Shazz October 19, 2007 Share Shazz Member October 19, 2007 Here is my setup. All of this taken from Belarc Advisor. It is a Dell XPS generation 4 system. ( I know Maverick..lol you dont' like them!) Windows XP Media Center Edition Service Pack 2 3.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 16 kilobyte primary memory cache 2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Dell Inc. 0U7084 Bus Clock: 800 megahertz BIOS: Dell Inc. A04 01/10/2005 2048 Megabytes Installed Memory RADEON X850 Series [Display adapter] (this is what I want to update) I do believe that it is a PCI-E setup. RADEON X850 Series - Secondary [Display adapter] Here are the options of update that Dell gives me. The first link is all of them. All to pick from The ones they recommend. Recommended ones Make sure and roll over the video card section at the bottom. Mabey I am being cheap here...but I don't feel like buying a new system or building one when I "think" my computer can handle some of these new games if I just updated my graphics card. I am right or wrong here??? I d/l the new Medal of Honor demo and it wouldn't even play it because of my graphics card. That was it! And I know there are better games coming out. Thoughts and recommendations please. Will my current computer handle it if I just upgraded the card or not? And if it can..what card would you pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly October 19, 2007 Share dragonfly Member October 19, 2007 There are sites that have reviewed newer games (check the ut3 threads for a dualcore/singlecore/quadcore comparison) with dualcore vs singlecore cpus. I would say, basically, if you dont want ALL the fancies on, then your pc will be fine and just upgrade the gfx card. I would recommend buying from somewhere else though, like newegg since you're in the states. The 8800 series cards are obviously the best choice, but make sure you have a good enough power supply. I guess it sorta depends on how much stock you put into gaming, and how much money you're willing (and want) to spend. Example: I am running a 7900gtx, with my gfx settings at 2 of 5 for textures for ut3. Is it super pretty? No, it's ok though. Do I want to spend $400+ to make it super pretty? No, I dont care that much. I'd say your gfx card is your weakest link, so that's the part you'd need to upgrade. Just my 2cents anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 19, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 19, 2007 (edited) I d/l the new Medal of Honor demo and it wouldn't even play it because of my graphics card. That was it! And I know there are better games coming out. Thoughts and recommendations please. Will my current computer handle it if I just upgraded the card or not? And if it can..what card would you pick. that sucks that your current gfx card can't handle it. it's not because it's not powerful enough. it's just because it doesn't support shader model 3. your card is far more powerful than the minimum required x1300... boo to that game. anyway, your system is close to 3 years old. there's no point in upgrading your gfx card as your cpu will hold you back way too much in any modern game. not only because it's single core but because it's a p4 and they were never good at gaming. right now your system is even. upgrading your gfx will not get you the full value out of the upgrade. the highest i would go on any upgrade is maybe a hd 2600xt. you can get one for less than $200 and it should give you a bit of a perf boost and let you play any newer game. you WILL be held back by your cpu though. i'd be prepared to do a major upgrade within the next year and you could probably still get away with the 2600 in a new system. don't do anything til you make sure you have pcie. if you have agp then don't even bother considering upgrading, just get a new system. Edited October 19, 2007 by Cujo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwack October 19, 2007 Share bushwack Member October 19, 2007 Just came across this deal: Foxconn 8800 GTS 320mb from zipzoomfly. As Cujo says make sure you have PCI-E. Don't throw that single core out yet. I upgraded to dual last spring. I'm glad I didn't spend more money and get one earlier because at the time there were really no games out there that used both. One always seemed to be idle. That is until I played newer games like Jericho and the UT3 demo. But then again I played Quake wars and it only used 1 core. Come to think of it all the games I play on a regular basis only use one core. I say just spring for the card for an easy way out. I have a 8800 GTS 320mb and it totally rocks, even when a game only uses 1 core like Heroes of Might & Magic 5 or Oblivion. (They say it uses both cores but it's a lie, lol) In a year when most games use more then one core grab a quad and the 8800 will still serve you well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 20, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 20, 2007 bush, the issue isn't single core vs dual so much as old p4 architecture vs new c2d architecture. a 2.4ghz c2d is much faster than a 3.2ghz p4 in any game out there. and also, how do you know most games you play don't utilize that second core. css shows more than 50% cpu usage when i'm playing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwack October 20, 2007 Share bushwack Member October 20, 2007 bush, the issue isn't single core vs dual so much as old p4 architecture vs new c2d architecture. a 2.4ghz c2d is much faster than a 3.2ghz p4 in any game out there. and also, how do you know most games you play don't utilize that second core. css shows more than 50% cpu usage when i'm playing... I'm just saying that a P4 @ 3.2 really isn't all that slow, EE Shazz? It's all a money issue really, if he has the money to blow go ahead and get that quad. If he just wants an easy way to make most of his games play 2-3 times faster and look better for under 300 smackers then grab that 8800 GTS. True when I play UT2004 I use more then 50% but its only like 51-52%. Thats not much of an improvement for the money to upgrading to a dual core setup. But multitasking while gaming is greatly improved, so if you do other things like run Seti or Prime95 while you play CSS... I'd like to have a new Core 2 Duo system myself. But looking at some UT3 benchmarks vs. my AMD X2, even if I spend $1000 on a Core 2 Extreme CPU (mush less a new mobo and ram) my system would be far from twice as fast. Yeah I'm cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 21, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 21, 2007 (edited) I'd like to have a new Core 2 Duo system myself. But looking at some UT3 benchmarks vs. my AMD X2, even if I spend $1000 on a Core 2 Extreme CPU (mush less a new mobo and ram) my system would be far from twice as fast. i assume this is what you're talking about: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3127&p=4 how is a new cpu not worth it? his cpu is about half as fast as the 2.66 c2d they're using and i'm talking using only 1 core on the c2d. and if you look here: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3127&p=7 i'm seeing double the performance from low end to high end... his 3.2ghz cpu was never very fast to begin with compared to amd's at the time in gaming. 2-3 times the performance is just wishful thinking with that cpu at the low res he'd be restricted to. shazz, if you want to spend the money and get the 320mb gts go for it but your cpu is not capable of extracting maximum performance out of that card. to look at it another way, you'd spend say $300 on the card but your system would limit you to only getting say $200 worth of performance. you'd essentially be throwing away the $100 until you upgrade the rest of your system. i just checked newegg and for about $150 you can get a hd 2600xt with 512mb memory which would double your current performance and allow you to play all the modern games. i would definitely recommend getting 512mb as the 320mb gts is ram limited in a couple new games even at a low res like 1280x1024. edit - the cheapest 320mb gts on newegg is about double the price of the 512mb 2600xt. you will not get double the performance. anyway, all this aside, you're probably used to ati and the drivers. if i'd had a choice when i got my gtx i'd have stuck with an ati card but they just didn't compete in my price range for the performance i needed. part of the reason i'm pushing ati so much is i KNOW from personal experience you'll be much happier with their drivers. i might be selling my gtx just to go back to ati drivers if these new ati cards are as good as they're supposed to be. Edited October 21, 2007 by Cujo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly October 21, 2007 Share dragonfly Member October 21, 2007 i might be selling my gtx just to go back to ati drivers if these new ati cards are as good as they're supposed to be. dibs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz October 21, 2007 Author Share Shazz Member October 21, 2007 There is more wisdom on this board than any place I feel I could drive to here in Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million) just to look at someone and get advice on being cheap and I love it! I know it is inevitable that I am going to have to build or buy a new computer. But at the moment I have all my information stored on this computer etc. etc. and a whole lot more etc. and I guess I am just to lazy or cheap to buy a new computer and swap every bit of information (on a new machine) when I "thought" I could get more out of this machine by just swapping out cards. My understand is yes...but just a little. So little I might not even notice it BUT it would please those games that I would like to play by letting me play them. However, looking at the game won't be so pretty. So in a since if I bought a new card to please those games...I am paying lets say 300 bucks to appease those games when I could be saving that 300 bucks to put to a newer computer. So to ask one more question....am I right on my interpretation of this thread? On a side note...I didn't even think of checking my power supply to see if it would even handle one of these cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwack October 21, 2007 Share bushwack Member October 21, 2007 Back in the day I had issues with a ATI branded Radeon 8500 so sent it back to for repair. Kudos for ATI's fast turn around time but what they sent back to me was a 8500 LE, their lower tier model. I told them about the mistake and the automated email response told me to ship it back if it is faulty. I was going to have to pay for shipping again even though it was their fault and I figured they would just ship me a LE again since that's what I sent them. It's been years and I haven't bought a ATI product since. I've been home brewing my own comps for ten years now and have never really made a new system from scratch since. Something is always being upgraded and replaced a couple times a year. So Shazz if your not going to carry over the video card upgrade to a new system then just get the Radeon 2600xt or a nVidia 8600gt. Performance and price are about the same for both models and I'm sure your power supply could handle them. You will like the nice boost and visuals too. Just get the one that has the quietest fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 21, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 21, 2007 (edited) There is more wisdom on this board than any place I feel I could drive to here in Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million) just to look at someone and get advice on being cheap and I love it! I know it is inevitable that I am going to have to build or buy a new computer. But at the moment I have all my information stored on this computer etc. etc. and a whole lot more etc. and I guess I am just to lazy or cheap to buy a new computer and swap every bit of information (on a new machine) when I "thought" I could get more out of this machine by just swapping out cards. My understand is yes...but just a little. So little I might not even notice it BUT it would please those games that I would like to play by letting me play them. However, looking at the game won't be so pretty. So in a since if I bought a new card to please those games...I am paying lets say 300 bucks to appease those games when I could be saving that 300 bucks to put to a newer computer. So to ask one more question....am I right on my interpretation of this thread? yes. however, if buying with an eye to the future i would wait a couple weeks as ati and nvidia are both about to release a few new cards. if you didn't want to wait a couple weeks i'd go with the 640mb gts. the 320mb might be too limited in the newer games. On a side note...I didn't even think of checking my power supply to see if it would even handle one of these cards. i wouldn't even worry about it with the 2600xt. it takes less power than your current x850. bush, that's a crappy situation. i've never had to deal with ati tech support directly as i usually just go through the place of purchase. nowadays, there are many other companies that produce ati cards so you'd be less likely in the same situation. personally, i always buy what's best in my budget regardless of the company that produces it. i do have favourites but i will overlook them if another company offers a superior product at the same price point. Edited October 21, 2007 by Cujo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akaM2 October 21, 2007 Share akaM2 Member October 21, 2007 When did you go to phoenix shazz? Hit me up on aim/steam friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz October 21, 2007 Author Share Shazz Member October 21, 2007 This is my current card...of course it isnt' refurb. Bought it new. Why in the world are they selling a refurb for over 500 bucks shocks me. Anyone know the answer to that?? If my card is worth that much...Ebay baby I checked newegg for the cards you guys suggested. I have to admit. I am a newb when it comes to building a computer. I am one of those fellas that just buys one complete. What brand and what type should I look at getting. You can see what my card looks like on the link above. I would still like those ports. M2. going on 6 months. And loving it! Got a great job (a directors job with no stress imagine that). And the weather right now is nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 21, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 21, 2007 (edited) This is my current card...of course it isnt' refurb. Bought it new. Why in the world are they selling a refurb for over 500 bucks shocks me. Anyone know the answer to that?? If my card is worth that much...Ebay baby it's dell, they milk you for all the extras. there are probably several people with your card who've bought from dell and when the cards break dell sells them those replacements at a premium. as far as suggestions goes i don't have time now to post up direct links but i'll get back to it later this afternoon. edit - here we go. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814131066 Edited October 21, 2007 by Cujo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo October 22, 2007 Share anonymo Member October 22, 2007 Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million) Not to derail the thread but according to wiki entry for the City of Phoenix, the last census put the population at 1.5million. I felt it was relevant and I'm bored at work. lol...does that make Shazzz a Phoenixer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler October 22, 2007 Share boiler Member October 22, 2007 Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million) Not to derail the thread but according to wiki entry for the City of Phoenix, the last census put the population at 1.5million. I felt it was relevant and I'm bored at work. lol...does that make Shazzz a Phoenixer? go get another cup of coffee, Mo, and please refrain from posting until you have consumed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo October 22, 2007 Share anonymo Member October 22, 2007 Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million) Not to derail the thread but according to wiki entry for the City of Phoenix, the last census put the population at 1.5million. I felt it was relevant and I'm bored at work. lol...does that make Shazzz a Phoenixer? go get another cup of coffee, Mo, and please refrain from posting until you have consumed it. Stop following me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX October 22, 2007 Share NOFX Member October 22, 2007 not only because it's single core but because it's a p4 and they were never good at gaming. I highly disagree, back in 2004-2006 when I had my P4, it smoked my AMD 3200+ in counterstrike and as far as running windows it's just as responsive as my Intel C2D. but regardless, if you upgrade your vid card, you probably want a whole new setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz October 22, 2007 Author Share Shazz Member October 22, 2007 Phoenix (a city pushing 6 million)Not to derail the thread but according to wiki entry for the City of Phoenix, the last census put the population at 1.5million. I felt it was relevant and I'm bored at work. lol...does that make Shazzz a Phoenixer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_metropolitan_areaThey say that we are pushing 6 million by now ( on the news and people chat ) and will be at 9 by the year 2010. Wherever you got your information...it was probably some Canadian site. Look at the growth rate from one year to the next. Go get another cup of coffee not only because it's single core but because it's a p4 and they were never good at gaming.I highly disagree, back in 2004-2006 when I had my P4, it smoked my AMD 3200+ in counterstrike and as far as running windows it's just as responsive as my Intel C2D. :)but regardless, if you upgrade your vid card, you probably want a whole new setup.That is what I am afraid of. Crud...not that I don't want a new computer..just don't want to go through the hassle of doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 23, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 23, 2007 not only because it's single core but because it's a p4 and they were never good at gaming. I highly disagree, back in 2004-2006 when I had my P4, it smoked my AMD 3200+ in counterstrike and as far as running windows it's just as responsive as my Intel C2D. but regardless, if you upgrade your vid card, you probably want a whole new setup. a fair comparison would be to an a64 though. the xp 3200 was to compete with the 533 and 400fsb intel cpus. still comparing a p4 to today's cpus is laughable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly October 23, 2007 Share dragonfly Member October 23, 2007 (edited) not only because it's single core but because it's a p4 and they were never good at gaming. I highly disagree, back in 2004-2006 when I had my P4, it smoked my AMD 3200+ in counterstrike and as far as running windows it's just as responsive as my Intel C2D. but regardless, if you upgrade your vid card, you probably want a whole new setup. a fair comparison would be to an a64 though. the xp 3200 was to compete with the 533 and 400fsb intel cpus. still comparing a p4 to today's cpus is laughable. He's right... My old computer vs newer old computer vs computer: P4@2.0ghz < AMDx2@2.0ghz < C2D @ 3.4ghz Edited October 23, 2007 by DarkArchon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nut October 23, 2007 Share nut Member October 23, 2007 ill buy your old card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz October 24, 2007 Author Share Shazz Member October 24, 2007 your tempting me. lol I might just splurg and buy a new (or try to build one..so many ideas here on this board) computer. what about this one? lol http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...;l=en&s=dhs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly October 24, 2007 Share dragonfly Member October 24, 2007 your tempting me. lol I might just splurg and buy a new (or try to build one..so many ideas here on this board) computer. what about this one? lol http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...;l=en&s=dhs Just make sure you upgrade it as much as possible when you make the final purchase. 30" monitor, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo October 25, 2007 Share Cujo Member October 25, 2007 lol, that's a ridiculous system and totally not worth the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now