good low cost computer for SL. or how to get the computer I have to work

I am going to make a computer just to play SL on. But I have to do it low cost. I do not have a lot of $$ to do this with. I am on SSI.

I be get my parts off of newegg.

I just need The MB, cpu, VC, and PSU, I have the other stuff I need.


So Have some of you made a low cost computer for SL and how did it work?

The computer I have now is a good computer but just hates SL but will play other games and stuff ok.

Computer I have now.
home made computer.
Amd AthlonXP 3200 2.2Ghz (Barton)
1GB ram PC 3200 (512x2)
K7 triton Ga-7N400-L
200GB HD
BenQ DVD RW
And a CDRW
TB Santa Cruz
ATi 9600XT All in Wonder (Useing omege 2.6.75a)
Antec Truepower trueblue 480W
Gateway FPD 1810 LCD
Windows XP SP2
7 case fans
2 PSU fans
big cpu fan.
The VC fan is working good and I have a big fan under it blowing air out the back
psu, HD's, Ram, cpu, and MB has been tested and is ok.
If I play SL on this I get a lot of lock ups and the monitor some times go's in to stanby mode I have to reset to get it out of it.
It is not geting Hot.

If I play other games and stuff it will not do this just in SL.
yes I tryed removeing SL and puting it back on.

can some one help?

According to specs, this computer should run SL just fine. If you have the latest drivers for the motherboard, video, soundcard and the like and your network, firewall/ router and connections are good then it may be that the ATI 9600 card is one of those that just doesn't seem to work with SL. The latest Catalyst/Omega drivers have solved a lot of problems with the older ATI cards but some refuse to work right.

The first thing to try would be to update the motherboard, bios, soundcard, etc to the latest verson. Then completely remove the old ATI drivers, using the drive cleaner available from the ATI site is highly recommended then turn off all your anti-virus software and anything Norton's then load up the latest Omega driver then uninstall SL completely then reinstall the full version from the SL downloads page.

Assuming there is no network problems then I would recommend getting a Nvidia 6600 GT video card. Coupled with the 3200+ and 1 gig memory you will have a rocking SL machine. My 6600 Gt overclocked way past 6800 speeds and can be found online fairly reasonable.

the the motherboard, bios, soundcard, etc have the latest verson there is. my network is ok. today just today I load up the latest Omega driver then uninstall SL completely then reinstall the full version from the SL. My anti-virus software is off.

Norton is not on my Computer and never will be. Hell I do not let Norton in my home.

I am looking in to the 6600 Gt

How's 6800GS looking compared to 6600GT? They seem to have an overlap on the market.

Well after taking a quick look at NewEgg.com my guess is the 6800GS is PCI-e only. Seems like PCI-e is the way to go now a days so card manufacurers aren't really looking into countinuing AGP.

There are still 6800 GTs l available in AGP, BFG makes a good card, factory overclocked and still under warranty. AGP is on the way out but it will be a while yet before it is gone for good.

The 6800 GS is a better card compared to the 6600GT although the 6600 has higher clock speeds. The 6800GS has much better memory bandwidth. The 6600GT overclocked can outperform the 6800GS until you start using high performance settings like high resolutions and turning on Antialaising, at which point the 6800GS will leave it in the dust.

Do you have problems with your computer outside of SL, do you play any other 3D games. Beucse my first thought (beyond goning with an nvidia video card) is that you power suply (to many problems with power suplies being inconsistant with voltage) Also have you booted once with quick boot turned off so it dose a full memory scan. Just trying to give some other posible issues. Ohh while I am at it how long has is been sence you last installed windows <giggles>

I just have problems in SL. I did a ram test and all is ok.

ok looks like at this time I can not make a new computer or buy a new VC.

so I need to get the one I have working in SL. the monitor going in to stanby mode just in SL has got me.

Hmmm, I don't know if the Omega drivers work well with that all in wonder, have you tried removing the omega drivers and installing the latest Catallist? I'd use the driver cleaner available on the ATI web site to kill any old drivers and try that.

There are some other things to try as well, turning off VPU recovery...

I just remembered something from my old 9800 AIW. Turn off all the eye candy such as antialaising and antistropic filtering.. I remember my machine would crash constantly if I tried to use any of those settings. The Omega drivers turn these settings up to improve things. Betcha that is it. Put the recommended catallist drivers in and turn all those eyecandy settings off.