I am wanting to make my computer run video games better. I love to play World of Warcraft along with games like Command and Conquer. Well problem is, I think that it runs rather slowly. I payed a bit of money for my computer atleats four years ago, but I know that it is outdated now. I will list my specs and please let me know what I can do to make it better.


Window XP

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz

Memory: 1 Gig of Ram

Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce FX 5700


I know that I have a old Graphics card. Would replacing only that help my gameplay or is there other things that I should recommomend replacing? If you want to know what else that I have in my PC, please ask. BTW, I run WoW at 15-20FPS acording to the game. I believe that my settings are rather low also.

Howdy,

For speed you will need to max your memory for your motherboard and a graphics card with as much on board memory as you can afford.

so your saying buy more ram? (i think I have four slots, so 4gigs?) and also saying buy the best video card that I can? I was thinking about a Nvidia 9800 GT.

Hi,

I would really advise you to save your money at this point for a new system.

First, AFAIK the 9000 series from nVidia are simply not made in AGP format. Your system uses AGP for video, and won't support a 9000 series card, all of which are PCI-E, IIRC. Even if it were made, an AGP version would outrun your CPU's ability to support it.

Second, with XP, even gaming, you won't see much speed benefit from going from 2 to 4 GB of RAM. In fact, XP won't even see the RAM above 3 GB anyway. To use RAM above 3 GB, you must use Vista.

Bottom line, save your dollars and start considering a new system. The system you have was excellent for its' time, but is far surpassed by today's hardware. And, today's hottest hardware is completely incompatible with your system in any case, other than for drives. But, even there, to benefit from today's hardware designs, you should go with SATA-2 drives.

PCB, your always there to help me. I appriciate it once again. I wasnt sure if my pc would handle the upgrades that I wanted... Heres a link to a computer that I wouldnt mind buying. Can you tell me what you think of it?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3655637&Sku=C122-4552

I like the idea of have SLI for two video cards, and 4 gigs of ram and it has vista. It comes out to about $1400 after taxes and shipping. Its not to bad, but it will definatly help out my gaming. Any thoughts or suggestions is appriciated

Also, I would like your input on Vista. I hear alot of bad stuff about it? Do you think that computer is good that I am looking at or should I consider some kind of XP set up?

Hi,

That will be a fast system. Unfortunately, I know nothing about the manufacturer.

The q6600 is an excellent CPU, and "faster than a bat out of hell". I personally have one in my main system and cannot get the CPU to full utilization, with almost whatever I do. It is also highly overclockable, I've had mine in excess of 3 gHz with minimal fuss. But, why bother? There isn't anything out there that can't run quickly with that CPU. It is the best buy for the money out there these days. And, the MB is a good one - I have strong preferences for Asus, they are high quality, and that is also what I have, although a different board to accommodate my small form factor setup, the P5K-VM.

Now, as to Vista, some like it, and many hate it. XP is a very mature operating system, and will be around and supported by MS for years to come. Personally, I would recommend XP, and am staying with XP on all three of my systems. But if you want to go Vista, I am assuming/hoping that SP1 should fix a lot of issues. The system is certainly powerful enough to handle the higher overhead of Vista.

The video cards aren't the top of the nVidia line, but having said that I have an 8600GT card myself, and have been very pleased with it. In SLI (which I don't need because I am not a gamer), it should be excellent for gaming and faster than you really need to get reasonable frame rates and good IQ.

If you are going with XP, you can get rid of 2GB of RAM, although it looks like the system isn't customizable in any way.

You might shop around a bit, check NewEgg and ZipZoomFly also to see what deals they have. MWave is another good one to check. I've used Tiger, and haven't had any problems with them either. So, shop for price and specs, and any of the 4 should be fine. You could save considerable money if you are willing to build it yourself from parts.

Thx PCB, I have a choice to make between Xp and Vista. Building the pc myself is an option, but I dont know if I can do it. I wouldnt know what to do. How much would I be saving if i were to build that exact computer?

Hi,

The only way to answer your question is to actually price the parts at one of those on-line shops. But, if you aren't comfortable with a build, you might check your friends to see if any of them are experienced builders. I build all my systems myself.

Then price the parts and see what the cost looks like. Frankly, unless you are comfortable doing it yourself, I do recommend getting a pre-made system.

Check the other shops I recommended and see what they have that is comparable.

i'd love to do it myself, but none of my friends are experienced builders so that may leave that option out for me. I wouldnt want to screw anything up myself. I'll do some research on XP and Vista. I have always heard that XP is better than buggy Vista, but then again I heard alot of the problems were fixed on vista. But then again, i also heard that XP still runs games at a better FPS than Vista.

Vista is more resource intensive - so buying that machine will make Vista look like it is flying, but putting XP on that same machine will really make it fly.

If you can get a hold of XP 64 bit, it might not be a bad idea - personally, my recommendation is that if you are going to primarily game on the machine, go with XP and spend your money wisely on video card(s). As for the 4 GB RAM - leave it there - although XP may not see it or use it unless you have a 64 bit version, your games will love you if you have 3 versus 2 GB RAM. And if you do decide to go with Vista, then you'll 8definitely* want the 4 GB RAM.

I needed a new machine for school as my old one died, so I bought a Quad core 6600 based Media Center PC from HP - not my first choice in PCs, but I needed one that very day and could not wait to buy and build the components and then install the OS and get up and running. I am very happy running Vista on this machine, with 4 GB RAM and even with SETI@Home running on all four processors, I am hard pressed to push this system to its limits. Additionally, the SATA II HD (and my additional SATA II HD that I added to it) make for a lot of fast storage.

My next machine will definitely be a home built machine - this is the first machine I have bought (desktop) in over 12 years.

If you are willing to learn more about Vista and don't try to run games that have a Quad Core CPU as a minimum requirement, then you can try Vista - else, as I said before, stick with XP.

John, I appriciate your input. I like what you had to say. Hears a concern and help me straighten this out. Vista runs Direct X 10. Xp can only run Direct x 9? IF so, then what if games start to use direct x 10? I would like to run games like Crysis and such on high settings. Can I run games like crysis on high settings on XP?

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb219721.aspx#Will_DirectX_10_be_available_for_Windows_XP

does this mean that they may create some high tech games in the furture where people with only vista running direct x 10 can play? I guess thats my biggestest concern... I dont want to choose Xp because its better, if they plan on making games strictly for vista that could be pretty badass.

That would be my guess.

And to solve your dilemma, you could always dual boot