Official "Upgrade Help" Thread

[Bazo]

The wi-max offer of 24 months for the 5gig, is that R1100 a monthly cost or a once of thing? (doesn't say on web site)

[Chevron]

The wi-max offer of 24 months for the 5gig, is that R1100 a monthly cost or a once of thing? (doesn't say on web site)

The iburst wimax stuff is a rip off. Don't use it.

Call telkom and tell them you want wimax. They might try sell you adsl if it's in your area, but if you carry on fighting they will give you wimax if it's available in your area. Not sure of the costs though. I think you only pay telkom R200 odd a month for the equipment and you can use any normal adsl username for your data.

[PAPABEAR]

Hey guys , i want to upgrade to an overclocking friendly motherboard , or a nice screen

My budget is about R1500 - R1700
I was looking at the nVidia 590 SLI , is it good for overclocking (i will only fiddle around , no serious overclocking)

Or a nice 19" screen (but it has to nice (worth its money))
Like the motherboard i only have a budget of about R1500 - R1700

Any advice will be put to good use
Thanks in advance

[GeometriX]

Why the 590? It's, like, almost 3 years old. What CPU and RAM do you have? We can't exactly recommend a motherboard without knowing at least what socket you'll be needing.

[biffman]

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=17601

http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/pro...ducts_id=17161

@PAPABEAR I have a 920nw and it is a really nice monitor, so the 923nw should be perfect. :)
The first monitor I posted is Samsung's latest series so comes with many frills and all that rut, if you can stretch your budget a bit more this seems like a brilliant monitor. :)

[FoX]

Is the SAPHIRE ATi RADEON HD4850 512MB DDR3 a good card. Chaos has it for R2800

[biffman]

Is the SAPHIRE ATi RADEON HD4850 512MB DDR3 a good card. Chaos has it for R2800

That is a brilliant card! It can outperform the 9800GTX.

[Chevron]

Is the SAPHIRE ATi RADEON HD4850 512MB DDR3 a good card. Chaos has it for R2800

It is a good card. Just a bit pricey though. You should be able to get a force3d or gecube one for R2200 though.

Back when brands used to matter, sapphire used to be the best ati brand. Still are when it comes to their overclocking cards. If i were you though i'd try to get an his iceq cards. They keep the card cooler, unless that sapphire has a dual slot cooler.

[Sven]

I need help looking for a good keyboard, as I've been through numerous R70,00 to R100,00 keyboards over the past few years. I'll be using it solely for gaming purposes, as all my work and web surfing etc happens on my laptop. One with backlit keys would be useful for the late-night LANs I often go to, so that's one feature that I would consider very important. I'm looking at anything around the R300-R400 range. (Although I would be happy to go slightly higher if necessary.)

So, a fairly "budget" gaming keyboard - Do you guys have any suggestions?

[Chevron]

I need help looking for a good keyboard, as I've been through numerous R70,00 to R100,00 keyboards over the past few years. I'll be using it solely for gaming purposes, as all my work and web surfing etc happens on my laptop. One with backlit keys would be useful for the late-night LANs I often go to, so that's one feature that I would consider very important. I'm looking at anything around the R300-R400 range. (Although I would be happy to go slightly higher if necessary.)

So, a fairly "budget" gaming keyboard - Do you guys have any suggestions?

The logitech G11 might be in your price range.

[biffman]

I need help looking for a good keyboard, as I've been through numerous R70,00 to R100,00 keyboards over the past few years. I'll be using it solely for gaming purposes, as all my work and web surfing etc happens on my laptop. One with backlit keys would be useful for the late-night LANs I often go to, so that's one feature that I would consider very important. I'm looking at anything around the R300-R400 range. (Although I would be happy to go slightly higher if necessary.)

So, a fairly "budget" gaming keyboard - Do you guys have any suggestions?

Personally I recommend those keyboards with the neon lighted keys :) It sounds gimmicky but is actually useful for night lans and it takes away eye strain because your eyes are not just focused on one thing. It's not uber gamer but is stylish, slim and practical. Thats probably what I would go for if I was on a tight budget.

You can find them at bits and online.

[Sven]

Unfortunately, the prices I found the G11 to flutter around was the R700,00 to R800,00 range... So it looks like I'll have to aim lower.

The CyberSnipa Warboard is going for a nice price at around the R400,00 mark, and stuff like the Microsoft Reclusa is higher at around R560,00.

The cheaper lighted keyboards are then also one of my main options here e.g. this one.

So, is it worth paying the extra cash for a quality keyboard, or will a more value for money approach be the best option?

[biffman]

Unfortunately, the prices I found the G11 to flutter around was the R700,00 to R800,00 range... So it looks like I'll have to aim lower.

The CyberSnipa Warboard is going for a nice price at around the R400,00 mark, and stuff like the Microsoft Reclusa is higher at around R560,00.

The cheaper lighted keyboards are then also one of my main options here e.g. this one.

So, is it worth paying the extra cash for a quality keyboard, or will a more value for money approach be the best option?

Personally I don't think their will be a big difference but I have never used or owned a gaming keyboard so don't take my word for it. I'm sure Chevron will be of more use to you. :)

[Sven]

Thanks, biffman. I've just heard a lot of talk about response times, build quality and whatnot so I'm going to find out if spending some extra cash will improve the experience.

By the way, does anybody know of a good set of headphones that aren't too expensive? I read Derrick Cramer's column in the January NAG where he wrote about audio in games, and particularly about a set of Sennheiser HD415 headphones that he bought in the UK.

At the moment, I'm sitting with a rather nasty pair of R60,00 laptop speakers and they are absolute rubbish. Have thee any recommendations?*

*I'm also pretty much skint, so something as nice as those 415's is out of the question.

[Chevron]

Hmmm. Thanks for putting me on the spot biffman. When it comes to accessories i'd generally say spend a bit more. Especially since your keyboard isn't just for gaming, but typing too.

Unfortunately I won't be at a pc for a while. So i can't post suggestions. That price for the G11 seems a bit high though. I got my G15 for just under R650. Maybe shop around a bit more.

[biffman]

Thanks, biffman. I've just heard a lot of talk about response times, build quality and whatnot so I'm going to find out if spending some extra cash will improve the experience.

By the way, does anybody know of a good set of headphones that aren't too expensive? I read Derrick Cramer's column in the January NAG where he wrote about audio in games, and particularly about a set of Sennheiser HD415 headphones that he bought in the UK.

At the moment, I'm sitting with a rather nasty pair of R60,00 laptop speakers and they are absolute rubbish. Have thee any recommendations?*

*I'm also pretty much skint, so something as nice as those 415's is out of the question.

Try the cibersnipa headphones, you can get them at quite a good price.
@Chevron: sorry for putting you on the spot, I just thought you might be of more help.

[Chevron]

@Chevron: sorry for putting you on the spot, I just thought you might be of more help.

I was kidding man. ;-)

If you want some cheaper head phones the logitech usb 350 headphones are good. Especially since it's usb and has it's own built in sound card. So no need to worry about your on board sound.

[biffman]

I was kidding man. ;-)

I was not sure if you where being serious so I decided to play it on the safe side :)

Anyway I think a cybasnipa Warboard if you are going fancy and cybasnipa headphones so you can be a uber cypasnipa person!
Most headphones are of decent quality so don't really worry about that as long as they above like R100 ;)

[cr@zydude]

I'm looking to get another gig of ram for my laptop. Does anyone now of a physical shop (my parents don't belive in internet shopping) that has good prices.

I'd like a 1gig stick of DDR2 667mhz laptop ram.

[biffman]

Well you can maybe try Computer Corporation but try go for somewhere like Incredible Connection.