So what I got from this is that if I switch to my older monitor, (its still really nice, but it works with 1280x1024) My framerates will be better.
Right now im running from a 1920x1200, so I could switch, it wouldnt be the end of the world.
Also, I'm running on 32 bit windows 7. Seeing as I can only use 3.3gigs of RAM, I'll most likely get one more 1 gig stick then. i guess ill upgrade my video card along with that.
Budget is now roughly 240~
My monitor is a Dell 2407 WFP model if that helps
I don't get blue screens, I've never gotten one.
Would it be helpful if i posted my DxDiag.txt ?
Knowing the model number DOES help. 1920x1200 LCD monitors are few and far between. It's up to you on what to do. when you get the new parts, experiment. See if you can get good frames with the bigger monitor. But with the smaller one, you'll probably be able to crank up the detail alot more.
You'll want to get a matched pair of half gig sticks. If you just get one stick, your bus speed will be cut in half. It should be cheap enough to get a vid card like Loke recommends as well.
Originally posted by eagles12555 So what I got from this is that if I switch to my older monitor, (its still really nice, but it works with 1280x1024) My framerates will be better. Right now im running from a 1920x1200, so I could switch, it wouldnt be the end of the world. Also, I'm running on 32 bit windows 7. Seeing as I can only use 3.3gigs of RAM, I'll most likely get one more 1 gig stick then. i guess ill upgrade my video card along with that. Budget is now roughly 240~ My monitor is a Dell 2407 WFP model if that helps I don't get blue screens, I've never gotten one. Would it be helpful if i posted my DxDiag.txt ?
Your frame rates would be better at 1280x1024 but honestly I don't think it's worth downgrading your monitor. If you really need to lower resolution I'd keep your 1920x1200 hooked up and run it at 1680x1050 with GPU display scaling turned on in the driver options.
You should plan on switching to Win 7 x64 if you are doing the RAM upgrade, didn't even consider that you might be on a 32 bit OS. Nice thing is you already own Win7 64 bit by owning Win7 at all, you just need to find a copy of it to use your key on. I have never had any compatibility issues with x64.
If you bought Win7 yourself your key will definitely work with the matching 64bit ISO above. If Win7 came with your PC (don't see how it could have with the age of your components) I'm not positive your key would work with the OEM Win7 I linked, you may have to contact the PC manufacturer to find out what to do.
You do want to go to 4GB of memory even if you stay 32 bit because you want to keep them in dual channel which requires matching pairs of RAM.
Even if losing the memory capacity didn't matter, losing the ROPs and memory bandwidth by going with a 768 MB version surely does. The 768 MB version is a different card from the 1 GB version, and should have been given a different name.
You want to keep DIMMS in pairs. Yes, it's true that Windows 32-bit can't use all 4G of memory, but it will let you keep dual channel access. Get 2 more 1G sticks if you can, or even better, get 2 2G sticks and replace the 2 1G sticks you already have. You won't need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system or anything for this computer, but if you do upgrade your motherboard or get a new computer later on (where you would need a new OS license anyway), then you should consider a 64-bit OS.
For screen resolution: Your LCD monitor is really nice, you don't need to swap it back out for your older monitor just to run at a lower resolution. Just select a lower resolution in your game settings (try to stick to wide screen resolutions if you can, they will look better). You can keep your Windows Desktop at 1920x1200.
You want to keep DIMMS in pairs. Yes, it's true that Windows 32-bit can't use all 4G of memory, but it will let you keep dual channel access. Get 2 more 1G sticks if you can, or even better, get 2 2G sticks and replace the 2 1G sticks you already have. You won't need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system or anything for this computer, but if you do upgrade your motherboard or get a new computer later on (where you would need a new OS license anyway), then you should consider a 64-bit OS.
For screen resolution:
Your LCD monitor is really nice, you don't need to swap it back out for your older monitor just to run at a lower resolution. Just select a lower resolution in your game settings (try to stick to wide screen resolutions if you can, they will look better). You can keep your Windows Desktop at 1920x1200.
Lowering a LCD screen under max resolution usually looks somewhat wierd, it is inrtended for one resolution.
It might still be better to run it at lower than an old crap monitor but it is a matter of taste.
I've decided to get a new video card and new ram. I believe my motherboard only has 3 slots total, so I'm going to scrap my current two 1gig sticks of RAM for two 2gig sticks.
For the video card, I'm going to go for the GTX 460 1gig.
I checked newegg.com and the price totals around 180-200, which is reasonable.
Make sure the GTX 460 isn't an SE, as that's a different card with a very similar name.
You may need to accept that in some cases, you'll be processor bound, and the game still won't run very well. If the plan is to keep the video card when you replace the processor, motherboard, memory, and possibly some other parts sometime in the future, then go ahead.
nVidia 460 1G is an excellent card, $180-$200 US is a good price for one. I recommend the eVGA brand, mainly because of their lifetime warranty and Step-Up program (you can upgrade to a faster EVGA card within 90 days with no restock fee). It will be a nice card for quite a good while to come as well. That said, most brands are going to be about the same, since most of them are based on the reference nVidia layout - they just throw their sticker on the heatsink. I don't recommend paying for a pre-overclocked one, as you can generally do it yourself if you really want for free, and they often don't include anything else for the premium they charge.
The GTX460 1G is commonly labeled as one of the "best bang for the buck" cards because the price vs performance is so good, and they tend to run well without needing a lot of power or putting out a lot of heat. In fact, it is one of the very few cards that is actually cheaper and faster to SLI, than it was to buy the upgraded GTX480. I still recommend the 460 1G version over the 560 (although if the 560's were to come down about $35 it would be a different story).
As posted before, this isn't the same as the 768M version, or the SE version. Those are good cards as well, however, they have fewer processing cores, and in some cases, less memory bandwidth. Those are less expensive, however, with the reduced performance, the price vs performance isn't quite as good.
EVGA has largely backed away from their lifetime warranty, and doesn't offer it on a lot of their cards anymore. I don't see much point in the step-up program from them right now, as there's nothing meaningful coming from Nvidia in the next 90 days, unless they add new lower bins of GF110 and GF114, which at best would fill some price gaps in Nvidia's lineup. For that matter, a lower bin of GF114 would essentially just be a GTX 460 rebranded into the GeForce 500 series. With EVGA not going the superior custom design route the way that MSI, Gigabyte, Sapphire, and some others do on some of their cards, I don't see a point in paying a big price premium for an EVGA card.
But if the budget is $150, talk of a GTX 460 is superfluous, anyway. If you're going to expand the budget to get a GTX 460, you might also want to look at a Radeon HD 6850. That offers comparable performance for about the same price with much lower power consumption. It's debatable whether the GTX 460 or Radeon HD 6850 offers a better feature set, though I'd lean toward the latter.
I'm not saying that you should definitely buy a 6850 over a GTX 460. I'm saying that it would be absurd not to look at both sides. The GTX 460 isn't a really great value for the money. It's not that it's bad, either; it's about in line with what it should be for the performance it offers, as compared to the Radeon HD 5770, 6850, and 6870 and GeForce GTX 560 Ti. Nvidia fans went overboard in their effusive praise of the card at its launch, largely because it meant that for the first time in nearly a year, Nvidia had a card actually worth buying for significantly over $100. And indeed, it was definitely the card to get at its price point, largely because it filled a hole in AMD's lineup. But AMD has filled that hole itself since then with the Radeon HD 6850, returning competition to that price point.
is my above post okay? do those parts sound good for my problem? if any of you guys could get back to me that'd be great, I'm really anxious to order these parts !
The RAM you have picked out is DDR3. You likely need DDR2 RAM for your current motherboard. Try something like this
Same brand as you had picked out, I have no experience with them however (I usually use Kingston because I trust them). It was one of the least expensive at Newegg.
This is my computer specs, I don't know of this is good enough and I will appreciate if you will give advise if I need to upgrade it. I play a lot of mmorpg games, for me, my computer's perfomance is okay.
CPU: Pentium Dual Core
Memory: Ram 2 Gig
Graphics Crad: Radeon HD3650 Geforce 8600GT
I was thinking of upgrading my memery to 4 gig. and my processor to a quad core.
Comments
Knowing the model number DOES help. 1920x1200 LCD monitors are few and far between. It's up to you on what to do. when you get the new parts, experiment. See if you can get good frames with the bigger monitor. But with the smaller one, you'll probably be able to crank up the detail alot more.
You'll want to get a matched pair of half gig sticks. If you just get one stick, your bus speed will be cut in half. It should be cheap enough to get a vid card like Loke recommends as well.
Your frame rates would be better at 1280x1024 but honestly I don't think it's worth downgrading your monitor. If you really need to lower resolution I'd keep your 1920x1200 hooked up and run it at 1680x1050 with GPU display scaling turned on in the driver options.
You should plan on switching to Win 7 x64 if you are doing the RAM upgrade, didn't even consider that you might be on a 32 bit OS. Nice thing is you already own Win7 64 bit by owning Win7 at all, you just need to find a copy of it to use your key on. I have never had any compatibility issues with x64.
You can find links to the official ISO's here:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/11/10/windows-7-iso-x86-and-x64-official-direct-download-links-ultimate-professional-and-home-premium/
You can make a bootable USB drive out of the Win7 ISO with the USB tool here:
http://store.microsoft.com/help/iso-tool
If you bought Win7 yourself your key will definitely work with the matching 64bit ISO above. If Win7 came with your PC (don't see how it could have with the age of your components) I'm not positive your key would work with the OEM Win7 I linked, you may have to contact the PC manufacturer to find out what to do.
You do want to go to 4GB of memory even if you stay 32 bit because you want to keep them in dual channel which requires matching pairs of RAM.
The 768MB on the GTX 460 isn't a big issue at 1920x1200, it's not going to crap out at that resolution: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gigabyte-gv-n460oc-768i_6.html#sect2
The 1GB is a bit better of course so I'd try for the 460 1GB if you have the money but if you don't the 768MB would be ok.
Even if losing the memory capacity didn't matter, losing the ROPs and memory bandwidth by going with a 768 MB version surely does. The 768 MB version is a different card from the 1 GB version, and should have been given a different name.
When upgrading your system RAM:
You want to keep DIMMS in pairs. Yes, it's true that Windows 32-bit can't use all 4G of memory, but it will let you keep dual channel access. Get 2 more 1G sticks if you can, or even better, get 2 2G sticks and replace the 2 1G sticks you already have. You won't need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system or anything for this computer, but if you do upgrade your motherboard or get a new computer later on (where you would need a new OS license anyway), then you should consider a 64-bit OS.
For screen resolution:
Your LCD monitor is really nice, you don't need to swap it back out for your older monitor just to run at a lower resolution. Just select a lower resolution in your game settings (try to stick to wide screen resolutions if you can, they will look better). You can keep your Windows Desktop at 1920x1200.
Lowering a LCD screen under max resolution usually looks somewhat wierd, it is inrtended for one resolution.
It might still be better to run it at lower than an old crap monitor but it is a matter of taste.
For the video card, I'm going to go for the GTX 460 1gig.
I checked newegg.com and the price totals around 180-200, which is reasonable.
Does this seem like a good idea?
Make sure the GTX 460 isn't an SE, as that's a different card with a very similar name.
You may need to accept that in some cases, you'll be processor bound, and the game still won't run very well. If the plan is to keep the video card when you replace the processor, motherboard, memory, and possibly some other parts sometime in the future, then go ahead.
nVidia 460 1G is an excellent card, $180-$200 US is a good price for one. I recommend the eVGA brand, mainly because of their lifetime warranty and Step-Up program (you can upgrade to a faster EVGA card within 90 days with no restock fee). It will be a nice card for quite a good while to come as well. That said, most brands are going to be about the same, since most of them are based on the reference nVidia layout - they just throw their sticker on the heatsink. I don't recommend paying for a pre-overclocked one, as you can generally do it yourself if you really want for free, and they often don't include anything else for the premium they charge.
The EVGA version is available on EVGA's website for $199 (US) with a $30 MIR.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=01G-P3-1371-TR&family=GeForce 400 Series Family&sw=
And for the same price, with the same rebate, on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130570&cm_re=evga_GTX460-_-14-130-570-_-Product
The GTX460 1G is commonly labeled as one of the "best bang for the buck" cards because the price vs performance is so good, and they tend to run well without needing a lot of power or putting out a lot of heat. In fact, it is one of the very few cards that is actually cheaper and faster to SLI, than it was to buy the upgraded GTX480. I still recommend the 460 1G version over the 560 (although if the 560's were to come down about $35 it would be a different story).
As posted before, this isn't the same as the 768M version, or the SE version. Those are good cards as well, however, they have fewer processing cores, and in some cases, less memory bandwidth. Those are less expensive, however, with the reduced performance, the price vs performance isn't quite as good.
EVGA has largely backed away from their lifetime warranty, and doesn't offer it on a lot of their cards anymore. I don't see much point in the step-up program from them right now, as there's nothing meaningful coming from Nvidia in the next 90 days, unless they add new lower bins of GF110 and GF114, which at best would fill some price gaps in Nvidia's lineup. For that matter, a lower bin of GF114 would essentially just be a GTX 460 rebranded into the GeForce 500 series. With EVGA not going the superior custom design route the way that MSI, Gigabyte, Sapphire, and some others do on some of their cards, I don't see a point in paying a big price premium for an EVGA card.
But if the budget is $150, talk of a GTX 460 is superfluous, anyway. If you're going to expand the budget to get a GTX 460, you might also want to look at a Radeon HD 6850. That offers comparable performance for about the same price with much lower power consumption. It's debatable whether the GTX 460 or Radeon HD 6850 offers a better feature set, though I'd lean toward the latter.
I'm not saying that you should definitely buy a 6850 over a GTX 460. I'm saying that it would be absurd not to look at both sides. The GTX 460 isn't a really great value for the money. It's not that it's bad, either; it's about in line with what it should be for the performance it offers, as compared to the Radeon HD 5770, 6850, and 6870 and GeForce GTX 560 Ti. Nvidia fans went overboard in their effusive praise of the card at its launch, largely because it meant that for the first time in nearly a year, Nvidia had a card actually worth buying for significantly over $100. And indeed, it was definitely the card to get at its price point, largely because it filled a hole in AMD's lineup. But AMD has filled that hole itself since then with the Radeon HD 6850, returning competition to that price point.
and this RAM to upgrade my current RAM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161279
Good idea? will I get any compatibility issues? thanks everyone?
The video card is fine.
The RAM you have picked out is DDR3. You likely need DDR2 RAM for your current motherboard. Try something like this
Same brand as you had picked out, I have no experience with them however (I usually use Kingston because I trust them). It was one of the least expensive at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161183
Okay thanks, yeah it looks like i need DDR2 RAM, thanks for the heads up!
This is my computer specs, I don't know of this is good enough and I will appreciate if you will give advise if I need to upgrade it. I play a lot of mmorpg games, for me, my computer's perfomance is okay.
CPU: Pentium Dual Core
Memory: Ram 2 Gig
Graphics Crad: Radeon HD3650 Geforce 8600GT
I was thinking of upgrading my memery to 4 gig. and my processor to a quad core.
If you want to upgrade your pc, you can change your processor to quad core and expand your memory to 8 gig..