upgrade (1 Viewer)

[Nick]

my computer is around 3 years old, and wont run most new games because my video card doesnt have hardware transform and lighting, or somthing like that.. anyway i was wondering what i have to buy an how much it will cost me generally to upgrade it to be able to play games like Halo an doom 3.

i gots an Athlon 1400, 256ddr ram, 40GB hdd, 17inch flat CRT monitor, a hercules 3d prophet 4500 video card, sound blaster live sound card..

can anyone suggest a relatively good value video card i could buy which wouldnt become outdated too quickly

and also, would i need to update any other parts?

 

[copious]

depends on your budget, but if your its gonna be for gaming you should look at something like a radeon 9600/9800 pro, P4 3.06GHZ, or ofcourse an athlon of equivelant speed, perhaps a gig of DDR-Ram, bigger hard drive ( 120 gig perhaps since they are cheap). and yeah, you should be able to use the old sound card and monitor, and probaly the old ram as well, just buy another 256 or 512.

 

[Newbie]

radeon 9600XT
or 9800 pro

9800 pro runs halo fine on highest detail
well it ran the demo well
dunno about the 9600 though

 

[Nick]

how much they cost thereabouts?

could i get away with not updating the processor.. cos i dont want to spend too much?

 

[Majesty]

Originally posted by Nick
how much they cost thereabouts?

could i get away with not updating the processor.. cos i dont want to spend too much?

You could but, you would not be using your graphics card to its full potentiol if you didnt upgrade your processor.

 

[Nick]

if i bought a new video card and processor, would i also need a new motherboard then?

 

[Winston]

what is your intended budget?

 

[Nick]

id prefer to spend under 500..

but i dont want to buy stuff that will become outdated again within like 2 years

 

[copious]

mate doesnt matter what you buy, it becomes outdated like a month later heh.

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by copious
mate doesnt matter what you buy, it becomes outdated like a month later heh.

LMAO true that

and 500 hmm for a new system? *shakes head* for a new video alright ..


im saving up all my dough till 2005 for the release of longhorn, because i know that theres a driving rush for a new release of more powerful hardware from microsoft's new OS, being a heck of a hardware eater

 

[Nick]

nah i meant 500 for new card an possibly processor

whats the best video card u can get for around $250 or less

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Nick
nah i meant 500 for new card an possibly processor

whats the best video card u can get for around $250 or less

i'd stick with your processor.

umm for 275 you can get yourself a Radeon 9600 256M DDR/TV/DVI


the reason for sticking with your processor is because for a personal lookout 32 bit based processors will soon come to an end, as the 64 bit architecture processors will really see the light.

 

[Nick]

alright, so stuff like halo or half life 2 should still run well if i just get a new video card?

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Nick
alright, so stuff like halo or half life 2 should still run well if i just get a new video card?

definately.

 

[Nick]

thanks a lot for the advice..

so hard to keep track of all the new technology.