is the computer hardware specs ,

HP Pavilion t730i Desktop PC

  1. . Processor - Intel Pentium 4 515 (P) 2.93 GHz/533 - Socket LGA775
  2. . Motherboard - ASUS PTGD1-LA
  3. . Graphics - 128 MB Integrated
  4. . Hard Drive - 80 GB Seagate Baracudda SATA 7200 rpm
  5. . RAM - 1GB DDR2
I'm basically look at gaming cs at faster fps at it lags a lot with fps spikes while on steam , more like , squeezing the juice outta this rig for some more time ? so that I can go in for a completely new gaming rig soon :)

Looking forward for replies :hap2:
Thank You
 
If you play CS 1.6 at 70 FPS it should be fine. Try turning V-Sync off/on maybe its related to that, The only thing to upgrade I would suggest would be 1 more GB of RAM if its 800mhz and if not get a 2GB stick.
 
@H20 : The problem is that one moment its at 70fps , then suddenly it goes into 3-4fps ...then 10 then back to 70 , also , how do I turn off/on V-sync ?

@Sri_k : There is a One PCI Express x16 graphics PEG slot available for expansion , will there be any decent 2-2.5k GPU available for the rig ?

Also , a 1 GB DDR2 RAM stick would cost around ? 1.2k ?
 
I think the the lag is due to your net connection, and not your pc.
If you must upgrade get a pci-e graphic card, if your mobo supports it, else wait till you buy a new system.
 
Sorry for my late replies guys , as my posts are getting screened by moderators before being published , my apologies ...

@iamddevil : the mobo has a pci-e expansion slot , can I put in a gfx card to it ? If so which one ? , Also imho i couldnt be the internet , because the inet conn iam on is a 1mbps line which is on torrents almost 24/7, I it when I host my own server that I get most of my troubles even if I meet the minimum specs needed for hosting - I get around 7-10 fps then. Hence, I was guessing the trouble should be the hardware .

http://www.cstrike-planet.com/images/tutorial/i1-1.jpg

Thank you.
 
Which psu do you have?
Whats your budget? Which monitor do you have? If it's a 17in CRT, then get something like a new ati 5570, or an nvidia 9600gt. Should cost you around 5k.
Or get something like a 7600gt, 8600gt, ati 4650/4670 second hand for about 2k if you can.
Getting a second hand card in warranty is probably a better idea, considering your rig.

Also, it's not just the speed of your connection, the pings you get, and load on the servers matter as well.
Try and run your games offline, and see if you still see drops in framerates.
Also, de-frag your hdd.
 
iamddevil said:
Which psu do you have?

Whats your budget? Which monitor do you have? If it's a 17in CRT, then get something like a new ati 5570, or an nvidia 9600gt. Should cost you around 5k.

Or get something like a 7600gt, 8600gt, ati 4650/4670 second hand for about 2k if you can.

Getting a second hand card in warranty is probably a better idea, considering your rig.

Also, it's not just the speed of your connection, the pings you get, and load on the servers matter as well.

Try and run your games offline, and see if you still see drops in framerates.

Also, de-frag your hdd.

+1 , Thanks for the reply , The PSU I have is a generic 230 V psu , just about enough for the P4 and the add on TV tuner , the first one got burnt , called the PATHETIC HP Care , replaced , but that was bout 2 years ago , Im having a 17' CRT , you've understood my needs well , I need something cheap to hold me up for a year or so , as im in the process of convincing my parents that the current computer is tooo old and is like very worn off a second hand 4670 sounds good .

will I get a 4670 @ 2k in TE ? From the members ?

The connection is good the line quality is rated "A" by pingtest.net , the speed is pretty constant at 1mbips , when i run the game offline , i.e play with bots , then the fps stoops down drastically 30-35 fps average . btw does defragmentation of the harddrive have any consequences , the comp is being hounded by viruses as it is :p

also , sirji , Help me out in giving me pointers as to why an assembled pc is better than a branded one , cant seem to convince my father , he is like if im going to buy a new pc then it'd be dell :O :(
 
Besides the graphic card it seems your cpu could be causing the frame drops. The more bots you have, the more resources are being used to power the games AI, so if you're frame rate decreases there, it's because of your cpu.
If you've got viruses, get a good anti-virus and clean your computer out.

Your computer keeps writing files to disk, and to save time it writes them to the first available space. So over time your files get fragmented, making your computer run slowly as to open 1 one, the computers got to read it off 10 different locations on your disk. Defragmenting your hard drive will boost performance. While playing games, your computer will read files off the disk, so that may be part of the reason why you're experiencing slow downs.

Your psus input in 230v, check what the output is, it'll be in watts.

The benefits of assembling your own pc:

1) you'll get something that meets your needs.

2)a branded pc will usually carry a 1 year warranty, whereas if you buy quality parts for your own computer, you'll get between 3-5 yrs warranty per part.

3)with a branded pc you'll get something that's well put together, and that'll last you well till the warranty expires. It may last you longer, but if you buy good quality stuff, you'll probably get a longer life on your assembled pc.

4)if you want to upgrade your branded pc, you'll have to call the manufacturer or risk voiding your warranty.

5)while upgrading you may need to change multiple parts in order to change just one. for example, if you need to add a more modern graphic card, you may have to upgrade the power supply before you can put in a new card.

6)you won't get software updates for your motherboard easily, so if you want to upgrade your cpu later, you may not be able to even if your system should technically support it.

If you buy a low-end branded pc, even from Dell, it'll cost less than what you pay to build your own system, if you only choose quality parts.
You can also buy cheap stuff and make a system cheaper than any company, but that's not advisable.
Buy good quality components, know what your needs are, and your computer will last you atleast 3 years without any trouble, and should still be performing acceptably at the end of that period. Just make sure you know what you're doing.
 
iamddevil said:
Your psus input in 230v, check what the output is, it'll be in watts.

N00B me :( Its a 450 W PSU , Also I would like to know wether the mobo+PSU can handle all the stress , I was thinking if I could get some of the nVIDIA older 2009 Q1 GPU's that'd be enough to hold me up for some time , Also I would like to know wether the mobo supports anything greater than P4's ? because the HP site says "ASUS -PTGD1-LA -Supports Intel Pentium 4 processor up to 3.4 GHz" Does this mean I cannot upgrade my CPU ? to the newer C2Quads ?

http://www.elhvb.com/mboards/OEM/HP/manual/grouper_manual.pdf

Motherboard Specifications, PTGD1-LA (Grouper) HP Pavilion t730i Desktop PC (ap) - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

+1 ^ for the above , but then I must spread some Reputation around before giving it to iamddevil again :p I'll try explaining him about the added benefits of an assembled rig . And thanks for the defrag definition , never understood a word of it in the wiki page. I had defragmented the drive after you told me to do so , I really dont know how to assess the added performance boost I'm getting to my games after de-frag .

Most of all thanks for the reply.

L33T
 
Try using just a bot and play does the frame rate still stutter ?

If it does, maybe you should think about formatting your PC also remember to find yourself and get all the latest drivers available on the net.
 
Anubis said:
No way does it support Core 2 Quads
Thanks for the clarification , looks like I need a new rig ...more like that ...Im now sick and tired of this one

H2O said:
Try using just a bot and play does the frame rate still stutter ?

If it does, maybe you should think about formatting your PC also remember to find yourself and get all the latest drivers available on the net.

Sirji , this PC has been formatted like 20-30 times due to frequent crashes , and once the HDD conked off so had to replace that too , so basically its like even formatting yeilds nothing . Using 31 bots and 1 Human ~ 30 fps , lower the bot count ~ 35 odd ..not much of a difference
 
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