Parts General Query :)

[ldd]

Hi everyone, hope all's well in the world of techspot.

First, let me start by giving you my comp parts

AMD Athlon64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ ( 939 )
GA - K8U - 939
1024 MB DDR 400 ( Hynix, Kingmax, ) (2)
256MB ASUS A9550GE
Lite -on 1635S
16 -Speed LG or Lite-on DVD Retail Box
Firewire IEEE 1394 PCI Card
1.44MB Panasonic FDD
250GB ( Seagate) 7200rpm SATA


I hope that means something to you experts, cuz it all means nothing to me

When I ordered the computer, I just asked the guy who was putting it together for me for a good computer with good gaming capabilities. I really only play games on the side but I wanted the computer to manage a few now and then. The computer is primarily for work and internet usage. All was well in my life until my mate who knows computers quite well looked at my components and told me that both my motherboard and video card were basically crap and soon to be obsolete...gotta love his honesty . I know that I have had problems running some games.

My question is simply (after that long and rather pointless intro) what video card and motherboard should I consider? Keeping in mind I'm not a hardcore gamer at all, just maybe a medium range card. I won't really be replacing anything anytime soon because I can't afford it, but now is the time I should start learning about what's out there.

This is by no means urgent and was simply curious as to your thoughts.

Cheers to all!

 

[JMMD]

You don't really need to swap your motherboard unless you want to go with a PCI-e video card. You could get something like an Nvidia 6800GT that would perform much, much better than your current card. You should be able to find a used card for $150 or less. You could also go with an ATI x800 or something similar to that.

 

[mailpup]

I agree that you don't really need a new motherboard. For improved gaming you do need a better graphics card. JMMD's suggestions are reasonable. You can go a little higher if you want to spend the money.

If it wasn't for the sake of improved gaming, you wouldn't need to change anything. What games do you want to run?

 

[ldd]

Thanx for the replies...and thanx to whoever moved me to the right forum

I don't know what games exactly, since I hardly keep up with new releases or anything. I had some issues running Prince Of Persia:Sands Of Time and my mate told me that running Call Of Duty 2 would be hazardous, although that seems to be doing ok for the moment. But yeah, stuff like that I guess. Really like the Grand Theft Auto games. I'll pretty much play whatever I come upon in the shop...just want to have that option available to me.

 

[mailpup]

I think the cards recommended by JMMD will work fine with those games. If you want a better card, feel free to get one.

Although you don't play games all the time, the question is, how good do you want the gameplay to be when you do? You then build the system to that end. In other words, just because you might not play games all the time, you don't necessarily want a system that can barely play them when you do. Well, my 2 cents, if that made any "sense" at all.

 

[ldd]

It did

Thanx for your feedback, I'll take it under advisement til I can actually afford it

 

[ldd]

Parts

G'day guys, I've been given advice that I'd just like to run by you to see what you think. It's been suggested that I change motherboard to a:

Abit KN8-SLI Motherboard - nForce4 SLI, HT2000, Dual Channel DDR400, Dual PCI Express x16 and add a Gainward GeForce 7600GT 256MB DDR3, 560Mhz Core Speed, Heatsink Solution, PCI-Express x16 video card to it.

I suppose any combination of something similar would do too, that's just the example that was given to me. The reason that it was suggested that I do this is because it would cost roughly the same amount as buying an nvidia 7600GT card compatible with an AGP motherboard as simply replacing my motherboard with a new one and buying that card. I hope that means something to someone

Would this increase my capacity to play games as well as possibly increase the general speed of my system? Also, does changing motherboards mean that I have to re-install XP afterwards?

Thanx for any feedback!

 

[ldd]

anyone??