Broken PC, just using it for UT2004

[KvWThomas]

Hello,
For the last month my pc was at a shop for repairs.. They told me it had a faulty motherboard. Later, when they back upped my HDD, they told me it was very slow and that that could be the faulty part (or together with the motherboard).

The pc itself is slow, sometimes it freezes, when I roll over menu items it sometimes stays at an other button while my mouse is at an other place etc. I suspect I might only have a bad HDD (yesterday I had the "4th master hard disk error" displayed when booting, unable to go to windows). Today I was able to launch UT2004 and play without any problems (game launched slower and going through the menus was just a bit laggy, online everything was good).


This computer is pretty old and I only use it for UT2004. I was wondering if it is worth buying a new HDD(SSD???) and swap it with the current one without too much hassle. What would are the symptoms of a faulty HDD vs a faulty motherboard?

I don't want to buy a new pc because I don't have the money and time to play that much.

I can give more details (CPU/GPU/...) if necessary

Thanks

[Nardaq_NL]

I can give more details (CPU/GPU/...) if necessary

Thanks

U might start here, otherwise we don't know its worth upgrading or not.
Post type CPU, main board and GPU.

Getting a new HDD/SSD/SSHD can be a part of upgrade.(get a WD HDD)
You can move it to the new system if you even going to upgrade in the future.

[ILoveTheNorth]

Hello,
For the last month my pc was at a shop for repairs.. They told me it had a faulty motherboard. Later, when they back upped my HDD, they told me it was very slow and that that could be the faulty part (or together with the motherboard).

The pc itself is slow, sometimes it freezes, when I roll over menu items it sometimes stays at an other button while my mouse is at an other place etc. I suspect I might only have a bad HDD (yesterday I had the "4th master hard disk error" displayed when booting, unable to go to windows). Today I was able to launch UT2004 and play without any problems (game launched slower and going through the menus was just a bit laggy, online everything was good).


This computer is pretty old and I only use it for UT2004. I was wondering if it is worth buying a new HDD(SSD???) and swap it with the current one without too much hassle. What would are the symptoms of a faulty HDD vs a faulty motherboard?

I don't want to buy a new pc because I don't have the money and time to play that much.

I can give more details (CPU/GPU/...) if necessary

Thanks

I would definitely recommend a SSD. UT2004 doesn't need amazing specs to be able to play it, as long as you have a Core 2 duo or better with decent GPU (I have an old ATI 4850 that will run the game perfectly, it's yours if you want it, just pay postage) however an SSD will spice up an old computer/lesser specs.

SSDs are also fairly cheap. I would maybe get a 256GB SSD for your OS install and programmes (Have a look at the Samsung 850 EVO 250GB - Bargain at £70), and maybe complement it with a 500GB normal hard drive for big media files and everything else etc

Furthermore, if your computer does pack up later on, your SSD is good enough to put into your new build.

[Butcher]

I got an SSD for mine and its actually helping a lot... I recommend an SSD, but is even better if the motherboard has SATA II or III capability. Then you get the speed it has.

[Nardaq_NL]

[...]
but is even better if the motherboard has SATA II or III capability. Then you get the speed it has.

don't agree.
SATA II/III is nice for copying stuff but I doubt the OS/CPU can handle loading a game with 300+MB/s in to the memory.


SSD is good for OS due to its hight I/O(ops) performance, so accessing small files is pi-nuts compared to a HDD

[KvWThomas]

This is my info:

Intel core 2 duo CPU E8500 @ 3.166 GHz
GeForce GTX 280
4Gb Ram
P5K-E motherboard
wdc wd5001abys-01yna0 hard drive

Thanks for the replies so far.. Do you think my symptoms point at 'just' a old and bad hdd? Or could is be the motherboard aswell?

[ILoveTheNorth]

This is my info:

Intel core 2 duo CPU E8500 @ 3.166 GHz
GeForce GTA 280
4Gb Ram
P5K-E motherboard
wdc wd5001abys-01yna0 hard drive

Thanks for the replies so far.. Do you think my symptoms point at 'just' a old and bad hdd? Or could is be the motherboard aswell?

Your processor is fine for UT2004. Is your GPU the Nvidia GTX 280? If so, it's completely fine for UT.

RAM situation could be a bit better, however DDR2 ram nowadays is expensive, and I have a feeling you may be maxing out the RAM your mobo can take. Try not to run too many programmes simultaneously, especially when running UT.

I still recommend spending £70 and getting an SSD. You will see a MASSIVE difference with your PC. Install a fresh new copy of Windows on it and you will be flying.

If you're not a power user (i.e, only playing UT, browsing the inter webs, word etc), then I see this PC lasting you another fews years with the SSD.

[KvWThomas]

This is my info:

Intel core 2 duo CPU E8500 @ 3.166 GHz
GeForce GTA 280
4Gb Ram
P5K-E motherboard
wdc wd5001abys-01yna0 hard drive

Thanks for the replies so far.. Do you think my symptoms point at 'just' a old and bad hdd? Or could is be the motherboard aswell?

Your processor is fine for UT2004. Is your GPU the Nvidia GTX 280? If so, it's completely fine for UT.

RAM situation could be a bit better, however DDR2 ram nowadays is expensive, and I have a feeling you may be maxing out the RAM your mobo can take. Try not to run too many programmes simultaneously, especially when running UT.

I still recommend spending £70 and getting an SSD. You will see a MASSIVE difference with your PC. Install a fresh new copy of Windows on it and you will be flying.

My pc has always been fine for UT2004, it just now that it seems to have got unreliable. So an upgrade in RAM wouldn't benefit me much (unless thats the thing that is making my pc suddenly freeze more). But I think its the end of life of my HDD..(see original post)?

EDIT: yes its the GTX, typo!

[ILoveTheNorth]

This is my info:

Intel core 2 duo CPU E8500 @ 3.166 GHz
GeForce GTA 280
4Gb Ram
P5K-E motherboard
wdc wd5001abys-01yna0 hard drive

Thanks for the replies so far.. Do you think my symptoms point at 'just' a old and bad hdd? Or could is be the motherboard aswell?

Your processor is fine for UT2004. Is your GPU the Nvidia GTX 280? If so, it's completely fine for UT.

RAM situation could be a bit better, however DDR2 ram nowadays is expensive, and I have a feeling you may be maxing out the RAM your mobo can take. Try not to run too many programmes simultaneously, especially when running UT.

I still recommend spending £70 and getting an SSD. You will see a MASSIVE difference with your PC. Install a fresh new copy of Windows on it and you will be flying.

My pc has always been fine for UT2004, it just now that it seems to have got unreliable. So an upgrade in RAM wouldn't benefit me much (unless thats the thing that is making my pc suddenly freeze more). But I think its the end of life of my HDD..(see original post)?

EDIT: yes its the GTX, typo!

Yes, I think it's your hard drive. It could also be that your OS installation has been bogged down with crap (how much free space do you have) and malware etc, however I recommend using this time to buy an SSD.

[KvWThomas]

+1 on a fresh installation too.. Will need to see if I can find my original installation disks.

I have no idea of how old my system actually is, but it was pretty high end when I built it. The GTX 280 was the newest thing I guess, so it must date back to 2008.

With a system that old, can I expect my motherboard to die too? Whats the survival rate of these things?