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General discussion

Are Gateways easy to upgrade?

Aug 19, 2005 5:37AM PDT

Discussion is locked

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RE:
Aug 19, 2005 5:54AM PDT

Get the dual-core with btx chassis, when on sale it was 999.99 with 17" lcd. Akonny has one and he upgraded psu and 6600gt, i think.

Roger

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Would it be easy to turn this into a gaming PC
Aug 19, 2005 6:05AM PDT

It looks like it has on board graphics and PCIx slot so you could add a faster graphics card. Lets say a $150 one.
So $1035+$150=$1185

Ok, I'm from the build it yourself camp.
For $1185 you build yourself a realy fast AMD based gaming PC with better specs. Just some thing to think about. John

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Curious...
Aug 19, 2005 6:32AM PDT

I've never put a computer together, is it fairly easy? And as far as a $1200 build-it-yourself goes, what configuration would you recommend? Thanks.

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hehe my favorite thread so far ;)
Aug 19, 2005 7:10AM PDT

yuup, go with the btx chassis one. looky at what i did to mine.

Can You Believe This Is A Gateway 820GM?

Intel Pentium 4 530 OC @ 3.2GHz
1GB (2 x 512MB) PC3200
Western Digital 250GB SATA HDD
BFG 6600GT OC
Aero Cool LED 120mm fans x 2
Antec True 480w PSU
Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse
Aero Cool 120mm LED fans x 2
Creative sound blaster live! 24 bit pci


yup i love my pc...gateway is truely the best to upgrade. IMO. look, i overclocked a damn gateway! said to be impossible from people that used to work at gateway, but hey, it kicks ***.

konny

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(NT) (NT) Where did you buy your gateway from?
Aug 19, 2005 7:23AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) best buy
Aug 19, 2005 8:21AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) yes
Aug 21, 2005 3:11AM PDT
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Actually...
Aug 21, 2005 5:56AM PDT
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(NT) (NT) if i were in your shoes, i'd take it, and upgrade it
Aug 21, 2005 6:11AM PDT
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How..
Aug 21, 2005 6:31AM PDT

would you recommend I upgrade it? Thanks!

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well, i will re-trace my steps
Aug 21, 2005 8:27AM PDT

first, i would upgrade the psu. it's a 300w piece of crap. look at antec, ocz, and enermax (avaiable at bestbuy, frys, newegg, and tigerdirect to name a few) and get one in the 400w range. the last and final step would be the graphics card. depends on your budget, but i'd look at the 6800 series of nvidia's line over ati. i bought a 6600GT and it didn't disapoint me.

that's about all you really need, i added some more things to mine other than the ones listed above.

sound card

new fans

new keyboard & mouse

new speakers (headset for me)

that would be advice coming from someone that turned an OEM pc into a gaming pc.

konny

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Ok, one more quick question...
Aug 22, 2005 4:08AM PDT

I don't think this computer supports PCI-Express. How important is it to have one that does support PCI-E?

Thanks for all of your feedback.

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yes, it does support PCIe
Aug 22, 2005 9:05AM PDT

it also features a dual core cpu, which will pro long the life of ur pc. pcie is important for upgrading the graphics. it's becoming a standard on new pcs, to replace agp.

konny

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(NT) (NT) I bought this and I love it. Great machine.
Aug 24, 2005 5:16PM PDT