Gaming Hardware Help

[Hagnasty]

I use my computer for gaming only. My current hardware is as follows:
-ECS L7S7A2
-AMD Athlon 1800+ oc'ed 2600+ 2.02ghz
-1 gig generic RAM 2x256 1x512
-AGP ATI Radeon 9550 256mb

I play FarCry on the low levels execpt very high water qual and very high spec effects qual, and get "alright" quality. Doom3 pretty much the same way, but a little better. As you can see I don't know much so any help would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Hagnasty

[AsianBatman]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

Um...whats your question?

[jd53887]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

LOL I was thiknking the same thing. I think he wants advice to get better performance?

[Hagnasty]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

Sorry I got a little ahead of myself. I just thought I would get better performance out of my hardware then what I'm getting. I've been reading different threads and saw some issues with bottlenecks and I'm just wondering if anyone had any ideas of some upgrades or other troubleshooting I could do.

thanks again

[jd53887]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

HA!!!! I was right!!!! Ok... rams.... give us more info. Actually, that doesn't even matter. Everyone is just gunna tell u to get CAS2 rams. Go for EB, like me so I wont be the only one. EHEHEHEH Another thing, get a better graphic card if you want better... graphical performance? I have no idea about anything about AMD processors... so someone else take over.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

I doubt anyone here would be stupid enough to recommend CAS 2 RAM as an upgrade for that system...

We can talk upgrading if you'd like, but I take it you want to improve performance through software tweakng and such.

Head over to www.tweakguides.com. Read all of the system guides there, particularly Windows XP Tweaking: Reformat to Relax. You should also read any guides specifically made for games you play, and the ATI Catalyst installation guide.

On top of that, you can look into overclocking your system. I'm not sure whether or not your board overclocks, but I wouldn't be suprised. We can walk you through that, or someone can link to a guide (feeling to lazy to get one myself right now).

For overclocking the video card you can go to OCfaq.com and get ATITool. You should need a replacement driver as well since your 9550 should be locked. Go to http://www.techpowerup.com/softmod/downloads.php and download the 4.8 Softmodded Catalysts (don't bother with the 4.9 betas; they will only mean significant Doom 3 performance increases on X800s) or go to www.omegacorner.net and download the latest Omegas. Install the drivers (read the Catalyst installation guide at www.tweakguides.com when you do this), then ATITool and start overclocking. It's generally best to start with memory and then go for core. Make sure you are done overclocking your processor before you try for the video card.

[wayout44]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

On top of that, you can look into overclocking your system. I'm not sure whether or not your board overclocks, but I wouldn't be suprised. We can walk you through that, or someone can link to a guide (feeling to lazy to get one myself right now).

*cough*AMD Athlon 1800+ oc'ed 2600+ 2.02ghz *cough*

Quite frankly I'd get rid of that mainboard for an nForce2 or KT880 one at least.

[Hagnasty]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

Thanks for your responses. When I got my VCard a couple weeks ago I was under the impression that since it was 256mb as opposed to my FX5200 128, that it would make a huge difference....it really didn't. As you can tell I get info bit by bit, here and there, so my upgrading may be premature in some cases and totally unnecessary in others. Some links to suggested products would be great!
thanks again

[Yawgm0th]

Re: Gaming Hardware Help

*cough*AMD Athlon 1800+ oc'ed 2600+ 2.02ghz *cough*

Quite frankly I'd get rid of that mainboard for an nForce2 or KT880 one at least.

Why do you expect me to read or something?

The only necesary upgrade is video card, IMO. A new board would be be helpful, but I'd say it's a waste of money unless you get a new processor (Athlon 64) to go with it.

For a video card, get at least a Radeon 9800 Pro. Anything less will pretty much be a waste of money. I would recommend the Sapphire.

However, a much better bang-forbuck alternative (here it comes) would be the GeForce 6800. The Elsa looks good to me. I would highly recommend this option as you're paying about $80 more for perhaps twice as much performance. With the 9800 Pro, you might be able to run Doom 3 at 1280 x 960 or 1024 x 768 at higher quality, but with this you'll probably be running it at 1600x1200@High Quality, even with that system.

If you still are willing to spend money to get upgrade other parts, I can give you some possibilities for the rest of the system. The video card, however, will do you wonders as it is.