having a problem with gaming, suspect ram is the problem

Status
Not open for further replies.
hey guys ok,
i have an intel pentium D (3.2ghz) (2 cpus)
320gb hdd
Ultra 512 667mhz pc5400 ram
xfx nvidia geforce 6200 LE
Windows XP SP Pro

now ive been trying to play a few games such as medal of honour pacific assault and battlefield 2142 and i thought i have a pretty good computer for gaming but the games still require me to lower the setting on all the games to make it run smoothly. i think it is the ram because i suspect having at least a gig is perfect and i dont think the video card is a problem because it is a decent video card (unless u tell me otherwise lol) so please guys tell me wuts wrong with my comp
 
Video

Please dont take this the wrong way as I never want to downgrade anyones rig if I can help it. However your video card sucks for the type of games you are trying to play. The 6200LE is a few steps up from integraded and is not a very good card to try to game with.

Also the games listed do require a lot of memory and your 512mb isnt going to cut the mustard.....1gb will run them without incident, 2gb would be optimal.

As far as a the video card goes, Id upgrade to atleast a Nvidia 7600GT to make those games playable.

Probably not what you wanted to hear but welcome to the world of computer gaming....Not a cheap hobby

And by the way welcome to TechSpot
 
lol no peoblem i knew my gpu sucks neways i just wanted something other then integrated graphics so it wouldnt take away from ram, so ur saying if i add another 512 that would help alot, and just get a better video card? wuts the minimum video card i should get?
 
Well

The usual rule of thumb for computer gaming is spending a little more than you can afford. I am not sure of your financial situation thus to make those games playable I'd have to say for about $115-$150 the Nvidia 7600GT would be a great upgrade for not to much and would offer conciderably better gameplay that your 6200LE. However if you bump your budget up to $175 you can get your hands on a nice 7600GS which is a hella card for the money.

And yes, slapping in another 512mb memory dimm will boost your overall system performance noticably. Now a days 512 is about the minimum you will see on a new system and that is basically intended for just running the OS and everyday run of the mill apps.
 
well see the problem is, is that i dont have a monitor that handles dvi and the 7600gt only has dvi-out, so wut would be a good alternate with a vga port?
 
BF2142 runs horribly on 512..(just from experence)

Take JimShadys advice, upgrade. You will be thankful.

EDIT: Oops look like we posted at the same time.

To answer your question.

We first need to know what type of expansion port you have. AGP or PCIe

Secondly, you can buy an adapter for cheap.
 
Yeah

Forgot to ask your graphics interface although I am almost positive your going to using PCIE.

And dont sweat it, most video cards that sport dual dvi come with a dvi to d-sub adaptor. If you need one I have like 30 of them laying around hehe

Back to the memory, adding another 512 dimm will allow your memory to run in 128-bit dual channal mode giving you better performance also.
 
alright thanks guys and yes my motherboard does handle PCIe i will add another ram stick and a new video card, thanks. but the rest of my comp is perfect?
 
Well

Again not to hang you out to dry, but your CPU isnt the best in the world, actually its about 3 gen behind. AMD X2's are a step up and the new Intel Core 2 Duo's are the cream of the crop. However I see no reason why it shouldnt get you good gameplay.

Also, you may want to wait about 2 weeks (17th of this month) before upgrading as nVIDIA is releasing its new 8xxx midrange cards. You might be able to pick up a card that that outperforms the highest end of the 7xxx series for around $200.

However feel free to order your memory when ever you want :D just make sure it is the exact same stuff you got the first time and read your MOBO manual on how to install it to get Dual Channal.
 
You could compare the 8XXX series cheapies to the EVGA E-GEFORCE 7900 GS KO.

It has 256/256 and is below $200 Canadian.
 
Well

The way history has played it each 600 series card has out performed the previous generations second to top card....

The 6600GT was far better than the 5900, maybe even the Ultra
The 7600GT was better (even though its debatable but benchmarks show the truth) than the 6800GT.

And this was done with a 128-bit memory interface.....

I am not 100% sure if the new 8600 line will have 256-bit or not but judging from past releases I would believe the interface will stay unchanged.

So basically you should expect the performance to be on par or better than a 7800/7900GT with the 8600 line with the added support for DX10.
 
Um. so you guys are suggesting he not only get this new card but upgrade his XP OS so he can run DX10 on his system?

Or did I miss something here?

:)
 
Why would you invest money in something that is outdated??? Even if you can use the features now, it never hurts to be future ready.
 
No

That is not what I am saying. It may take some time yet for DX10 games to become common, yet it may not.

Reguardless of what OS he is using now it sitll isnt a bad idea to buy a card that is more future proof than the 7xxx series, performs the same or better and is in the same price bracket...Besides the 8xxx series, even being DX10 capable, run flawless in a DX9 enviroment.

After all he may want to jump to Vista in a few months if DX10 games look promising then. And he will be able to cause he has the right hardware. Buying anything dated and yes the 7xxx series is getting dated would be not so smart.

Its like buying last years car model when you can get this years for the same price. It's a no brainer....
 
My point being, he apparently has a dual cpu mobo which would re reasonably new and wants to buy a 'better' card but not too expensive.

If he is, in the near future, gonna jump to DX10 and Vista that means more than likely that he will want to upgrade to a completely better and fully supported system and then, why would he want a $250 video card?

Explaining your suggestions when they go off on a tangent is better than confusing the issue.

No?


:)
 
Missing the point

His setup, if he adds another 512mb of memory will run Vista just fine.

And we are not missing the point, we are just suggesting that he look at the long run, its always smarter to buy somthing that is up to snuff for the same price of somthing dated.

He does not have to upgrade to Vista to use this here and now !!!!

It works just the same wth DX9 in windows xp

Why should he buy somthing older for the same price as something newer that runs better ?

Its better to be prepaired for the future than not.

What you are saying is he should buy somthing now for a hair bit less and if DX10 does kick off in a few months go out and buy another card again cause if he wants to play DX10 games ?
 
CCT said:
My point being, he apparently has a dual cpu mobo which would re reasonably new and wants to buy a 'better' card but not too expensive.

If he is, in the near future, gonna jump to DX10 and Vista that means more than likely that he will want to upgrade to a completely better and fully supported system and then, why would he want a $250 video card?

Explaining your suggestions when they go off on a tangent is better than confusing the issue.

No?


:)

Considering his mobo is highly likely compatible with Core 2 Duos, it supports ddr2 RAM, Has PCI express....

Seems like a fully supported system

No?
 
Dont tell him to get a new videocard, you dont even know what bus slot he has ( from what I read ) so he'll end up spending $200 for a videocard and end up having only PCI slot ;)
 
TimeParadoX said:
Dont tell him to get a new videocard, you dont even know what bus slot he has ( from what I read ) so he'll end up spending $200 for a videocard and end up having only PCI slot ;)
Read:

bartino said:
alright thanks guys and yes my motherboard does handle PCIe i will add another ram stick and a new video card, thanks. but the rest of my comp is perfect?

Ill take his word for it.
 
lol ya my mobo does handle Pcie because the 6200 LE is PCIe so ya...lol but thanks for info guys, i'll think i'll get the video card first or should i get ram first? wutever makes my games play better right away lol
 
Oh I guess I didnt read that part... Sorry :haha:

Well I was thinking that because he had a 6200 that he had a PCI slot since it's old ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back