I want to upgrade my PC - help plz:)

JacobB · Sep 12, 2006

This is what I got atm:
- 3500+ AMD ATHLON64bit (939) VENICE
- ASUS A8N5X Motherboard (NVIDIA NFORCE 4)
- 256MB DDR3 GEFORCE 7800GT, TVOUT, HDTV
- 1GB KINGSTON *DUAL CHANNEL* RAM
- 250GB HARDDISK, (16MB CACHE), 7200RPM *SILENT FLUID*
- NEC ND 3550 DVDBURNER (also burns cd's)
- 420W DELUX LOWNOISE POWERSUPPLY. 120mm FAN
- RAIDMAX VIRGO KABINET M. THERMOMETER, WINDOW
- 7.1 (8ch)SURROUND SOUND SOUNDCARD
- CPU COOLER LOWNOISE
- 10 USB PORTE I ALT (2 I FRONT), BÅDE1.1,2.0
- GIGABIT LAN
- SATA, SATA-RAID
- 2x 120MM FAN'S I VIRGO-KABINETTET (FRONT/BACK)

Tried to translate the danish words there was into english - sry if anything got lost in translation.

I want to buy a silent CPU Cooler, so I can actually sleep at night while running the shops :O

I got a shitty HP Keyboard from back in the day where the cellphones were as big as bricks.

I haven't updated my drivers in like forever, part lazy/part noob. A friend of mine showed me a program once that u had to run and then it would tell u if some of your drivers were outdated, and a link to dl them with. Does any1 know of such program?

I'm such a noob in areas like these so any advice would be appreciated.
Thx in advance.

DavidGP · Sep 16, 2006

Hi Jacob

Yes while there is a program that will tell you what drivers need updating, the sad part is that if you wish to download and update the drivers it highlights it will cost you.

But doing it manually will cost you nothing as the manufacturers of hardware or software offer driver updates freely.

First off if you have not been to Microsoft Update then do so to get all recient updates and security patches.

Are you using Windows 32bit or 64bit ( I know your AMD chip is a 64bit one but is your version of windows as this affects which drivers you will need )?

To locate this info right click My Computer and choose Properties, in the General tab does it mention x64 if not you have 32bit ( x86 ) windows and the below will help,

Then basically the drivers you really need to update will be;

Motherboard makers retated drivers items...
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=A8N5X ( these include Chipset Drivers, and Onboard Audio, altho I notice your using a separate Soundcard ) however alot of the times unless its on board sound drivers your after the makers drivers are normally a few versions out.

Note: No major need to update the BIOS unless your having any problems in which a BIOS update will fix, majority of the time if your not having issues that a specific BIOS update will fix, you may cause other problems updating it.

NVIDIAs Chipset/Motherboard Drivers ( latest version )
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Nvidia_nForce4_Driver_32-Bit_d4489.html

these drivers unclude updates for

Audio Driver (v4.65) "WHQL"
Audio Utility (v4.51)
Ethernet Driver (v50.25) "WHQL"
Network Management Tools (v50.19)
SMBus Driver (v4.57) "WHQL"
Installer (v4.89)
WinXP IDE SataRAID Driver (v6.66) "WHQL"
WinXP IDE SataIDE Driver (v6.66) "WHQL"
WinXP RAIDTOOL Application (v6.63)

Graphics Card NVIDIA
http://www.majorgeeks.com/NVIDIA_Forceware_32_Bit_2K-XP_d3294.html ( latest driver )

But the software app or website your friend may have been talking about could be this one,

http://driveragent.com/

Use its free scan to find out what drivers are out of date and manually search for them on the net from the makers sites.

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I want to upgrade my PC - help plz:)

JacobB Private E-2

DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member