Building a computer? Need advice/suggestions? Come here!

[Warsaw]

Dodging the question? Have you never heard of XP patches for games or DosBox? FYI they have the purpose that games run on XP which previously did not.

Settlers 2 for instance. I prefer running it on the old Kernel rather than installing a slow OS (given the RAM obviously, nothing wrong with XP) with an Emulator.

Settlers, Anno, Worms just to name a few.

I've heard of and used DOS Box. It's much easier to run a DOS game in DOS Box than it is to run it in the original kernel when you have a newer machine (his shitty laptop qualifies as a newer machine in this case) because you can slow down the CPU cycles for the app and it will emulate your hardware (most notably video and audio) to look like DOS/Windows 95 era hardware. I can run Wing Commander I-IV fine in DOS Box using Windows 2000 or Windows XP on any machine, but don't even get me started on having to fight with the computer to get it running using the integrated DOS kernel...and this isn't even a recent computer, this is an old Athlon K6-2 450MHz running, you guessed it, Windows 2000.

As for XP patches to old games, nope, never heard of them. I've needed patches to run a game in Windows 2000 properly (see Battlezone II), but never for XP.

Aside from all that, Windows XP is basically an extension of Windows 2000 anyways.

@ThePlague: what are your current specs?

[ThePlague]

From my profile (XFire actually):

Manufacturer: Compaq-Presario
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ (2 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Hard Drive: 202 GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series
Monitor:
Sound Card: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Speakers/Headphones: Antec Speakers+sub
Keyboard: USB Root Hub
Mouse: USB Root Hub
Mouse Surface: Black
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Motherboard:
Computer Case: Compaq Presario CQ5300F

[Warsaw]

Yes, those new components will work with your CPU and GPU. A bit strange to be pairing an nForce board with an ATi graphics card, but it will still work just fine.

[ThePlague]

I know nothing about mobo's, but that one seemed to have really good reviews. Why is it strange?

[Warsaw]

You typically buy an nForce if you want to do SLI. Unlike Intel with its X58 platform, AMD has no chipset that is capable of supporting both Crossfire and SLI; it's an either or situation. The other reason is simply because one prefers nVidia's built-in motherboard graphics to AMD's. I'm just OCD about matching my parts, as I believe it promotes smoother meshing of components. It's all in my head though, don't mind me.

Go ahead and get the board, there's nothing wrong with it. I myself built my new AM3 rig with an ASRock, and it's a superb motherboard. Nice features, solid performance, and good layout. Also fantastic onboard audio, USB3.0, and SATA 3.

[ThePlague]

What about my other parts I listed? My biggest concern is the PSU, because my machine right now is running a 250 watt. Will the 460 last long? And I picked a Coolermaster because I know their products are good, or so I heard

[Warsaw]

Well, if you hope to upgrade to a much more potent graphics card later (think HD5770 or GTX460 and up), I suggest having at least 550 watts. If you are just buying these pieces to tide you over for something better, then get that 460.

Actually, now that I think about it, what is your goal here? If you seek to keep the CPU and GPU as is right now, and swap motherboards to allow more expansion, why aren't you getting an AM2+/AM3 board?

[ThePlague]

That never occurred to me either. Haha. I'll start looking for one now.

The main reason I picked that in the first place is because I forgot that my new CPU can fit an amd2+.

e: Found this, seems to be a good one.

[Warsaw]

I'd actually rather go with this one if I were buying. Always look at the eggs to number of reviews ratio. Also, it has better features and I recognise the Biostar brand.

[ThePlague]

Yeah, but it seems a little high for what I was looking for.

I have a question though, will the RAM I have currently work with the board I chose, plus the RAM I want to get? Or is it not good to mix different types of RAM?