Upgrade

[Sanderguy777]

10 minutes ago, MandoPanda said:

The Sandisk, although cheap, it not the best quality. You can get an Evo for not much more that is cached drive so it is better quality and speed.

 

You can throw your SSD into your laptop but you would have to clone over your old drive (if both drives are the same size) if they are not the same size you can reinstall windows onto the SSD.

 

You can learn how to build a computer easily! Don't be afraid, there is lots of learning material on the internet and we hare here to help too. Start here.

 

Definitely practice on your other pc, you can learn how to install windows and such, you can use the SSD you have now if you want with that one just for fun and then use the SSD later elsewhere. 

 

I would not recommend using DDR3 for a new build, although it may seem like a cost saving technique, if you want to build a new rig on the cheap, let me know. There are a lot of good choices for light gaming with upgradability for around 450-500 or 600 USD.

Thank you for the encouragement! 

I did a fresh install of windows 10 but not sure if the computer will keep booting from the ssd when I plug the hdd back in. 

[MandoPanda]

20 minutes ago, Sanderguy777 said:

not sure if the computer will keep booting from the ssd when I plug the hdd back in.

You can go into the BIOS and change the boot settings to make sure the SSD with windows is the first thing the computer tries to boot to.

[Sanderguy777]

12 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

You can go into the BIOS and change the boot settings to make sure the SSD with windows is the first thing the computer tries to boot to.

I was in the bios and didn't see a way to change that, but maybe it only works when there's two drives with windows installed.  (I had the ssd and OS flash drive installed not the hdd at that point. )

[MandoPanda]

10 minutes ago, Sanderguy777 said:

but maybe it only works when there's two drives with windows installed.

You have to have all of the drives plugged in. It does not matter if Windows is installed but the drives to have to be formatted. Should be called 'boot order' or 'boot priority'

[Sanderguy777]

3 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

You have to have all of the drives plugged in. It does not matter if Windows is installed but the drives to have to be formatted. Should be called 'boot order' or 'boot priority'

So if I plug in the other drive, then turn on the computer, mash delete till it gives me the boot window, it will let me format the hdd and then boot from the ssd? 

 

Otherwise how do I format the hdd? Sata to usb cable?

 

Also, I played starcraft 2 on it last night and it works better. Last time I played it, 2 ish years ago, it would flicker every now and then. None of that now! All settings on ultra by the way! So that's cool.

 

Knowing that, I think I will add the 8 GB of ram just to give me a little better chance of playing older call of duty titles up to BO 1 or 2. What brand is good? It has 8gb of Hynix in it already. It needs 1600ghz (mhz? Dont remember which now) ddr3l sodimm 

 

Thank you guys for all the help! I would have not been able to do this withot you.

[MandoPanda]

7 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

So if I plug in the other drive, then turn on the computer, mash delete till it gives me the boot window, it will let me format the hdd and then boot from the ssd? 

Make sure you are going into 'setup' or 'bios' not the boot options when the computer is starting. You can change the boot option for one time with one certain key press like delete, but to get into the bios and change the boot options for good you might have to press another key like F2 to get in and change the setting.

 

How much RAM does your computer currently have? how many dimm slots? and what RAM is currently in those slots? Also get me the speed of the ram by running CPUZ on your computer.

[Sanderguy777]

47 minutes ago, MandoPanda said:

Make sure you are going into 'setup' or 'bios' not the boot options when the computer is starting. You can change the boot option for one time with one certain key press like delete, but to get into the bios and change the boot options for good you might have to press another key like F2 to get in and change the setting.

 

How much RAM does your computer currently have? how many dimm slots? and what RAM is currently in those slots? Also get me the speed of the ram by running CPUZ on your computer.

How do I find out what button it is on my computer's motherboard?  

 

It has 4 sodimm slots, two have 4gb Hynix sticks and Asus's website says they are DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM, upgradable to 32 GB. 

 

so,it should be running at 1600mhz 

 

 

[MandoPanda]

1 hour ago, Sanderguy777 said:

How do I find out what button it is on my computer's motherboard?  

 

It has 4 sodimm slots, two have 4gb Hynix sticks and Asus's website says they are DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM, upgradable to 32 GB. 

 

so,it should be running at 1600mhz 

 

 

Thanks for the info! 

 

You should boot your laptop, then hit 'restart' in Windows. Then mash 'escape' and 'F2' starting when the screen goes black until you get into bios. You don't have to worry about mashing two buttons at the same time. I see online that it is one of these two to get into bios. 

 

For RAM, you could do any of these if you want. I like Kingston but Crucial is also good and a little cheaper. Also found this Corsair, which is a little cheaper and also a great brand. I'd go with the Corsair if I were you.

 

Don't worry about the two new dimms being 8gb each, your system will work just fine with 20gb of RAM. If you don't have the 100 bucks to make that happen, you could go with a couple of 4gb dimms.

[Sanderguy777]

20 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

Don't worry about the two new dimms being 8gb each, your system will work just fine with 20gb of RAM. If you don't have the 100 bucks to make that happen, you could go with a couple of 4gb dimms.

So, you're saying I could get one 8gb and one 4gb for a total of 3 4gb and 1 8gb? Or I could bet 2 of the 4gb or 2 of the 8? I heard that it makes the system faster if the sticks are matched ( speed, size, etc) is that not so?

 

The corsair 16gb says 1.5v. My computer needs 1.35v I think, at least that is what I thought so dimm was...

If it is good, I will get the Corsair, otherwise, is this any good? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EOTYZOA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=AED4EQPC09J7X&psc=1

 

sorry for all the newbie questions, I am just not wanting to invest more than $100 in this thing. So the Corsair or Gskill look like the only "brandname" 16gb kits I can afford. In general, is Samsung ram any good?

[MandoPanda]

11 minutes ago, Sanderguy777 said:

So, you're saying I could get one 8gb and one 4gb for a total of 3 4gb and 1 8gb? Or I could bet 2 of the 4gb or 2 of the 8? I heard that it makes the system faster if the sticks are matched ( speed, size, etc) is that not so?

 

The corsair 16gb says 1.5v. My computer needs 1.35v I think, at least that is what I thought so dimm was...

If it is good, I will get the Corsair, otherwise, is this any good? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EOTYZOA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=AED4EQPC09J7X&psc=1

 

sorry for all the newbie questions, I am just not wanting to invest more than $100 in this thing. So the Corsair or Gskill look like the only "brandname" 16gb kits I can afford. In general, is Samsung ram any good?

Gah! you're right! I overlooked the low powered nature of your RAM. You should find something that is DDR3L as well like this or this.

 

Unfortunately DDR3L is more expensive for some reason. You could also go for the G.skill you listed, I'm sure it would be fine.

 

About the RAM sizes, it doesn't matter if you mix and match as long as they are at the same frequency. You could buy two more 8gb dimms to throw in with your 4gb dimms and have a total of 20gb and it will work just fine.

 

Keep the questions coming, it's better to be safe, plus you get to learn a lot in the mean time.

 

Samsung is known for good RAM but I don't buy from them personally.

[Sanderguy777]

44 minutes ago, MandoPanda said:

Gah! you're right! I overlooked the low powered nature of your RAM. You should find something that is DDR3L as well like this or this.

 

Unfortunately DDR3L is more expensive for some reason. You could also go for the G.skill you listed, I'm sure it would be fine.

 

About the RAM sizes, it doesn't matter if you mix and match as long as they are at the same frequency. You could buy two more 8gb dimms to throw in with your 4gb dimms and have a total of 20gb and it will work just fine.

 

Keep the questions coming, it's better to be safe, plus you get to learn a lot in the mean time.

 

Samsung is known for good RAM but I don't buy from them personally.

Thank you! I will probably get the gskill or Samsung 16gb kit. 

The ram supposedly clicks into place, but will I need any other hardware? Screws etc? (I learned from the ssd that I need to grab screws and stuff before I get the more exciting stuff LOL

[MandoPanda]

3 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

Thank you! I will probably get the gskill or Samsung 16gb kit. 

The ram supposedly clicks into place, but will I need any other hardware? Screws etc? (I learned from the ssd that I need to grab screws and stuff before I get the more exciting stuff LOL

Both of those should be fine.

 

You should only need a standard Philips screwdriver. Make sure to turn off the computer and remove the battery before revealing the motherboard and ram slots.

 

Then do this:

Seal her up and turn her on and she should be good to go. Might get a warning before Windows that the system memory has changed. Just press whatever key to continue. Then go into windows and open taskmanager to enjoy that new smexy 20gb of RAM you have!!!!

[Sanderguy777]

13 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

Both of those should be fine.

 

You should only need a standard Philips screwdriver. Make sure to turn off the computer and remove the battery before revealing the motherboard and ram slots.

 

Then do this:

Seal her up and turn her on and she should be good to go. Might get a warning before Windows that the system memory has changed. Just press whatever key to continue. Then go into windows and open taskmanager to enjoy that new smexy 20gb of RAM you have!!!!

Just ordered the samsung 16gb kit. I had ordered the 8gb kit, but I think I will be happier with the 16. 

 

24gb! That is more than all the other computers in our house put together! I still have mixed emotions since it is kind of like putting good money into something that still probably won't play call of duty ww2. But I will always wonder if the 8gb was enough so......

 

[MandoPanda]

4 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

Just ordered the samsung 16gb kit. I had ordered the 8gb kit, but I think I will be happier with the 16. 

 

24gb! That is more than all the other computers in our house put together! I still have mixed emotions since it is kind of like putting good money into something that still probably won't play call of duty ww2. But I will always wonder if the 8gb was enough so......

 

Hey man, enjoy life! 20gb is balln' happy to help!

[Sanderguy777]

On 10/22/2018 at 3:05 PM, MandoPanda said:

Hey man, enjoy life! 20gb is balln' happy to help!

Absolutely! I'll update as soon as I have the ram and put it in. On the system I have, how far up the line of call of duty will I need to go to play them? I was thinking black ops 2 and older. Will that work on at least medium or high?

[MandoPanda]

4 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

how far up the line of call of duty

I'm not too sure because I don't game much anymore. You could do some research online. If you buy from steam they have a return policy if you explain that the game doesn't run on your computer.

[Sanderguy777]

3 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

I'm not too sure because I don't game much anymore. You could do some research online. If you buy from steam they have a return policy if you explain that the game doesn't run on your computer.

Wow! I tried that at Walmart, the managers I asked said there is some piracy law that only allows me to return it if it is broken...having worked there for over a year, nothing much about our clientele is suprising anymore! 

 

Where would be a good place to start the search? I looked at the min requirements, but Black ops 3 says 2gb nvidia desktop card. And 8gb ram etc. I'm not sure if that will work or not, but 40 bucks is too much of a gamble right now....

[MandoPanda]

17 minutes ago, Sanderguy777 said:

Wow! I tried that at Walmart, the managers I asked said there is some piracy law that only allows me to return it if it is broken...having worked there for over a year, nothing much about our clientele is suprising anymore! 

 

Where would be a good place to start the search? I looked at the min requirements, but Black ops 3 says 2gb nvidia desktop card. And 8gb ram etc. I'm not sure if that will work or not, but 40 bucks is too much of a gamble right now....

Yea, Steam is pretty good about that. Plus they have the black ops titles and a couple other CoD games.

Quote

You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it.

https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

 

Looks like you'll be fine for BOIII though:

Quote

The PC requirements for Black Ops 3 on PC are as follows:

• Operating System: Windows 7 64-Bit / Windows 8 64-Bit / Windows 8.1 64-Bit
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-530 @ 2.93 GHz / AMD Phenom™ II X4 810 @ 2.60 GHz
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 470 @ 1GB / ATI® Radeon™ HD 6970 @ 1GB
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-26-call-of-duty-black-ops-3-pc-requirements-revealed

 

And even if you can't play BOIII at the settings you want, you could return it via steam and go for BOII or something.

[Sanderguy777]

I got the ram last night and installed it today. I also formatted and reinstalled the 1tb hdd that was originally in it. So I have a 240gb ssd, 1tb hdd and 24gb of ram! 

I'm not sure what specifically the second photo means but I take it that with a few web pages and games downloading, it's only using a max of 8gb of ram. 

 

I haven't had a chance to play anything on it, but I bet it will be good! 

 

Thank you guys for your help! 

[MandoPanda]

1 hour ago, Sanderguy777 said:

I got the ram last night and installed it today. I also formatted and reinstalled the 1tb hdd that was originally in it. So I have a 240gb ssd, 1tb hdd and 24gb of ram! 

I'm not sure what specifically the second photo means but I take it that with a few web pages and games downloading, it's only using a max of 8gb of ram. 

 

I haven't had a chance to play anything on it, but I bet it will be good! 

 

Thank you guys for your help! 

 

 

Sick dude!! I'm happy to help!

 

You put Windows on the SSD right? The picture means that at a light to idle mode your computer uses 4gb of RAM. Instead of taking up half of your total ram, it only take up 18% now! w00t.

 

Game on!

[Sanderguy777]

On 10/26/2018 at 6:35 PM, MandoPanda said:

Sick dude!! I'm happy to help!

 

You put Windows on the SSD right? The picture means that at a light to idle mode your computer uses 4gb of RAM. Instead of taking up half of your total ram, it only take up 18% now! w00t.

 

Game on!

Yep, windows is on ssd. Played lack ops 3 today. Took 2 days to download!  (Slow internet and school too) 

It is a bit laggy at times. But I can change some settings and probably have it work better. 

 

It does play though and about the same as modern warfare did (a not quite official version from a friend..... so that may have to do with it)

 

If it doesn't work well enough to play (I've been doing just that for like 2 hrs LOL) I can just save it till I upgrade to a desktop. 

[MandoPanda]

3 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

Yep, windows is on ssd. Played lack ops 3 today. Took 2 days to download!  (Slow internet and school too) 

It is a bit laggy at times. But I can change some settings and probably have it work better. 

 

It does play though and about the same as modern warfare did (a not quite official version from a friend..... so that may have to do with it)

 

If it doesn't work well enough to play (I've been doing just that for like 2 hrs LOL) I can just save it till I upgrade to a desktop. 

Yea, plus there's lots of other games that it should be able to play too. Heck, my 2013 Macbook Air could play Borderlands 2 and Elder scrolls online on low so ya know.

[Sanderguy777]

5 hours ago, MandoPanda said:

Yea, plus there's lots of other games that it should be able to play too. Heck, my 2013 Macbook Air could play Borderlands 2 and Elder scrolls online on low so ya know.

Wow! That's pretty cool. Thanks again. Later today I'll try to get some actual readings during games so that should help 

[Sanderguy777]

On 10/28/2018 at 8:46 AM, Sanderguy777 said:

Wow! That's pretty cool. Thanks again. Later today I'll try to get some actual readings during games so that should help 

Forgot...... I did turn on nvidia experience fps reader, 31 during gameplay.....on low!

So I dont think ddr3 ram is equivalent to the ddr5 in my GPU, who knew? LOL 

Its playable, but just barely.  I mean I can see square shadows and eye lashes are black crescents, not hair....but I can kill bad guys so.....

By the way, the graphics are worse than modern warfare on a computer without a gpu

[MandoPanda]

6 hours ago, Sanderguy777 said:

Forgot...... I did turn on nvidia experience fps reader, 31 during gameplay.....on low!

So I dont think ddr3 ram is equivalent to the ddr5 in my GPU, who knew? LOL 

Its playable, but just barely.  I mean I can see square shadows and eye lashes are black crescents, not hair....but I can kill bad guys so.....

By the way, the graphics are worse than modern warfare on a computer without a gpu

What game is that on?