Hi Guys! I am worried on my comp specs. Can you tell me what you think?

Intel dual core 4400
Ram 1 gig
Nvidia Geforce 8500 GT


Ok that being said. Should I go out and buy a new graphics card? And if so do you think the 8800 gt or gtx would be a good one? I hear those are the popular inexpensive cards to get right now.

Thanks

The biggest concern I see is your RAM. I'd upgrade that first and then I'd say the 8800GT should do fine for you. The GTX is a better card, but costs quite a bit more. But RAM is pretty cheap right now, and would provide you with a noticable improvement.

So how do you pick RAM that is compatible with your motherboard? I once had a friend put ram in his computer and it didn't work. Then we put it in mine and it worked just fine. Should I go to Fry's and ask them what would work with my motherboard?

Second how do I find out what kind of motherboard I have? I tried looking for it, but I can't find it. Also how do I check the power source watts? I was reading another post and someone said it is very common for people to put in a nice new card and not have enough power.

Thanks!!!

Your CPU is fine. Even more so if you overclock it. That chip should do 2.4-3GHz easy on air.

Like already stated; 1GB of memory is not enough. 2GB of memory is not enough. 3GB of memory does the job nicely and 4GB is overkill but worth having IMO.

While in beta I watched my memory closely and the most AoC used was 2.8GB

That video card will get you by in a pinch at medium settings I guess but the 8800GT will run much nicer.

Really depends on your monitor too. If you use an LCD and play high res then you'll need a beefier card than the 8800GT 512. High res to me would be a 22-24" monitor @ its native resolution.

I run the 8800GT 512 on a 19" LCD (1280x1024) and the game plays great with high quality settings and 2xAA.

Did you purchase your PC at Fry's? If so they should be able to tell you the model of your motherboard if you don't have any documentation that tells you. As for power supplies it's not so much the watts as it is the amps on the 12 volt rails. You can look and the back of your computer and find this information on a sticker on the power supply.

Darn lost my post... will do again.


Intel 4400 @ 2.0 ghz

So you said I might be able to overclock it to 3 ghz or something...

-How do I do that?

Next the computer was a gift from my wife's mother. I don't think it was from Fry's.

Native Resolution on my desktop is 1680 x 1050.


Things I need to do:

1. Buy a graphics card beefier than the 8800 gtx based on feedback here on the forums. Any suggestions?

2. How do I overclock, and do I need a new fan or anything? Is it safe?

3. I might as well buy 4 gigs of RAM instead of 3 if I am purchasing. Still don't know how to ID motherboard. How do I do that?

4. With new RAM and Graphics card what can I expect to dish out? I may have to sell some stock. *shakes fist at AoC "Darn you Game!"*

You can download CPUZ http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php to find out your mainboard brand and cpu info like clock speeds.

Before attempting to overclock you need to know which mobo you own. Then you need to read a guide that teaches how to overclock your chipset/cpu.

You might even need to buy a better heatsink/fan to better cool the cpu.

I would first read up on it before deciding to overclock. There is risk involved if you don't know what you are doing.

This here is a great guide to help you out. http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=261409

I wouldn't worry about overclocking for now. Get your other pc parts squared away first and while doing that you can read up on overclocking. Then if you feel good about doing it by all means go right ahead.

Your current cpu at its stock clock of 2GHz is only 400MHz slower than the E6600 (2.4GHz) they recommend. You might be plenty good if you just upgrade the video card and ram.

As for video cards...the 8800GTS 512, 8800GTX 768 are two good choices. The 9 series nvidia cards are just rehashed g92 8800GTS 512mb cards. Not really worth the money if you already own a 8800 series card. Whats nice about the 8800GTX is that the memory bandwidth and extra memory really help push high resolution gaming and even more so with AA used.

Yeah get 4GB of memory- I mean ram is so cheap right now.

I'm sure others will step in and give their opinion.

I have to agree with Louchar.
The E6600's 2.4Ghz can be reached without too much trouble once you learn what you're doing with your motherboard.
I also agree with the comment about the 9-series being rehashed 8800GTS 512MB. It is true, but they do come with higher clocks (stock)
IMO the 9-series is worth it.

Definitely upgrade your RAM. 4GB if you can, a minimum of 3 so that everything has ample room to breathe.

Oh yeah I just purchased 4 gigs of ram. You guys all rock and whoever gave me that little downloadable program to get my comp info was great!! Thanks!! It let me pick the correct ram. I was able to enter the model number on kingston and it showed me all my options.

Now I am in the process of graphic card hunting.

I see a lot of different names on the "same" graphics card. Is it just a brand thing? Like buying a pair of jeans or something? And are some brands better than others? Or will any version of the card work fine?

I notice that some older versions like the 8800 gtx has a 500 dollar card that is the same price as 9800 gx2.

You're welcome!

Ghalandria wrote:I see a lot of different names on the "same" graphics card. Is it just a brand thing? Like buying a pair of jeans or something? And are some brands better than others? Or will any version of the card work fine?

Yes, there are multiple manufacturers of the same models of video cards. There may be slight differences in the clock speeds or the extas that come with the card (like games or other software). You have to kind of read the fine print and compare.

I have had many graphics cards made by EVGA and have been very pleased.

I am running an 8800GTS 512 meg card now and it ran the AoC beta very nicely. From the benchmarks i have seen, the 9xxx series cards do not out perform this card enough to justify the cost. That is of course unless you are talking about the GX2.**

My 2 cents...........

Good Luck and let us know what you pick.

There is another graphic card string going on. How do I close this topic?