Thinking About Upgrading or Rebuilding

[Spellweaver]

So with any new, outstanding game that's coming out, the one question (other then "When's it releasing!?") that comes to mind is "Will my computer run it efficiently?" That's the question that's boggling me right now as I take a look at my system specs which are:

OS: Windows 7 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.66GHz
RAM: DDR2 4GB
Graphics Card: GTX 550ti (1024MB GDDR5)

I first got this computer built by alienware during my highschool graduation years ago (When I was young and stupid and not knowing how cheaper and easier it is to buy the parts and building your own). The Processor is about five years old but it was the best at the time and I've been slowly upgradings the graphics card over the years.

I had thought about upgrading my RAM to 8GB. But RAM is the one I'm uneasy with what with compatability issues that may occur with the motherboard and a friend of mine had made a best guess of what I may need and, at least when it comes to the DDR2, those kinds of chips are either discontinued or cost over $150 due to their age and rarity according to him.

He advised doing what he and a bunch of my other friends did and build a new one if I ever wanted to upgrade it efficiently but would I, at least for PS2, be able to run it efficiently with these current specs? And if I should think about upgrading RAM, is there a program that'll give me an accurate reading of my motherboard or do I have to pop the case open and look for the number manually?

[Mutant]

You are going to be able to play PS2, not in high but likely above minimum settings and still getting an ok frame rate.


Sounds have you have a Q9450 which is indeed one of the best CPUs for your 775 motherboard.

You are more or less at the end of any CPU upgrade path and the Yorkfield C2Q are starting to struggle in the most demanding on games but most often not a bottleneck with something like a 550Ti in FPS games (I have a Q9550)


If you don't want to blow too much cash in one go a new GPU GTX670 or HD7970 would give a decent performance increase and allow you you run with higher graphics settings (you would need to check your PSU is good enough), then you could reuse it when upgrade the rest. (in 6 months ish when haswell is about would be a good time)


You will prob see a small increase in performance with 8GB.

My guess is you have DDR2 800 or 666, maybe 533
There is a lot that ram around 2nd hand for less than $50 for a 2x2GB pair of DDR2 800 this would be your best bet. buying faster ram is no problem, so i would aim for DDR2 800

(There was a DDR2 1066 but this was not common and I doubt it was used in a pre build)

You can see what RAM you have installed with CPUz:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

[Pancake]

Originally Posted by Mutant

If you don't want to blow too much cash in one go a new GPU GTX670 or HD7970 would give a decent performance increase and allow you you run with higher graphics settings (you would need to check your PSU is good enough), then you could reuse it when upgrade the rest. (in 6 months ish when haswell is about would be a good time)

This is directly from NCIX Tech Tips. Glad to know others follow his advice!

Here is the video. It would be wise to watch it so you know what to expect.

[gladiatorua]

Rebuilding is a good idea. You can even leave your GPU as it is for now and upgrade when next generation comes out.
More ram is good. 4 gb, at least for me, is a tight fit. But my PC works 24/7 and I don't like rebooting or closing apps. Buying DDR2 ram is a waste of money. There shouldn't(but there might) be any problems with ram compatibility if you switch the whole current set for a new one.
CPU-wise I don't really know how demanding PS2 is, but I doubt it will be a big problem. But the platform(CPU+MB) should be upgraded.
SSD would be nice.

[Rbstr]

550ti isn't terribly strong...but it should run PS2 for the time being.

I would upgrade the ram to 8gb if it's easy and cheap enough to find. Use CPU-Z to find the specs...match the specs (speed and latency) and you should be fine. Don't spend more than ~$25 to get 4 more gb. Especially if you want to upgrade the rest of the stuff soon anyway.

I really don't like upgrading in a single generation but that's mostly assuming you have a fairly strong card to begin with. Going to the 670 or about is a sizable jump. IF you going to go more in the $250 card range, I'd wait for the full system upgrade to get a new card.
You need to be thinking about replacing the cpu/ram/mobo. I'd wait for Intel's Haswell next spring (plus you get a chance at AMD accidentally making a good chip, which would surely be cheap), unless you really want to get the whole thing done now.

An SSD is always the last upgrade - after you've hit the point of diminishing returns with the other parts.

[Spellweaver]

Well that's what I got when I ran the scan though I'm not too sure what I'm looking at; like I said, RAM is something that's tricky for me.

But at least its good to hear that my PC will at least be able to run PS2. I'm never really concerned with running a game at max settings and am able to live with not being dazzled by graphical presentation as long as the gameplay and everything else is awesome (which I expect PS2 to be of course). I have been keeping track with some of Smedley's tweets so it does give me further relief at hearing the team focusing on trying to drop the spec requirements down for more lower end comps. That and the variety of customization options when it comes to the graphics.

As a veteran of PS I hope to be in the beta around the 20th and get a clear look at how my PC will handle it. I'll be doing exactly what a beta allows you to do which is to test to see how my hardware handles it, research on various upgrades like I'm already doing now, and seeing how I can bump up my enjoyment factor just a little more with the right upgrades.

The GTX670 I'll keep in mind, if only to have a card already on hand in case I get the money for a full rebuild (which could be......no idea when). Hopefully the image I posted would give a clearer image to what kind of RAM I'm dealing with and I would appreciate any help that you all can offer about compatible and optimal upgrades to bump up to at least 8GB.

[KimJongLulz]

My RAM is pretty much the same...so...heh.

BASICALLY, you're stuck with DDR2 RAM on your motherboard, it's best to figure out if your mobo can even support more than 4gb. Crucial will be able to tell you most likely.

Other than that...yeah...

[Rbstr]

It's DDR2 800, CAS 5.

You might want to look at the 'SPD' tab, that may tell you the exact model RAM you have.

[Spellweaver]

Done and done. Unfortunately, this just reminded me that I have 4x1GB sticks of RAM and half of them are from a different manufacturer. The results:




EDIT: I decided to pop open the case of my PC and take a look inside to identify the motherboard.

Motherboard: eVGA nForce 680i SLI 775 (122-CK-NF68-BR) Motherboard

[Rbstr]

Eh, your cheap/easy upgrade options are pretty well pooched at this point unless you can find some used RAM

Your CPU is fairly strong, 4gb of ram is sufficient, even if it's not ideal. The 550ti isn't horrible.
I'd probably just wait and get the cash together for a full build sometime next year. If you'd like to end up with a higher-end videocard, you can probably do that now-ish (Like I said earlier, I think you'd only want to do that if you're going to a 660Ti or better so like ~$300)

[Spellweaver]

Well at this point I think the RAM is the only thing I want to bump up a notch right now. I'm not really concerned about getting it used or buying it from online auctions; right now its just really a temporary upgrade until I can ever scavenge up the money for a rebuild (since it looks like with any higher-end upgrades I'm gonna want to build a new PC anyway). So a cheap upgrade is something I'm fine with.

This is only a sample and I just picked them at random, but I'm wondering if anyone would know which samples of chips would be compatible for my computer. Right now I'm just trying to get an idea of what cheap chips will work and go from there:

Sample 1
Sample 2

[Rbstr]

You don't want anything that is "EEC" that's error correction and not supported.

What you want to try and get is DDR2-800 which is also called PC2-6400

[Spellweaver]

I'll remember it. Thanks so much for everyone's help!