Can I Have Some Help Please!!

Computer Forum General Hardware
1

OK, I am getting some upgrades for my computer, a New GFX card and some more RAM.

My current specs are AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53GHZ), 256 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 2 MX/MX 400.

In terms of RAM, I am looking at getting a 512mb Upgrade which I am assuming will be cumulative with my original 256mb to make 768mb of RAM. What will I have to buy, I see many kinds of Memory upgrade (sticks etc) What do I need to get to accomplish my objective. Any links to good priced products would be useful.

In terms of Graphics Card, I am looking to spend about £70-100 (hope English money doesn’t complicate it any more) on the best I can get, 256mb if that is possible. I have seen an ATI Radeon 9600 256mb for a good price, but I am keen to ask for compatibility issues as well as the knowledge you have on the better Graphics Cards to buy.

Also I have no experience in installing new hardware, I have looked inside a computer with an I.T technician at work once to see how theortically you install new hardware. But does the hardware come with installation instructions and say a CD to install of.

Mainly, I am asking for recommendations which will definately be compatible with my computer and what are the best I can get for a £70-100 price range on both the RAM and the GFX card. Just give me everything that you think may be useful from installation through to compatibility and anything I have missed

Thanks a lot in advance, I’ll have you to thank when I’m playing Rome Total War in hopefully a months time on top settings :smiley:

2

For the graphics card a 128mb Radeon 9800Pro is £138.64 http://www.savastore.com/category.asp?catalog_name=Savastore&category_name=Video+Cards

you should also get a new cpu as the 1800 won’t give you acceptable frame rates in Total war. Go for at least an AthlonXP 2400.

3

Is there much difference between a 256mb GFX Card and a 128mb GFX Card?

And for a new a processor is that because of the processing speed or is it just outdated, I’m guessing you can’t get Processor Upgrades, you just have to buy a new one!

4

assuming that the card is the same model, ie a 128 9800pro and a 256 9800pro, then there is very little difference in performance. perhaps 1-4 frames. and this small increase doesn’t justify the extra money.

games like UT2004 and Doom 3 may benefit from the extra memory as they use large textures, but personally, i don’t think it’s worth it.

and, sadly, processor upgrades aren’t available…which sorta sucks, as it gets very expensive upgrading every year or so. (not that i do, but i’m sure the enthusiasts out there upgrade like every month! :eek:)

hell, can’t Intel invent some kind of mini-ram that you stick in one of the pins? hm…

5

Yeah, I mean they do it for Memory, why not for Processing speed! :good:

6

Well, it’s not that simple. You can make the CPU run faster than it’s said speed (your 1800+ runs at 1.53GHz), and this is called overclocking. The problems here would be, a.)Voiding the CPU, and maybe motherboard warranty; b.)the need for better cooling; and c.)not all motherboards are designed for overclocking. The last time they had something in regards to “upgrading” the CPU, it was with COAST modules (Cache On A Stick), but this was abandoned after the design of slot-style processors (early Athlons, Pentium II, early P3’s).
The only way to upgrade your process is just to buy a faster one. There’s just some stuff you can’t upgrade. Like your car’s tires, you can’t upgrade the rubber.

The cache on CPU’s is made of Static RAM (SRAM), which does not need to be refreshed like the RAM on your video card or memory sticks. Additionally, it runs at the same speed as the CPU. In otherwords, if you have a 3.6GHz Pentium 4, the SRAM is running at that speed. Yes, the extra RAM helps, but have you seen the prices for the Extreme Edition P4’s? They’re outrageous.

In turn, the fastest DDR on the desktop hasn’t hit 1GHz in actual speed yet. It’s much cheaper, but slower.

SRAM rocks, but it’s so ungodly expensive, having a ton of it simply isn’t cost effective. If that were the case, I doubt any of us would have a PC because they cost more than the average house.

Memory means alot less than the video chipset. For the most part, having 128MB GeForce MX’s is ultimately a marketing ploy. Benchmarks have been done and the extra RAM does pretty much jack. Maybe a few extra points, but nothing you will actually notice or worth your money. It’s basically like adding a fin and spinners to a Yugo; sure it might seem a little snazzier (depending on who you ask), but it does jack squat for performance.

Now with a bit gruntier graphics chip, the extra memory can be a little bit more useful when it comes to larger textures. But again, you need enough grunt, which, if the price between the 128MB and 256MB cards is negligable, can be useful.

7

Thanks for giving me some insight there.

I suppose all I need to know is if my processor with 768 RAM, and a 128/256mb GOOD GFX Card will run Rome Total War! :smiley:

Or if there are extra upgrades needed as well as finding out about things I shouldn’t/can’t do

8

In general, strategy titles aren’t quite as intense as an FPS, prime examples being FarCry and D00M 3. A Radeon 9600 series card (except for the 9600SE) would be great. For the nVidia equivalent, the GeForce FX 5700 would be roughly the same. However, based on US prices, the plain 9600 tends to be a bit cheaper than the FX 5700, but I think the numbers aren’t as big over in the UK.

I’m really not an RTS dude, but from what I’ve seen they don’t need nearly the same grunt as FPS titles. You may have plenty of power for Rome, but it’s hard to say. Even RTS get graphics upgrades—just not to the extent of FPS ones.

9

Thanks, thats exactly the kind of answer I was looking for.

AND Thanks any one else who has given me some help.

Much appreciated!