if i upgrade my pc from 32 bit to 64 bit can i add ram

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Rad19er

Commendable
May 5, 2016
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my brother has a hp compaq presario desktop CQ5110F and i was trying to upgrade it to make it play games smoother. It meets the maximum requirements for some games already, but it lags horribly when playing them. I wanted to put a video card in it and upgrade the OS from windows vista 32-bit to 7 64-bit. I was wondering if I could put more ram in it to make it run better and meet some better game requirements if I change it from 32-bit to 64-bit.

Also the computer runs extremely slow for even regular use, like looking something up on internet explorer. Is this because the computer is outdated or does it have other problems.


Thanks in advance for any help
 
Solution
photonboy
If your hardware is currently like THIS:

a) 512MB VRAM (shared, and I'm guessing on the amount), and
b) 3GB installed

That means you're using 3GB for the system memory, so if the motherboard only supports 4GB total it will help a bit but only some. In many cases it won't help at all. More than 3GB is nice, but the CPU and GPU are important as well. If it's crappy onboard graphics that's your biggest problem (though you still need 64-bit as explained below).

However...

What you really need is:
1) GTX750Ti 2GB (or better).. about $100+
2) upgrade to 4GB from 3GB? (maybe), and
3) upgrade to W10 64-bit (free if you have W7 or W8 32/64-bit though you may need help)

*If you upgrade to a 2GB video card, but stay with 32-bit Windows then...
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
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If your hardware is currently like THIS:

a) 512MB VRAM (shared, and I'm guessing on the amount), and
b) 3GB installed

That means you're using 3GB for the system memory, so if the motherboard only supports 4GB total it will help a bit but only some. In many cases it won't help at all. More than 3GB is nice, but the CPU and GPU are important as well. If it's crappy onboard graphics that's your biggest problem (though you still need 64-bit as explained below).

However...

What you really need is:
1) GTX750Ti 2GB (or better).. about $100+
2) upgrade to 4GB from 3GB? (maybe), and
3) upgrade to W10 64-bit (free if you have W7 or W8 32/64-bit though you may need help)

*If you upgrade to a 2GB video card, but stay with 32-bit Windows then that VRAM amount is assigned to the 4GB max memory map that can be addressed. That would mean that only approximately 1.8GB of your installed system memory (3GB?) could be accessed.

Summary:
- may need better GPU
- possibly better PSU (300W may be okay for 750Ti)
- W10 64-bit
- 4GB (or max)

It may not make a lot of sense to upgrade too much though. At some point it's worth putting the money aside for a better machine.

Can use pcpartpicker for parts.
 
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Solution
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015
UPDATE:

*There's a chance that system doesn't support Windows 10, but my research suggests that it WILL WORK. One way to test is use a spare hard drive, and attempt to install a legal copy of W10 (but don't activate or put a key in because that won't work if you didn't buy a copy).

**If you had W7/W8 prior to this (i.e. W7 Home) then you want the same version (i.e. W10 Home). If you do install this then W10 will automatically activate unless you tell it NOT TO during the installation. It does that over the network as your system is registered with Windows.

You can create one from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

All the drivers should likely install, though there may be an issue with the onboard GPU. The GPU isn't an issue if you buy a new supported card, but it's nice to know if this plan will work before spending the money.
 
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