Sisters are annoying!!!

[aidso]

I have to upgrade my sisters computer so that she can play The Sims 3.....***CRINGE**! And with so much choice it is hard to choose. I already have some components but have seen that Scan have a big bundle sale on today. Does this one look reasonable (I cant see the difference between AMD or Intel). In the past I would have said AMD all the way but now its getting quite close?

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=27246 which is in the Super Saver section: http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

I already have :

• ATX Case
• ATI Saphire X1600 512MB Graphics Card
• Keyboard, mouse, monitor etc
• Sound blaster Audigy Card although any mobo I look at seems to have onboard sound
• Linksys Wireless Card

So all i need now is the "brain" and want to keep it around the £180 mark.
Any thoughts, cheers.

[kalniel]

Sell the sister.

[aidso]

Anyone? Bueller?

[Jasp]

Can you post the full specs of your sisters PC up to see if their is anything worth salvaging.

[UseItNow]

You know you love her, yes they're annoying but without them think of what hassle you would be missing out on! (Ladies, I mean that in a good way, I have 3 of my own, love them, yes a headache at times, well actually always!).

[aidso]

Jasp the thing cant be salvaged. Its a Dell Dimension 2400 and they have it such that the CPU is moulded to the mobo and has a green cover over it. There arent any PCI-e or AGP slots and only one more RAM slot - and she has 512MB RAM! I spent £30 on 1GB of RAM (£30 like!!!) and then was looking at upgrades and just thought screw it, time for a new pc.

I have the parts from my old pc in my first post at my disposal. Not alot but if i was to get one of those bundles from Scan then im on my way. Only thing I have missed out is a PSU.

[finlay666]

Is the graphics card PCI-e?

If so:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124228
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168791
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143844
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148715
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148094

Around the £180 mark will be difficult as TBH that graphics card is crap

a 4830 will suffice for £60, sell the kit and the £220ish kit I posted here will come down in price

[aidso]

Awesome finlay! How bad is that card though? I took it out of my old Dell (explains alot lol) but it isnt expected to be playing Halo etc.
What about a powersupply?

[nightkhaos]

The Sims 3 is actually quite a good game. And I say this as a self respecting geek. Of course it's a bit underkill for my system, but it's entertaining and that is the point.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would be very careful about bunging in an HD4830 with an old PSU as the power distribution will be less on the 12V lines than modern PSUs and modern graphics cards are more taxing on the 12v lines. Since the Dell 2400 is an old socket 478 P4 computer I would be looking at a new PSU too!!

This is what I would get:

Athlon II X2 240 ~ £44

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-A...che-65W-Retail

For gaming will be slightly ahead of an E5200 at stock speeds.

Sapphire PE-AM2RS740G PURE Element motherboard ~ £31

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Sapph...-RAID-mATX-VGA

Has the newer SB700 southbridge.

2gb PC2-6400 DDR2 RAM ~ £24

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

4GB is a tad OTT for a game like the Sims and unless the computer has a 64 bit OS only just above 3gb will be seen by the OS.

Samsung F1 320gb hard drive ~ £33

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Single platter and hence is quite fast.

GTS250 Green 512mb ~ £66

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

This is a lower clocked version of the standard GTS250 and hence will be only slightly slower than an HD4850.

Corsair CX400 PSU ~ £38

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/400W-...-year-warranty

The total comes to around £236 with the free Scan postage.

However the GTS250 will probably be OTT for Sims 3 as it is good enough for playing Crysis with!

To save money get the following instead:

HD4670 Ultimate ~ £54

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158546

Is passively cooled an uses GDDR3 NOT the slower DDR3 which many HD4670 cards use.

Be Quiet! 350w PSU ~ £30

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166784

This reduces the price by around £20.

[noobieocer]

omg.... my lil sis is the same, shes playing sim3 on my computer now =.= gotta get some cash and upgrade her computer

[nibbler]

I reckon you should demand a commision to update your own pc with