For you PC hardware guys/gals out there

[Jambot]

The PC I have is about 4 years old now and I want to get some more RAM and a new video card. I built my PC with the aid of my cousin and he did most of the work, so I only have the bare minimum knowledge of putting a new video card in. Right now my PC only has two 512 sticks of RAM. The video card is a Sapphire RADEON X850 PRO PCI-E 256MB. Now I'm trying to get a new video card and 2 more GB of RAM and only spend about $100.

My plan is to get these 2 sticks of RAM to add to the existing 1 GB I have, giving me a total of 3 GB.

Now picking out a new video card is where my knowledge is a little sketchy, all I know is I need one that fits in a PCI-Express slot. If it helps, I had my system scanned at www.crucial.com to get the exact model of my motherboard. It said I have an MSI (Micro Star) MS-7135 (K8N Neo3). I was looking at this video card for $60, but I don't know if it'll fit my motherboard or if it's even a good video card. I'm not looking for the latest and greatest thing, I just want something to be able to play the current games and have them look halfway decent. So if you have a better suggestion, I am all ears.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Ty]

My knowledge sounds like its about the same as yours, but I thought that I read somewhere that your RAM is suposed to be matched. EX, ou have one gig of ram, you add one gig.

but Im no computer expert, lol

[gm72]

I'm a computer builder and gamer, so I can help. Your memory should be the same as what you have now. Assuming this is Windows XP, the system will "dumb down" the faster memory to match what you have now. You are better off getting brand new memory. What is your processor? What wattage of power supply?

In my gaming rig I use 4 gigs like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227289
It overclocks like a fiend and stays relatively cool. Very stable memory under load.

As an aside, it is exceedingly unlikely that a 4 year old computer will be able to run, even halfway decently, games like Crysis or Bioshock. However, let's see what we can do here for you.

[Ghostknife]

Assuming this is Windows XP, the system will "dumb down" the faster memory to match what you have now.

Okay, I don't know much about this either, but I upgraded all this on a mac, installing the new OS to run. Worked a treat. It went twice as fast, and had the new OS on it.

I know this does not really help your cause at the minute, but I thought maybe next time you change computers, to give mac a go!

I am an absolute convert (jumping on band wagon if you will) in this respect.

Good luck with it though

[Glub]

I agree with gm72's advice.

I'm learning computer animation, and I also game a lot. I've got a couple highschool courses in computer hardware and do most of my computer maintenance and upgrades myself.

Your RAM should definitely match if you want it to perform like it should.

As for finding out for YOURSELF about the video cards, I highly suggest you look at www.newegg.com and www.google.com

Look up your motherboard on both to find out what sort of slots it has and what sort of hardware it can take, look up whatever piece you're considering adding on newegg to make sure it meets those requirements.

As for determining whether your computer's fan will handle the extra heat created by the upgrade, I'd suggest getting people's opinions on this, but that's just me cause I don't know much about choosing fans.

If there's any terms or technical stuff you don't understand, just google it. That's probably where the person you're asking learned about it.

[gm72]

Newegg.com is the computer hardware lover's site to beat. Usually the best prices hands down.

We can get into heat management after we determine the other basics such as power supply and processor, but Glub is absolutely right to keep that in mind. Heat is the #1 enemy to any piece of hardware.

I have a feeling, being that the computer is 4 years old, that we will find several things:
1. The FSB (Front Side Bus) will be too slow to adequately feed information to the rest of the system. This will be one of your bottlenecks.
2. The processor will also be too slow to handle the information and won't contain a large enough cache to spool it out.
3. The power supply won't be large enough to handle the better graphics card.
4. The graphics card won't really matter anyway because the rest of the system won't be able to feed the information fast enough.

Think of a computer as a series of tubes. All of the tubes have to be large enough to allow fast flow of information. If one of the tubes upstream to the final tube is smaller, this restricts the flow and you have a bottleneck. Therefore, if the final tube, for example the graphics card, is large but the processor tube is small, the card will be ready for more information than the system can feed. Therefore you could put the world's fastest graphics card in there and it wouldn't mean squat.

The goal to building a fast system is to make sure that the bottlenecks are minimized and that all of the components can "talk" to each other without wasting resources.

So, I think this is your mobo (motherboard):
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...del=K8N_Neo3-F
Pretty slow compared to standards today. You really aren't going to be able to squeeze too much more out of it and definitely aren't going to be able to run newer games on it very well. Here's why I say that:
1. Doesn't even support DDR 2 much less DDR 3
2. Only supports 2 gigs of RAM
3. Won't support new socket processors
4. Lack of onboard heat management

Mind you, I'm not trying to rain on your parade or say that your computer sucks, because that's not the case. It's just old in computer time. Even 2 years in computer time is an eternity.

[Harls]

I build computers( mainly old stuff like P4's), and sell used computer parts.
Well, first of all, u need to know how many slots you have for your RAM, and make sure a video card u want is compatible, otherwise it won;t work ( bin in this situation ).
Harls

[Wild Turkey]

Gm pretty much has it here. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish but the only way you are really going to upgrade by a leap or bound is to buy a new motherboard and since your computer is so old, that basically means buying a new computer except for non essential parts.

However, you totally have the right idea, buy parts that you can piggy-back over to a new pc soon. When a comp hits about the 3 year mark i start buying all external and easily swappable parts. Anything that goes inside like more ram or a new Gcard, do your research and dont buy if the pin sizes have changed or anything like that which might get in your way of using them on a new motherboard in a year or so. Then start saving up.

So basically to upgrade your video card would be impossible, for even if it werent for one or all of the reasons Gm stated, because all video cards come in pci express and you probably dont have any of those slots at all regardless. You would have to buy used or outdated which defeats the purpose of upgrading.

Gm has it right, 2 years is quite a while if you dont upgrade the pc gradually as you go. I still remember using a 512mb HD...and now i have like 8 gigs on my keyring. Technology moves fast which brings me to my last point, if you are gonna buy new, buy 6 months old. GL

Edit: Oh yes Newegg is GOD. I just got a pc from there for less than 500$ thats worth at least twice in some outlet store. Saved me the trouble of building a pc this time around just need to grab a graphics card, as it came with onboard :( everything else is New egg for any replacement part period. Even if you arent making the repair, buy on the newegg then take the computer in with the part and you will save a lot.

[Jambot]

Well, just looks like I need to start saving up and get a whole new rig entirely. Honestly, I'm not really surprised.

Well, thanks for your input guys.

[Jambot]

How does this sound for $1097 from https://www.digitalstormonline.com ?

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (1066MHz FSB) (8MB Cache)
Motherboard: NVIDIA 650i Core 2 Quad (Chipset: nForce 650i Ultra)
System Memory: 2GB DDR2 800MHz XMS2 Corsair
Power Supply: 650W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVDħR/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Video Card(s): 1x ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Standard Factory Heat-sink and Fan
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans

Is it strong enough for your average modern game? Will it last me without upgrading for a bit? Would I be paying too much for what I'd get?

Let me know what you think, thanks.