Upgrade advice needed

[Autechre]

Hello group. I need to upgrade a computer for maximum memory and also
to add a decent (though affordable) video card or cards to be able to
play Half-Life 2 as well as import video from a camcorder for editing.

How do I determine what kind of memory I have installed, so I don't buy
the wrong kind to add to it?

Is there one video card I can get that will allow me to play Half-Life
2 *and* import camcorder data to edit or do I need two different cards
for each? And how do I know I can fit two video cards into my
motherboard / case?

Yeah, I'm pretty clueless on hardware issues...that's why I'm asking
for help!

Thanks.

 

[Cuzman]

Autechre wrote:

" How do I determine what kind of memory I have installed, so I don't
buy the wrong kind to add to it? "

Everest Home Edition will tell you your system spec.
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en


" Is there one video card I can get that will allow me to play
Half-Life 2 *and* import camcorder data to edit or do I need two
different cards for each? "

With a reasonable system you can easily get by with a card that has VIVO
(Video-In Video-Out).


" And how do I know I can fit two video cards into my motherboard /
case? "

Everest Home Edition should tell you what your motherboard is.
Hopefully you have an AGP slot for the video card, and, if you do need a
second card, it should easily fit into a spare PCI slot.

 

[faster_framerates]

Is there one video card I can get that will allow me to play Half-Life

2 *and* import camcorder data to edit or do I need two different cards
for each? And how do I know I can fit two video cards into my
motherboard / case?

ATI All-In-Wonder. Nvidia Personal Cinema.

Should be some good leads,

f_F