Computer Needs Some Upgrades (Update 2)

I was saving up for something sparkly and shiny (oh thank god I didn’t actually buy anything like I was going to a month and a half ago…I would have felt pretty fucking stupid a couple of weeks later), but there’s no need anymore, so I got several hundred dollars squirreled away and I might I was well spend every penny, right?

Well, my computer has been pissing me the fuck off as of late, primarily with the CPU seemingly unable to handle the various tasks I ask it to handle at once.  In short, system performance sucks the big one.  So, I’ve been poking around online and I think I might go ahead and invest in a new CPU, possibly even upgrade the RAM (I got the money to burn now and RAM is cheap, why not?).  My only dilemma is if I should just go with what I think will be good enough, or go balls-to-the-wall and go a little heavier on the horsepower?  You know, just because.

I’ve noticed, at my new store, that Coinstar now gives the option of cashing in all your change sans fees if you decide to go the gift card route and the adult Toys R’ Us, Amazon you sick freaks, is one of the options.  I love Amazon, and seeing as I have at least $250-$300 in change (I shit you not), I could end up building a second computer between that and what I had been saving.  The possibilities are endless: a new HDD, a sound card (might as well, right?), maybe grab a second graphics card and take advantage of the SLI feature with my current card, maybe get a new case with better airflow, a BR drive?  Maybe even a writable BR drive?

I’ve got time on my hands, people, and I need to keep busy or I’ll pull a David Carradine.  What?  Too soon?

Anyway, I’m going to hammer out the details once I cash out my change, hopefully tomorrow at work (gotta look busy when you’re running the show).  Hopefully within the next day or so, I can order what I need and work on my little project on my days off.

Until then, I’ll just get hammered and clean the dust bunnies clogging my case fans.

UPDATE: Well, I went ahead and bought $250 worth of upgrades: a new Core 2 Quad Core processor and 4GB worth of memory modules to upgrade my existing memory (and to take advantage of the increase in power). With the change I cashed in, I only had to pay about $40 (that’s including the cost of 1 day shipping) so I think I came out pretty well.  I didn’t even have to dip into the sparkly and shiny thing fund (I’ll just use that money towards my vacation of death).

Of course, I almost went ALL out.  I wanted an improved Quad Core processor, 45 nm! less heat!, but that would have required buying a new motherboard.  So, I started looking at motherboards and found one for a decent price, but I would have had to upgrade my DVD burner.  I then started thinking about getting a new tower since I’m already replacing a good chunk of my rig.  That’s when I literally hit myself and went with what was already waiting to be paid for.

UPDATE 2: Ok, so, I got the new processor today and the new RAM.  Getting all that installed turned into a massive headache.  I decided to completely disassemble the guts of my computer, primarily so I could spray everything with compressed air (SoCal=massive amounts of dust/dirt in the air) and so I could swap out my current CPU fan with the fan that came with the processor (Intel board, Intel processor, might as well go with an Intel fan, right?).  An hour later, I’m putting everything back together and lugging the beast back upstairs to hook all the cables back up.

I fire the sucker up and no signal being sent to the TV.  Of course, why wouldn’t that happen to me?  So, it’s time to troubleshoot: swap DVI connectors, no go.  Use a VGA cable instead of the DVI-to-HDMI, nope.  Remove the new memory and pop in one of the old ones.  Nope.  Find my old graphics card (at this point I’m sweating bullets since I think I got thermal paste on the connectors of my old processor…plus I don’t want to have to take it all apart again) and pop that in.  Interesting result: the screen flickers between no signal and the startup screen.  Hmmmmm.

Of course, I’m noticing weird noises from the new CPU fan, so I decide I’ll have to put the old one back in…which requires pulling everything apart again.

Once everything is back together, I decide I’ll move my graphics card into another port and see what happens…success!  So, I swap out my old graphics card (it’s got a busted fan) with the new(er) one and I’m back!

That is until I realize that my landlord’s dammed wireless router hates me and won’t let me connect to the internet.  It’s always gotta be something…