Inexpensive Computer Hardware Upgrade Reccomendations

A lot of people complain about speed problems with their computer systems. I wanted to post information about very good hardware deals to improve the speed of your system for using Second Life:

NOTE: These deals are all legit and Microcenter and Newegg (Egghead Software) are major retailers with good warranties.

PC4200 RAM DDR2 DIMMS:
(this memory DOES make a huge speed difference over DDR1 for stuff like Second Life and it's frame rates. make sure you have a motherboard that has DDR2 slots for whatever Intel or AMD CPU you have... i.e. for Intel Socket 775, something like this nice $58 motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=253258 ...these reccomendeations are for people with older (pre-PCIe) Pentium IV level motherboards or who are ready to make the tranistion.)

1GB of Buffalo PC4200 (DDR2) RAM, $50:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=259245

1GB Generic PC4200 RAM, $43:
http://www.pricewatch.com/memory/pc2-4200_ddr2-533_1gb.htm


UPDATE: A better PC4200 RAM deal:
CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail, $85:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145527


200 and 250 GB IDE and SATA hard drives:
200GB 7,200RPM Caviar SE SATA-300 Hard Drive, $50:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=257300
Caviar SE 200GB 7,200RPM IDE ATA/100 Hard Drive, $60:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=213453
250GB WD2500JB Western Digital EIDE Internal Hard Drive, $70:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=247026
Western Digital 250GB 7,200RPM SATA-300 Hard Drive, $70:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=247029
Caviar SE 250GB 7,200RPM IDE ATA/100 Hard Drive, $80:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=213471
Caviar SE16 250GB 7,200RPM SATA-300 Hard Drive, $80
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=229382


UPDATE: Best Hard Drive deal:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM, $130:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136
500GB IDE version, $130:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148135
250GB version, $70:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148144


UPDATE: Best AGP Video Card Deal:
XFX PVT71AYDF3 GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X (Memory Clock: 1.3 GHz, Clock rate: 550 MHz) Video Card - Retail, $270:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150223
Company stats:
http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26trade%3B+7900&productConfigurationId=1006114

PCI Express (PCIe) versions of the GeForce 7950GT (be sure to get a 512MB version):
http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/form_keyword=GeForce+7950GT/topcat_id=/Search.x=8/Search.y=10/Search=Search/page_id=5/lo_p=0/hi_p=0/sortby=rating
http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/geforce_7950.htm


Might be good to peek here too for other various hardware deals:
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.pricewatch.com/


Large CRT Monitors for Free
Large, Perfectly Good Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors (17-21 inches) are being abandoned on sidewalks of all major American and Canadian Cities. Even 15" Sony Monitors can be forced to display 1920x1080 (HDTV level) resolution with a Geforce 6xxx or better card! Go to the following site to find free monitors in your area:
http://www.craigslist.org/ (look for "monitor" in the "For Sale-->Free" section of the site in your geographic area). You can check the manufacture date on the back of the monitor. Be sure it's been made some time after 1997 for best results.

I have the PCI-Express (16X) version of that card. It rocks. It truly rocks. 30fps at 1280x1024 is something I didn't think was possible with second life. Great if you're into making high-rez machinima.

Edit: oh, mind you, the clock rate is 570MHz on the PCI-e version. that, and it not being AGP will make it a bit faster than the one above.

If you're tight for cash, the GeForce 7900GS is cheaper and has all the same bells and whistles, just a lower clock speed (mine still puts SL up to 70fps at 1280x1024 in high volume areas). You can save about $50-75, and there's really nothing that calls for a 7950GTX over a 7900GS (at that point, invest in an 8800). PCIe is much better than AGP if your motherboard supports it, and don't let anyone convince you that a 512mb card is more important than a 256mb one; they're certainly more expensive, but the video memory doesn't make a huge difference with SL (it would only be more important to you if you knew exactly what you needed it for, in which case you wouldn't have to ask). One important thing to note is that GT/GTX (sometimes even the GS) models get very hot, and I'm surprised the OP didn't mention anything about cooling solutions or even PSUs.

If you plan on beefing up your computer with multi-core CPUs, high-end overclocked GPUs (especially an SLI config), and massive HDDs, make sure you have a decent power supply and good system cooling with a well-ventilated case.

SL has been using up lots of RAM lately, so 1GB is a minimum especially if you multitask. 2GB recommended. Going from something like a GeForce FX5500 256MB to a GeForce 7900GS 256MB will see an insane increase in framerate (14FPS average to 60FPS and beyond) even with all the fancy graphics options turned on. In reference to the OP's mention of free monitors, get one if you can; modern systems can easily handle multiple monitors, so definitely pick one up if you have the desk space. A large hard drive is really up to personal preference (storage is cheap though), as SL obviously doesn't take up much space. Power supplies really depend on what your system has, but 450W is definitely the minimum when you've got those high end graphics cards. I'd recommend at least 600W to keep your system stable for several years; these can run from $60 to $100 depending on quality, wattage, manufacturer, etc. You can usually get a good one included with a nice case for a deal, but make sure the case has some good fans; a large rear intake is probably most important, front fans not so much. If you can find a nice exhaust fan and afford the physical space, then definitely go with one of those (they're quieter). Liquid cooling is totally unnecessary unless you've got an extreme system with loads of overclocking going on. Cooling your system is very important, because an overheated system will really slow down, and in bad situations can lead to early hardware failure.

If your system is particularly old, you won't be able to upgrade to any of this cool stuff without a motherboard overhaul, and that usually warrants a new CPU too. The Athlon 64x2 4200 is a really well-balanced CPU, and being able to set SL's affinity to one processor will really help with multitasking. It also has a very nice stock heatsink that keeps it well-cooled, and AMD's Cool-n-Quiet technology means you don't have to worry about temperature if you don't overclock. You can find a Socket AM2 mobo w/ 64x2 4200 bundle for around $240 on some different sites. If you prefer Intel, I can't help you
Also note that a lot of new motherboards don't have AGP slots anymore, so keep an eye on that if you're going with an AGP GPU.

I managed to get a 64x2 4200 with ASUS SLI-cert mobo, 1GB Corsair DDR2, and GeForce 7900GS 256MB for around $500 total. One final note is that all of this is definitely Vista-ready if that's your OS of choice, and I'd personally recommend this setup for moderate gaming and multitasking (it can handle stuff like Doom 3, Oblivion, and F.E.A.R. on fairly high settings). I'd also recommend a Logitech G15 keyboard, MX550 mouse, and Z-10 speakers, but that's going a little overboard.