PC Specs

[NTNTNT]

Hi all,

You were so good at answering my last questions I thought I would count on you again.

Let me say first that I love this forum and have been a back seat reader since last year and signed up in Jan.

I would like to have some time off the XBOX in the summer and play PC games. My rig is below:

AMD AM3 250 dual core 3.00ghz 2mb cache
Asus M4A78 motherboard
ATI Radeon 3000
4GB DDR3 Ram
500 GB HDD


So basically I have been informed that I should change my graphics card so I going to be getting a PNY GTX 260 with 800-or so MB.

My 2 questions are these

Will the graphics card be compatable with my motherboard?

How is my computer? I am really feeling Battlefield Bad Company 2 so would I be able to play it and what could I play with the new graphics card? Low-Mid-Max?

Thanks one and all.

[phreekopath]

Nothing I've found about that motherboard says it will take DDR3, only DDR2, so I'm not sure if that's a typo on your end, or if i'm looking at the wrong board...

That being said, most boards now are using PCI-E for graphics, so yes, the GTX260 would be compatible, but is a bit outdated in itself. Also, I'm sure it's not going to make a huge difference, but I've generally always built my machines in such a way that the northbridge (or chipset) and the graphics card are of the same brand. Since the info on that board says it's an AMD chipset, I'd look for an ATI graphics card to put in it. Again, I doubt it will make a difference, but that's just me.

ATI is also making really fantastic cards right now, and most of the time the are outperforming much more expensive nVidia cards. I'm guessing an ATI card in the 6700 or 6800 range would suit your needs, for about $150. It will probably run circles around the aging GTX260 (which i can't even find a price on newegg.com for, because they don't sell it anymore)

Edit: It appears you can get the 260 used for about 70-80 on ebay, or refurbed for 90, or new for about 110. Doesn't seem worth it for something that old.

Also, this site is great for comparing specs that may seen like Greek to a lot of people: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=604&card2=635

[NTNTNT]

Thanks so much for replying. I thought no one was going to answer... I have listed a few things below:

I purchased my computer from here - its the exactly the same one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GL-DDR3-GAMING-PC-COMPUTER-AM3-250-DESKTOP-PC-500GB-4GB-/390285839214?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item5aded94b6e#ht_2409wt_1025

The graphics card I want is this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-PNY-V2-Geforce-Nvidia-GTX-260-GTX260-896MB-216-core-/330555680793?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_G raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item4cf6a76819#ht_1608wt_1025

But if you could find me a better graphics card for the price in the UK that would be really appreciated.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[phreekopath]

I wasn't aware you were in the UK. Not sure i know many stores that will ship there. What kind of price range?

Also, almost anything will be an improvement over your onboard graphics. Having a dedicated card would be a good thing.

The rest of your specs are decent, nothing too outrageous, and should be able to handle battlefield... maybe not at fully maxed settings, but pretty high. I'm not extremely familiar with the game so I can't say for sure.

[NTNTNT]

Damn it. After further inspection I found that my power pack is only 450 watts and I need a minimum of 500.

If anyone can help me with a good graphics card for my computer I would seriously be greatful.

please :)

[Letthe]

Dual cores are gross.

[NTNTNT]

Dual cores are gross.

Thanks for that. Nice to know you made a positive contribution.

[phreekopath]

I actually think that's the most constructive post Letthe has ever made... <3

Anyway, it appears that the power supply you have is going to severely limit your choices. It is an extremely simple upgrade, however, and probably fairly cheap if you shop around. 600+w is not uncommon anymore.

[Araneatrox]

Right i have build alot of PC's for people in the past. Being a PC gamer at heart i know a thing or 2 about them.

Your Motherboard is horribly out of date, you can get away with some game on lowest settings. But the ATI you have has similar power to a old style 9800. Luckily most GFX card are designed for PCIe expansion slots do you don't really get any compatability problems with them anymore. But if you are looking for a gaming system then i would suggest some of the pre-build systems from http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

They will overlock a system for you stability test it so you can just install it in a complete case and be away and running in about 2 hours. Only problem being you will need to sort out a power supply.


In short, i would suggest getting a new PC if you want to do anything with games newer than 3 years old.

[NTNTNT]

Right i have build alot of PC's for people in the past. Being a PC gamer at heart i know a thing or 2 about them.

Your Motherboard is horribly out of date, you can get away with some game on lowest settings. But the ATI you have has similar power to a old style 9800. Luckily most GFX card are designed for PCIe expansion slots do you don't really get any compatability problems with them anymore. But if you are looking for a gaming system then i would suggest some of the pre-build systems from http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

They will overlock a system for you stability test it so you can just install it in a complete case and be away and running in about 2 hours. Only problem being you will need to sort out a power supply.


In short, i would suggest getting a new PC if you want to do anything with games newer than 3 years old.

Damn that sucks. Thanks for the response. I guess I will have to find something else I can do in the summer :(

[Araneatrox]

There are still plenty of things you can play. I think you will get away with Valve source games. Aswell as many RPG's

Neverwinter nights + User made content is amazing for passing time

[TLN Frost]

You would be much better off buying a HP Pavilion Elite High Performance rig. I just bought the i5 version for $1,000. Has Blu-Ray Read, Super-Multi Read/Write, 1tb HDD, 8gb DDR3 RAM, a 1gb HD 5570, Wireless 802.11/b/g/n wireless, as well as 10/100/1000 LAN. It's a specatacular rig. The i7 version is currently $1,076. I would go with the i7, but the i7 just came out here at my nex a week ago, I bought my PC a couple weeks ago =(

[phreekopath]

Right i have build alot of PC's for people in the past. Being a PC gamer at heart i know a thing or 2 about them.

Your Motherboard is horribly out of date, you can get away with some game on lowest settings. But the ATI you have has similar power to a old style 9800. Luckily most GFX card are designed for PCIe expansion slots do you don't really get any compatability problems with them anymore. But if you are looking for a gaming system then i would suggest some of the pre-build systems from http://3xs.scan.co.uk/

They will overlock a system for you stability test it so you can just install it in a complete case and be away and running in about 2 hours. Only problem being you will need to sort out a power supply.


In short, i would suggest getting a new PC if you want to do anything with games newer than 3 years old.

I'm not going to disagree with any conclusions Aran has said, but I'm just going to point out that clock speeds, processors, and such really haven't been advancing as fast as they have in recent past. They have reached a plateau of performance that puts them in a position to where they are no longer the bottleneck. The grand advancements made over the past few years have been in disk speeds and graphics. Getting a high-end graphics card (that could later be transfered to a newer system as well) would still enable him to play most of the recent/newer games, and be considerably cheaper.

But if you have money for a new system, get one.


You would be much better off buying a HP Pavilion Elite High Performance rig. I just bought the i5 version for $1,000. Has Blu-Ray Read, Super-Multi Read/Write, 1tb HDD, 8gb DDR3 RAM, a 1gb HD 5570, Wireless 802.11/b/g/n wireless, as well as 10/100/1000 LAN. It's a specatacular rig. The i7 version is currently $1,076. I would go with the i7, but the i7 just came out here at my nex a week ago, I bought my PC a couple weeks ago =(

That price makes me cry. I just built a system for a friend of mine.

i5 Sandy Bridge 3.1Ghz (up to 3.6)
8GB DDR3
500GB sata6 caviar black for system
2x 2TB sata6 Seagates for storage
ATi Radeon HD 5750
700W Corsair PSU
NXZT Phantom case

for about $900 shipped

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/phreekopath/IMAG0093.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/phreekopath/IMAG0094.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/phreekopath/IMAG0095.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/phreekopath/IMAG0096.jpg

[NTNTNT]

WAAAAAAAAAH

I want me a new rig so bad but I just don't have the money. Especially for a rig I will only play with over the summer because as soon as September comes around I am back on Reach. I just find the summer a time I can play other games.

I guess I could take up this game you called 'soccer' but that involves running.

Thanks all so much (Bar 1) for the helpful posts.

Guess I will go back to me old black and white monitor :)

[Letthe]

Anytime guy.