Hey,

I want some more ram and possibly a new graphics card and hardrive for my computer. Is there anyway I can install RAM and a Graphic card via an external hub that plugs in via USB?

My parents don't like the idea of opening and installing. :ranting:

Thanks for any info!

Magic

i havnt heard of anything and wouldent that bottleneck the ram? let alone the graphics card.
to put the fear from your parents theres usually magazines on sale with idiots guides to home pc upgrades. and ram and graphics card is really simple to do. see if you can find a nice ultra simple diagram to show them just how easy it is. also show them how much a pc engineer will charge to do something you can do in minutes. they will (probably) soon come around.

PC Format (UK) has in every issue near the end a HOW TO assembly a PC desktop with photos.

As far as I know Graphics card and memory (RAM) does not exist in an external format like USB or something. Main reason I guess is the low bandwidth.

There is an external soundcard though.

usb would be way to slow

Saw some guys who bypassed the "do not open"-sticker on the shell, by making a hole with some heavy tools in the side :)

Sorry, but only CD-readers/writers and to some extent Hardrives can be connected external. RAM and GPU needs HUGE ammounts of bandwith towards the CPU, so external is not even an option.

The other option is paying a small amount of extra money and let some computer shop install the extra RAM and Graphics card...

and they have warenty (or how it's spelled), so if anythings goes wrong, they replace it. If you'r realy paranoid, take a backup of the most important things on the hard-drive also (if you have DVD, take everything)

Thanks for all the help people :)

Maybe i'll convince them to buy me a gaming computer for my birthday, whats the cheapest way to obtain a top of the line gaming PC?

Steal it?

Depends on the country I guess. In the UK Tiny.com has some good cheap offers, but they are not know for customer support. If I had about 1000 GBP I would go for a Alienware model probably.

Or of course build your own.

?1000?

I thought you could get top spec gaming PC's for around ?600 and sometimes as low as ?400...

EDIT: Just custom built my own via tiny's website... ?954.. wtf.

I know my parents wont get me that :( :cry:

Maybe you can? :sick:


EDIT 2:
Product Name Product Code Qty Vat Inclusive Cost
I Build AMD® 64-3000+ Option 1 [Remove] 0001-030-01733 ?399.00
12 Month Standard Warranty 5555-555-00058 1 ?0.00
1024MB DDR PC3200 RAM Memory 0999-060-00058 1 ?85.00
200GB 7200RPM Serial ATA Hard Disk 0999-060-00060 1 ?40.00
16x DVD-ROM Drive 0999-060-00062 1 ?0.00
256MB ATi X700 PCI Express Graphics Card 0999-060-00066 1 ?82.00
Standard Keyboard and Mouse 0999-060-00068 1 ?0.00
Microsoft® Windows XP Home Edition 0999-060-00073 1 ?0.00
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor 0999-060-00088 1 ?0.00

Basket Sub Total: ?606.00
Delivery Cost: ?0.00
Basket Total:

Would that run Half Life2.Far Cry,Doom 3 etc?