What is the worst thing about my computer?

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Kristafon

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I am wanting to upgrade my comp soon, and would like your technical genius to help me decide which bit to improve-

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 275MB used, 975MB available <what is this anyway?
Card name: RADEON 9200 SERIES
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
 
can I have your rig? :(
I... guess it'd have to be your vid card, if its a radeon 9200? but I could be wrong on that in some weird way cause Idon't know how radeon card names work.
you can make the page file bigger yourself in some cryptic manner someone else knows how to do real easily. if not the vid card, it'd have to be the ram then. 512 is pretty good, though.

and whatever you're gonna toss, just give to me :D
 
How do I find out if I have 2 sticks or RAM? And if I do does it cause much problems having 3 sticks in?
 
Kristafon said:
How do I find out if I have 2 sticks or RAM? And if I do does it cause much problems having 3 sticks in?
Click to expand...

the worst aspect of your computer is the graphics card. everything else is quite good.

heres what a page file is. by default, windows xp creates a page file 1.5 times the amount of the ram you have. so in your case you must have added some more, your page file is 975 mb's. this is what the computer uses as opposed to actual, physical ram.

so, when a comptuer runs out of available physical ram, it dips into the (MUCH) slower page file to write random data. theres always a small amount in use, so yours is a normal amount.

open your computer. you will notice long sticks with black chips on them, plugged into slots. these are ram sticks. with your setup, it makes no difference how many there are though the fewer there are, the more efficient the ram is used.

1>2>3 sticks of ram and so on. its better to have 1 gb stick, as opposed to 2x512 sticks.
 
Sorry, a meant an nVidia card, then I will have a ATI and a nVidia in case a game has problems with either one.

Also id prefer to use all my 250 dollars, my parents are paying so I want every last penny out of them :angel:
 
Kristafon said:
Sorry, a meant an nVidia card, then I will have a ATI and a nVidia in case a game has problems with either one.

Also id prefer to use all my 250 dollars, my parents are paying so I want every last penny out of them :angel:
Click to expand...

ok you are definatly going to want the radeon 9800. if you insist upon an nvidia card get a fx5900xt. i dont recommend it though, no game will have trouble with it. the radeon 9800 will run anything currently out or that will be released within the next few months/years. moreover, you dont want the radeon 9200 as its getting pretty antiquated. i dont know a single person that has both an ati and an nvidia card, its a poor choice. get the 9800.
 
If u say so, though I would like a second opinion (Anyone?) Thanks a lot for you help :thumbs:

Whats the amount of MHz should I get for some RAM?
And how do I find out what I have at the moment and what kind of RAM i need (DDR PC ???)
 
The 9800 won't give you any problems, just make sure you get one with a 256 bit memory interface.

I wouldn't go with the 5900 since it apperantly has really shitty DX9 performance.
 
Your 9200 is bad, it won't be of any use. If any game were to somehow come out that had problems with an Nvidia card, your 9200 wouldn't be of any use because it's WAY too slow. This is the best 9800 pro you can get:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-127-127&depa=0

It uses the 9800xt's GPU, so it's really an underclocked 9800xt in disguise. But if you really would want an Nvidia card, this card is better than a 9800 pro and it's about $30 more than your budget, but if you really want it save up. But if you think you can have a 9200 and your new card in there at the same time, you're wrong. There's only one AGP slot.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-084&depa=0
 
Nex321 said:
no no no.....here's a much better card thats from nvidia. Tell your parents to add $20 extra for this card:

http://www.bananapc.com/products/pr...9&product_id=12965&searchString=44842872&Op=2

Its 6800 non ultra

It can be overclocked to ultra speeds. That will last you much longer than the 9800 PRO.
Click to expand...

It can't be overclocked to Ultra speeds. It has 12 pipelines, the Ultra has 16. And it's clocked a lot beneath the Ultra. The 6800GT is the one that can be easily overclocked to an Ultra, and it's $400. The 6800 I showed is $10 more, get this one it's cheaper and it's good.
 
Well it should be able to be overclocked here somewhere 370-400 core.

Btw that card has 100% feedback

9800 PRO has only 8 pipelines and does not support PS 3.0.

I say go for the 6800 nu
 
I HAVE to draw the line at 250 dollars im afraid, that really is my lot.
So the 9800 looks the best bet. Which is the best one I can get for my budget?
 
I'm sorry Kristafon but you have to borrow those $20 from a friend, I'm affraid. :P
 
Because it will last 1 year more than 9800 PRO.

Think about it, you don't want a card outdated in matter of months, would you? 6800 nu supports PS 3.0 which is for future games.....you can play Farcry on res 1600 x 1200 with max settings.
 
Nex321 said:
Because it will last 1 year more than 9800 PRO.

Think about it, you don't want a card outdated in matter of months, would you? 6800 nu supports PS 3.0 which is for future games.....you can play Farcry on res 1600 x 1200 with max settings.
Click to expand...

dont listen to nex, he's really pretty clueless. if 250 is your aboslute limit get that 9800. it wont be outdated in a matter of months, the 6800 supports technology that isnt in use yet. you cant go wrong with the 9800. you cant run everything at max detail etc but its a solid card and will run well for at least another year.

with the 50 dollars you save just buy hl2, or headphones or something.
 
You will be very pleased with a 9800pro. 128MB is fine but if it's not your money go ahead and get the 256MB version.
 
hmmm....I have 9700 PRO and its starting to show its age now.....9800 PRO is not that much better than 9700 PRO. I would give it max 6 months and you will not be able to play games on high settings with no AA and AF on res 1024 x 768 anymore. If you don't care about high settings....buy it then.

Well I would take the 6800 nu over 9800 PRO. Its your choice. Oh and if you really can't get any higher than $250 buy the 9800 pro since you have no other choices.

Note: I'm not an Nvidia fan, I just look at the best price/best performence. Have a x800 xt on its way.
 
Nex321 said:
hmmm....I have 9700 PRO and its starting to show its age now.....9800 PRO is not that much better than 9700 PRO. I would give it max 6 months and you will not be able to play games on high settings with no AA and AF on res 1024 x 768 anymore. If you don't care about high settings....buy it then.

Well I would take the 6800 nu over 9800 PRO. Its your choice. Oh and if you really can't get any higher than $250 buy the 9800 pro since you have no other choices.

Note: I'm not an Nvidia fan, I just look at the best price/best performence. Have a x800 xt on its way.
Click to expand...

Edit: Forget what I said....if 9800 PRO will be good on hl2 it will last 1 year atleast....forgot that there won't be any game with better graphics next year as it looks like.

Clicked on quote whoops lol
 
Yes the 9800 pro will last. Just look at those Geforce 4 TI cards, they're still running all the latest games on at least medium settings, I expect the 9800 pro to be just as lasting. Get the MSI 9800 pro. It's the best one, I already told you why. The link's in my post on the first page somewhere. $194.
 
MY 9800 pro is still a screamin' fast card. Great value at only $194. Use the extra 50 for HL2 or something.
 
Your Vid-card. Everything else seems up to date.

Your CPU's good, your Ram's good...
Yep, get either 9800 Pro or x800 Pro, those are best buys.
 
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