Graphics Card & RAM

[Malax]

Hi all, I was wondering if I pose a couple of questions as I'm a bit out of the loop with regards to hardware etc. I was under the impression that my machine was decent until I tried to play F.E.A.R and it was just awful just about playable on the lowest settings. After a bit of research I came to the conclusion I need new RAM and definately a new graphics card, heres my current machine:

AMD Athlon XP 3000+
2.14GHz
512mb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 5200 FX

I have a budget of around £150 to buy both of them. I don't actually know how I go about buying RAM as there are all the different types, any suggestions as to how I find out and which I'd be best going for. 500 RAM Or 1 Gig? Obviously the more expensive the RAM the less I have to spend on a graphics card. Then onto the graphics card what am I best going for? I want to be able to keep playing high end games for around another year so any suggestions as to what I should do are greatly appreciated. Is it even worth upgrading? Is the processor to slow?
Thanks

 

[Me__2001]

i think you can achieve that, i'd say a 6600GT and a 512MB stick of RAM should sort you out, how many sticks do you have at the moment and what motherboard ?

 

[muckshifter]

Picking the right memory is easy ... find out what your motherboard is, if your not sure download & install Everest Home Edition ... then use http://www.crucial.com/uk/ to find the "correct" memory for your board.

 

[Malax]

Motherboard:
AMD Athlon XP, 2166 MHz (13 x 167) 3000
MSI MS-6716 (Medion OEM) (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN)
VIA VT8377 Apollo KT400
512 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)


I just checked the box and it says
512MB DDR-RAM
2 Modules (Max Memory 1GB)

I couldn't use the crucial site as it didn't have machine on it.

Is the graphics card you specified the best for the amount I'm looking at then? There seems to be a whole host of them all 128mb:
http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductsList.asp?Name=6600+GT

 

[tomsega]

The SPEED of the RAM can be as influencial as the quantity, especially for games. The best budget card out is indeed the 6600 - although you would NEED to get the 256mb version, otherwise you wouldn't have enough RAM to cope, as it will really require 128mb of the system RAM all to its self - which will effectively bring you down to 384mb of system RAM, which simply wouldn't cope under the load of games likes FEAR, which is much harder to run than even Doom 3.

If I were you, however, I would improve the overall system performance by getting two 512mb sticks of PC3200 400DDR ram and sharing 256mb of that system memory with a 128mb 6800. They are dirt cheap, and an 128mb 6800 with 256mb AGP aperture will beat a 256mb 6600 with only 512mb of system RAM in almost every department. Generally the difference between the 6800 128mb and the 6600 256mb is that the first has the processing power to have all the higher resolutions and increased details but with the textures in 'medium', wheras the latter will probably have most effects in medium but the textures on 'high'. And textures simply don't make as much difference as high resolutions and effects.

Take Far Cry, for instance. I was able to play in 1280x1024, with shader 3.0 ON, 4xAA, 4xAF, and everything on high/ultra except for 'textures' - which was on 'high' as apposed to 'very high'. That will look WAY better than a 256mb 6600 which will probably have it the other way around - with everything else lower but textures in 'very high'..

I just sold my 6800 128mb on Ebay for £90, and a goodish Gig of value PC3200 RAM is about £80. Or, if you're prepared to buy on ebay anyway you could just F*CK that idea and find a cheap 6800gt to blow all your budget on in one go..

I'm bored.

 

[G~MAN]

really depends on your budget as most have said512mb of Ram is basically a must ...

Graphics card... up tp you really depending on your price range ... a 6600GT should do you nicely or a radeon X800xl ... both reallly good cards at a good price

 

[tomsega]

Yeah, custom PC says the best card for £150 is the Sapphire x800gto2, because its a sure-fire pipeline unlocker - which makes it effectively a x800xl. That makes it by far the most powerful card for the money.

However, you won't be witnessing any of the shader 3.0 effects that make F.E.A.R, Doom 3, Quake 4, Far Cry, and the soon to be released Elderscrolls: oblivion and Starship troopers, so pretty.

Considering Shader 3.0 is the new standard for the latest gen of consoles, its likely that most games will use it heavily in the future. Therefore Im not sure about x800's... but you'll certainly play the games in much higher resolutions than a 6600, even if you can't support shader 3.0.

 

[Malax]

So....If I understand correctly. I have about £150 to spend on both (£75 each). Im best getting two modules of 512mb RAM?

"The best budget card out is indeed the 6600 - although you would NEED to get the 256mb version, otherwise you wouldn't have enough RAM to cope, as it will really require 128mb of the system RAM all to its self - which will effectively bring you down to 384mb of system RAM"

So if I went up to 1gig of RAM am I better getting the 128mb version? Not sure I understand the above paragraph.

Thanks by the way.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Gordon Bennet, how complicated we gotta get?

The geezer's got a hundred and fifty quid to upgrade.

Go for this:

Corsair 512MB DDR Value Select PC2700 CAS2.5 - £40.00 12th one down

Leadtek WinFast GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - £110.00 Top One

£150.00 + shipping.

Sorted.

We could blather on forever about this and that but for £150.00 that's about the best option and it will do the job.

You may be able to save a tenner or so by shopping about but the above is basically it.

Slap the new RAM in alongside the old, install new card, play F.E.A.R.

 

[tomsega]

So if I went up to 1gig of RAM am I better getting the 128mb version? Not sure I understand the above paragraph.

Thanks by the way.

Sorry, what I meant was, if you have got a gig of decent RAM you might be better with a 128mb 6800 instead of a 256mb 6600, whilst at the same time you would significantly boost performance out of games. The speed of an Athlon XP is influenced strongly by the quality/quantity of the RAM bottlenecking it.

Anyway. Yes, overcomplicated. Just get a 6600 as said above or a 6800gt off Ebay if you're prepared to risk it.

 

[Malax]

Been away, thanks for the replies. Im sorted on the graphics card front. However, I opened up my machine and it only has two slots available for RAM both of which are currently being occupied by the two 256mb cards.The box that the computer came in states:

512MB DDR-RAM
2 Modules (Max Memory 1GB)

Now, obviously I'm going to have to go for 1GB of RAM, but will I be able to keep one of the 256 cards? Any suggestions on the gig? This is taking forever, and as usual I appreciate the replies.

 

[floppybootstomp]

2 X 512mB sticks of a branded pair, preferably a matched pair but it's not important, will do you fine.

Your old two 256Mb sticks will become redundant, unfortunately, with a little luck you may be able to sell them.

 

[Me__2001]

i agree with flopps, its best to keep the stick capacities the same

 

[tomsega]

Yah, it will run better in dual channel mode.

Why not consider some Corsair TwinX? Some of the low latency stuff runs at 2-2-2-2-5, which can be 38% faster than regular RAM... Although, thats the same price as two average 1gb sticks so I'm not sure what would be better.

 

[Malax]

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=10177

Is that pretty rubbish or would that do me?

As for the graphics card:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Leadtek-6600G...ryZ90710QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[floppybootstomp]

That RAM'll do you fine.