Upgrading.....Opinions heavily required.

[spartan360]

Hey guys im new to this forum so please excuse me if I make a mistake or 2 doing this or that. Also I'm glad to be here.

My current PC is an Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz.

Nvidia 7600GS (256 video RAM)

I have barely peaking 1 gig RAM

Now this PC started with a basic Nvidia 5200FX and 512RAM so you can easily tell the upgrades I made.

My intention is really to play games along the lines of UT3 and CoD4 and that's it, not the likes of Crysis or Sup Commander.

According to the system requirements lab I'm 1/3 into minimal which means I can run both titles so I'm wandering if theres any improvements I could make to my PC without having to blow £600 on a new PC entirely.

Maybe that would be the smartest thing but for now being only 17 I just want to casually come home and have a good laugh considering my xbox live has packed up.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,

Tom

 

[floppybootstomp]

The easiest and most obvious upgrade for you would be a better video card.

Is that a pci-e slot you have for your card?

Basically just look at the video cards available and select one according to your budget.

This would be good, assuming you have a pci-e slot on your motherboard but as I mentioned, it depends on your budget.

 

[spartan360]

Yes indeed it a pci-e slot i have,

Funds are not really an issue at the moment so chances are I will purchase a new card,

With the assumption to just running games is 1gig sufficient?

I currently have 2 x 512's in there and I'm not sure whether it's worth getting anymore.

Thanks for your response

 

[Me__2001]

your CPU should be ok with most games, another GB of RAM would help aswell as a graphics card as flopps has said

 

[spartan360]

Thanks for the immediate response, greatly appreciated.

 

[floppybootstomp]

If you have 4 memory slots you can put another two 512Mb sticks in there otherwise if you want to increase the RAM you'll have to buy a 2Gb kit (2 x 1Gb).

Not sure what memory your board takes but I'd guess DDR PC3200 is what you need.

 

[spartan360]

Yeh unfortunately I only have 2 slots so it looks like that will have to be the option I take.

Any ideas how much this would be in the region of? (2 x 1gig's) I also don't know what memory it takes because I didn't add the last, if I knew how I would kindly look :].

Im assuming the price difference isn't too significant between each though right?

 

[floppybootstomp]

If you go to Crucial Link they can scan your system and tell you which memory you need.

Oddly enough the older memory (DDR) is more expensive than the most commonly used at the moment, DDR2. Looks like the cheapest 2Gb of DDR PC3200 is £83.00 at Crucial yet you can pick up 2Gb of DDR2 6400 for around £40.00 or less.

 

[spartan360]

Oh right thanks very much

DDR PC3200 x 2 empty according to this and I never knew I had 2 more spare 0_o

Really strange haha but it's gunna cost roughly £40 then maybe.

 

[spartan360]

So back to the drawing bored, I'm assuming I wont need anymore than 1 gig added?

I don't think many things need much more than that but with 2 gig in as a total is it significant that my graphics card is the 7600? Basically I will buy a card after.

(Each memory slot can hold DDR PC3200,DDR PC4000 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*)

Anyone recommend a gig from somewhere? I'm not online store friendly and will probably purchase badly.

Thanks guys and gals

 

[floppybootstomp]

Just to confirm, if you have four slots and you want to add another 2 x 512Mb modules it's best the ones you add are the same type as what's already in there, preferably also the same make although that's not quite so important as selecting the same type, PC 2700; PC3200 etc.

Find out what you have before you purchase. You may be able to do this simply by looking at the memory modules, they're often stickered.

For gaming I think a better card would be more beneficial than more RAM but I can run CoD4 ok with a 7600GT 256Mb card, albeit at low settings.

And you can't really go wrong with Crucial for RAM, quick service and excellent backup and quick turn around if things go wrong. A fair price as well.

 

[spartan360]

I already ran CoD the other day and played a fair while online, all I did was untick about 4 options and I was away, after killing off all backround aps and the like.


Memory Slots
DRAM Slot #1 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)
DRAM Slot #2 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)

Are the ones used. Not sure how much more information I can get out of them lol or where

 

[floppybootstomp]

As I said, shut the machine down, take out the mains lead, take the side off the case and take a look at the memory. It may tell you exactly what they are on the side of them.

If need be, take them out to have a look.

 

[spartan360]

I will have a look later right now im busy downloading something, I will have to get someone else to I will probably break it lol.

Does it matter what they are exactly then? I mean if I know whats compatible and what isn't should it really matter?