Upgrade Graphics and memory in PC

eddmed

Hi, I wanted to upgrade my PC. I was bought PREY and it wont work as it says my Graphic card wont support it. So i thought it was a good time to upgrade. Here is my system details if it helps. I was hoping to stay under £70.
System Information

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Time of this report: 6/17/2007, 20:37:43

Operating System: Windows XP
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MEDIONPC
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.90GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 524MB used, 725MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
Display Devices

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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce2 MX/MX 400
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0110&SUBSYS_88261462&REV_B2
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

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Sound Devices

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Description: Intel(r) Integrated Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2445&SUBSYS_53411462&REV_05
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM

Zeitgeist

The report doesn't say, but you probably have an AGP socket for your graphics card. Something like a 7600GT would be a good purchase. PCI-Express graphics cards are cheaper than AGP for the same specification, but they won't fit in your board. Have a look at this to work out which type of graphics card socket you have: http://www.diamondmm.com/images/bustypedrwng.gif

Assuming it's an AGP card, here are a couple of examples:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=127243&_LOC=UK
http://www.ginger6.com/xpertvision-256mb-7600gt-tvdvi-retail-p-27375.html

An additional 512MB of memory would also be advantageous too.

Visit http://www.crucial.com/uk to determine the type, and then either buy it from there (using quidco) or look elsewhere, but Crucial memory is pretty decent.

GoofyGAT

Also be aware that a more powerful graphics card - a 7600GT especially - will probably need....

* A spare 4-pin molex connector (the same connector that your drives require)

* Upgrading the PSU (power supply) to a more powerful one - this should take care of the first need above. What's the present wattage?

If you purchase secondhand stuff off eBay, you could get the graphics card, extra memory & PSU for ~£110 or less. Make sure it's compatible & good quality though (ask here if not sure before purchasing). G

Blacksheep1979

prey is quite resource/graphics hungry and I think you'll be hard pushed to get a memory upgrade and decent gfx card for £70

computerwoman

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111271
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=33075
that should do it
I was running vista ultimate beta on this graphics card and the earo effect worked great.
cw.

I would go for 1 gb of ram how many dimm slots on your mobo
how big is your hard drive.

Zeitgeist

computerwoman wrote: »

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111271
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=33075
that should do it
I was running vista ultimate beta on this graphics card and the earo effect worked great.
cw.

I would go for 1 gb of ram how many dimm slots on your mobo
how big is your hard drive.

But these are PCI-Express cards!

Blacksheep1979

computerwoman wrote: »

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/111271
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=0&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=33075
that should do it
I was running vista ultimate beta on this graphics card and the earo effect worked great.
cw.

I would go for 1 gb of ram how many dimm slots on your mobo
how big is your hard drive.

apart from the fact that these are pci-e cards (as mentioned) there is a whole world of difference between running vistas aero effects to running a resource hungry game like prey and hard drive size has really very little to do with the issue.

michael_p_4

Just a thought, but you might be getting into a false economy patching your existing set up with an AGP card, as that £70 is not going to get you close to playing Prey with a reasonable playing experience.

I'd say save your cash until you have nearer £200 and can afford to upgrade motherboard, CPU and memory (min 1gb), then get a cheap PCI-Express card. I'd recommend not building one yourself unless you know what you're doing. A good alternative is a motherboard bundle, I've used Novatech before. See:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-M2N42

Then get a second hand PCI-E graphics card off ebay, say a 6600GT w/256mb if you can get one for around £30-odd, or the one from ebuyer that computerwoman recommended earlier.

Hope this helps.

Blacksheep1979

6600gt isn't going to play prey that well either.

michael_p_4

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

6600gt isn't going to play prey that well either.

I didn't say "well", I said "reasonable" - I don't think he's necessarily bothered about 1440x900 at 60fps I guess the point I was really trying to make was that upgrading to another pretty-much-phased-out AGP card and adding some PC2100 ram on outdated architecture was really prolonging the inevitable, and the money would be better spent doing a core upgrade along with a cheap graphics card. That way he would be in a position where he could upgrade the graphics card again in six months or a year, throw in an extra stick or two of ram, add SATA stuff, etc.

Possibly a better alternative is given the hassle of computer gaming, ebay Prey and save for an xbox 360 with it instead

Blacksheep1979

There are several agp cards that would whoop a 6600gt !!! - and saying wouldn't play that well I meant to the extent that it would either be min level of details and still jerky or not really playable at all

Recommended

CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.5Ghz / AMD Athlon XP 2500+ processor
RAM: 1GB system RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon X800 series or higher video card with latest manufacturer drivers
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi series sound card
Internet: Broadband internet connection or LAN required for multiplayer

an x800 is going to outperform a 6600 oh and it goes on to say reccomended 6800. None of the reccomended cards are going to play it 'well' either just minimal details etc.