Thinking of upgrading my computer
RTW is hopelessly slow on my computer. 30 minute end-turns on EB! So, I was thinking of getting 2GB Ram, and some graphics card. This is my computers details:
Intel Pentium 4 Processor
256 MB RAM
120 GB Hard Drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Would it be worthwhile to get the 2GB RAM? Also, would it be helpful to get a graphics card - and any advice on what one would be ideal?
Thanks for any help...
Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
Howdy,
More RAM would be a big help, but I think the general concensus is that 1GB will do just fine for most things out there. Including R:TW.
Might want to think about your video card as well. There much better availlable that will suit your needs. If you tell us your card budget, I'm sure you'll get more than one good piece of advice.
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Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
For the graphics card, up to £80.
Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
Hmm, that about $170 in real money.
Or $150 in that US stuff.
I'll see what that buys here, and I'm sure our American friends will have an idea or two.
Unto each good man a good dog
Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
AGP or PCI-Express?Originally Posted by Woad Warrior
From what can I see, it's AGP.
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Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
1024MB DDR 400 Mghz RAM is enough I think..
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Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
Upgrading to 512M or 1GB of RAM should solve most of your porblems, though you will need to install a half decent Nvidia or ATI graphics card, as at present you're using the onboard graphics. Defrag your HDD and check on the net for a services guide also to see if all the services running on your OS need to be. This can be a cause of some major sluggishness.
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Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
I'd consider settling for 1GB of Ram, then spending the rest of the money on a decent graphics card. I upgraded my ram from 512MB to 1GB of the fastest performance Ram my PC could take, and to be honest, save from some slightly faster loading times (more noticeably quicker program closing times), and slightly smoother gameplay for certain titles, there isn't a great deal of difference. However, 256MB Ram to 1GB should be a really noticeable improvement. Newer games will appreciate 2GB ram, but if the rest of your PC isn't up to much, you won't get the full benefit as the other components will create bottlenecks elsewhere.
By saving money on Ram, you can get a better graphics card. Check out Ebuyer.com, a really really great site for PC stuff, the cheapest I've found. You should be able to get a reasonable card for upto £100. Be aware a more powerful graphics card may require a bigger power unit in your PC to work. If you've got AGP slots, a good card for your budget is a Nvidia 6600GT, although they tend to have 128MB ram which isn't enough for some more demanding titles. Sadly nearly all the latest Nvidia cards all require PCI-E. Even the budgety ones.
ATI still have plenty of AGP cards. I don't know much about them though, but there's a few under £80.
And if you have any spare cash, check out Ebuyer's price for the OEM version of the Soundblaster Xtreme Music card: under sixty quid! I'd be enjoying mine now except the delivery chap decided not to knock on my door and instead helpfully leave a, 'I called but you weren't in, but you might have been, I just couldn't be bothered to hang around for more than 10 seconds' card and now I have to wait til Monday for it. Damnit!
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Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
get RAM up to 1GB. you really dont have to upgrade you graphics card yet as i have a Intel graphics too and it runs really fast. but once i get 100$ i can get a Nvidia 7700 PCIE (thats pretty cheap for a good graphics card)
Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
btw you should try to stretch your budget to at least 100$. and get what im getting! (though i have to wait for christmas for some money) and make sure you go to your graphic properties 3d setting and turn on tripple buffer. then go to your preference folder (in RTW folder) and turn tripple buffer on and you should get a exceptional game boost.
Last edited by The Spartan (Returns); 07-21-2006 at 19:00.
Re: Thinking of upgrading my computer
Assuming an AGP interface in your machine, and knowing that Newegg doesn't ship overseas (so prices quoted are only a reference guide), cards like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102666, this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102002, this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161005, or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130036 pretty much cover the $100-$150 spectrum while offering at least 12 pixel pipelines.
If you have a PCIe x 16 interface, just substitute the equivalent card with the same chipsets.
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