about RAM and a graphics card...

[SquirrelMan]

I am going to upgrade my computer soon, and I was wondering a few things:

1) Can I buy any type of RAM and it will work with my computer, or do I have to buy a specific type for a specific model? And, how much should I get? i have 512 MB right now.

2) I am looking for a very good graphics card, to play PS, but I also want it to be cheap. Any suggestions on a cheap, good graphics card to get?

3) I have a 2.55 GHz processor. Should I upgrade it? If so, how?

thanks for the help!

[Ait'al]

1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.

[SquirrelMan]

Originally Posted by Ait'al

1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.

I dont know how do find out that information. Is there a site or program that will anylize the computer to see what the specifics of the parts are?

[Phaelon]

As far as graphics cards are concerned, you should look into spending 200 dollars to get a GeForce FX 5900 XT graphics card, they are one hell of a card, they perform almost identical to the FX 5950 and yet they are half the price.

[Sentrosi]

Or, wait a couple of months and get there Radeon 9800pro. You'll have native DirectX9.x encoding directly on the board, eliminating the need for a software patch for it.

[Ait'al]

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Ait'al
1. Your motherboard will have a range of speed or type of ram it supports depending on when it was made and usually one or two types of ram it supported during the processors lifetime the board it made around. So youll have to give us some more info. How many chips do you have? Is it one 512 chip or two 256? Either way you may want to get another 512 first. But we need to find out what speed you have so you can get the same speed, and the combination of chips you are using now so we know if you have room, or if you can just put another one in.

2. What is your current graphics card? Do you have an actual card or onboard video. If its a card, what one is it. What type of AGP compatability do you have and what are you mother board specifications.(important for number one too.) This may be more important than the ram depending on how much your willing to spend and if your current is so bad that it becomes more convenient than up grading your ram if your doing this primarily for a performance boost. You can get an ATI 9600xt for very cheap now. And it will only get cheaper when the next card comes out. The 9800 pro isnt much more. It might help to know your motherboards bus speed too.

3. We need to know your other stats to know wether or not that needs to be upgraded. Its fine as it but if the other stuff you ahve is good enough already you may want to upgrade it if you can afford it. but im guessing thats not the situation. What type of 2.55 is it? Intell? P4? Celron? AMD of some type? but give us as many of your stats as you can. Try going to RUN and typing in DXdiag and hitting enter. It will tell you your stats. If youwant to copy and paste it youll have to save it to your desktop in and open it. Or you can use one of the other diagnostic tools. This will tell us most of the info we need. Especialy the DXdiag program. Its a diagnosis program that comes with Direct X. I think its more detailed about your components than the one that comes with windows. But im on Windows 98.
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I dont know how do find out that information. Is there a site or program that will anylize the computer to see what the specifics of the parts are?

It might be easier to use windows tool though. i cant remember what the hell it is though.

[Phaelon]

Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System tools -> System Information

In there it should tell you everything you might need to know about your computer.

[Rbstr]

For cheaoer graphics card look for FX5900's and 5900XT's (the $10 for the regualr is very nice as it will more than lieky flash perfecly to a 5950, some XT's have problems doing that)

Also the Rady 9600 pro or XT and the FX5700 Ultra

2.55 ghz is fine its better than my CPU. (its a P4, no Athlons go that high unless they are OCed and he's not doing that)

You probably have DDR memory so any type of DDR will fit/work but its best to figure out waht its suposed to be

[Sokko]

Go to Crucial RAM at crucial.com. You put in your computer's brand and model number and it gives you a selection of RAM sticks to buy. The prices are decently low, too, but the RAM isn't super-high-performance or anything. I myself can verify that it works fine.

[SquirrelMan]

hm. didn't say anything for my model

[dscytherulez]

Despite my love for ATI cards, the 5700 Ultra is a bit better then the 9600XT, so if you are looking for a solid cheap video card, there you go.

As for the processor, a 2.55Ghz is pretty good, and I don't see a need to upgrade that now. You might as well wait for the new processors coming out shortly.

[smccord313]

As far as graphics cards are concerned, you should look into spending 200 dollars to get a GeForce FX 5900 XT graphics card, they are one hell of a card, they perform almost identical to the FX 5950 and yet they are half the price.

Or, you could spend 200 bucks, and get a 9800pro. Best deal out their right now. Anyone who goes for a 9600xt, 5700 ultra, or 5900xt instead of this thing for the same price is crazy.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb

[dscytherulez]

Originally Posted by smccord313

Or, you could spend 200 bucks, and get a 9800pro. Best deal out their right now. Anyone who goes for a 9600xt, 5700 ultra, or 5900xt instead of this thing for the same price is crazy.

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb

Your not even close. A 9800 Pro is almost $100 more than a 5700 Ultra. I found 5700 Ultras for around $120. Yes the 9800 Pro is better, but he did say he wanted a cheap card. The 5700 Ultra is a nice card (even though I hate NVIDIA I have to admit it) and is a lot cheaper then a 9800 Pro. You wouldn't even notice THAT much of a difference between the two. Sure there would be some, but you can't beat a near $100 worth of savings.

[SquirrelMan]

right. a NVIDIA 5700 Ultra. Where can I get info on how to install it?

EDIT: Yow. Bestbuy is sellin em for $219.99. where can I get one cheap?

[Rbstr]

www.pricewatch.com

but before you order you need to be sure you have an AGP slot