crappy cpu needs upgrade for games

[xaku]

My cpu -

Intel(R)
Celeron(R) CPU 2.40 GHz
2.42GHzz. 256 MB OF ram
Graphic card - Nvidia TNT2/TNT2 Pro ( microsoft corp )

- what else do i need to tell you about my cpu?
( tell me where to located the infomation )

Right now i have VLK or whatever so i cant download directX 9.0
so i if get a graphic card that supports 9.0 or 10.0 will it download it by itself?

The games i am currently playing are gunz,wc3ft, and etc..
i want to play css and dods and CNC3 but my computer doesn't meet the standards

 

[melarcky]

well first of all, you will need to get something like a 2.8-3.0ghz p4
another 256mb or ram so that games like source can run good and a card like GF6600 for DX 9 gaming. DX10 is pointless on your system but first tell us your budget

 

[kaorisdad]

For gaming your biggest bang for the buck is more RAM, then a better video card, and lastly the CPU.

However, if you are doing all of this, you might was well get a new motherboard, with an updated CPU and PCI-e graphics capability. I'm guessing you have an AGP2X setup there. I think the TNT2 had 32 MB VRAM on it?

My advice is to hold steady, save your money and get a new mobo, CPU, RAM and vid card.

I actually game on a 2.4GHz Intel, but I got 1 GB of RAM and a Radeon 9600 vid card with 128 MB of VRAM. It plays most games well.

 

[enewmen]

My cpu -

Intel(R)
Celeron(R) CPU 2.40 GHz
2.42GHzz. 256 MB OF ram
Graphic card - Nvidia TNT2/TNT2 Pro ( microsoft corp )

This is crappy!
Ok, lets be constructive.
How much can you spend?
What motherboard do you have? I assume you have socket 478 and a AGP slot. (if you have socket 775 and PCIe, you upgrade life got a lot easier)
Even so, it looks like your weak areas are your RAM and Graphics card.
Upgrade to at least 1 GB of high quality RAM and a x1950 Pro (XT is better). Cards like the GF6600/6800 is good, but others like the 7800GS and x1950Pro are much better. (Some personally like the x850)
Check your PSU, cards better than the 6800 require extra juice.
Overclock your CPU as high as you can.
Then you can play almost any current game at mid settings at least.

At that point your PC is as decked out as it can get.
To upgrade again, you basically need new everything. You can get lots of help on that here. So, don't for example, get killer RAM and video card if you will get new everything anyway.

 

[Track]

For gaming your biggest bang for the buck is more RAM, then a better video card, and lastly the CPU.

Wrong.

Its ALWAYS graphics card first, because the graphics card is the most important part of ur PC by far.

 

[runswindows95]

Then again, a Celeron will bottleneck any good GPU.

Overall, save up and build a new machine.

 

[Track]

Then again, a Celeron will bottleneck any good GPU.

Overall, save up and build a new machine.

Yeh, its almost pointless to try and salvage this thing.

 

[enewmen]

My cpu -

Intel(R)
Celeron(R) CPU 2.40 GHz
2.42GHzz. 256 MB OF ram
Graphic card - Nvidia TNT2/TNT2 Pro ( microsoft corp )

This is crappy!
Ok, lets be constructive.
How much can you spend?
What motherboard do you have? I assume you have socket 478 and a AGP slot. (if you have socket 775 and PCIe, you upgrade life got a lot easier)
Even so, it looks like your weak areas are your RAM and Graphics card.
Upgrade to at least 1 GB of high quality RAM and a x1950 Pro (XT is better). Cards like the GF6600/6800 is good, but others like the 7800GS and x1950Pro are much better. (Some personally like the x850)
Check your PSU, cards better than the 6800 require extra juice.
Overclock your CPU as high as you can.
Then you can play almost any current game at mid settings at least.

At that point your PC is as decked out as it can get.
To upgrade again, you basically need new everything. You can get lots of help on that here. So, don't for example, get killer RAM and video card if you will get new everything anyway.

 

[kaorisdad]

For gaming your biggest bang for the buck is more RAM, then a better video card, and lastly the CPU.

Wrong.

Its ALWAYS graphics card first, because the graphics card is the most important part of ur PC by far.

Yes, I would normally agree with this. However, he only has 256MB of RAM - I mean, he can probably barely run Win XP! If he had at least 512MB of RAM, then definitely the vid card makes the biggest difference. But basically, I still think he needs a new rig altogether.

 

[vic20]

My cpu -

Intel(R)
Celeron(R) CPU 2.40 GHz
2.42GHzz. 256 MB OF ram
Graphic card - Nvidia TNT2/TNT2 Pro ( microsoft corp )

- what else do i need to tell you about my cpu?
( tell me where to located the infomation )

Right now i have VLK or whatever so i cant download directX 9.0
so i if get a graphic card that supports 9.0 or 10.0 will it download it by itself?

The games i am currently playing are gunz,wc3ft, and etc..
i want to play css and dods and CNC3 but my computer doesn't meet the standards

Hey! I'm playing and etc. too

You finish it yet?

/joke

 

[xaku]

i can go about $50-250 for my upgrade

 

[xaku]

so for $50-250 max what stuff are good too buy and where?

 

[runswindows95]

Long story short, Celerons ARE not designed for gaming.

 

[ethel]

Get some more RAM (1GB) and spend the rest on a graphics card. CPU isn't great but it's the least of your problems.

 

[Track]

For gaming your biggest bang for the buck is more RAM, then a better video card, and lastly the CPU.

Wrong.

Its ALWAYS graphics card first, because the graphics card is the most important part of ur PC by far.

Yes, I would normally agree with this. However, he only has 256MB of RAM - I mean, he can probably barely run Win XP! If he had at least 512MB of RAM, then definitely the vid card makes the biggest difference. But basically, I still think he needs a new rig altogether.

Dosent matter.

The biggest performance gain will ALWAYS be from buying a better GPU.

 

[4745454b]

Assuming your not using RDRAM, this is what I would get.

RAM: I would get these assuming your running DDR. This is one gig of G.Skill ram with timings of 2.5-3-3-8. This will use $70 of your $250 budget.

Video card: I'm thinking something like this. Its surprising to me, but you can actually afford to get the big bad (for AGP anyways...) x1950pro. This will set you back $162.

Together, these come to $232 counting shipping, but not any tax you might need to pay. This should allow you to meet most of the requirements for the games, but there are some problems. First, your still crippled with that celery chip. A 2.4GHz celery isn't going to game very well. You should do alright with CnC3, but other newer games will probably pose problems. Second, you need to get information on your motherboard and powersupply. I'm assuming you can use a 8x/4x card. But if your motherboard is old enough, it might support only 2x. If thats the case, then we need to pick a different card. Your also going to need a psu that can power that beast. I believe your supposed to have a 450W PSU with around 30A on the 12V line. (30 seems a little high to be, you might just need around 26A)

If you do need a better PSU, I'd get this PSU (Fortron 450W for $64) and this video card. (eVGA 7600GS for $101 after rebate and shipping.) If you go this route, you only have to worry about whether your motherboard can handle the 8x/4x video card.

 

[Track]

Not bad, but we really dont know the extent of the bottleneck.

I would imagine that the CPU would be able to pass on at least 30 FPS, but we dont know that.

 

[4745454b]

Even with overclocking, that celery will have issues powering everything. I like my second idea, the one with the PSU. That should get him going, and he should be able to buy a better CPU after he saves up the money. From what I understand, 3.0GHz P4s are going dirt cheap right now. Once he has a 3.0GHz northwood, 1GB of ram, with a 7600GS, he should be able to game on low/medium. Certainly better then what he has now.

 

[jitpublisher]

You are, as the old saying goes, whipping a dead horse here.
But for the games you play, or want to, there may some last relatively inexpensive upgrades. This will help a lot, but I can't promise miracles!

Get another 256 meg of memory first.
Buying more than another 256 meg I feel is money not well spent on this system. Having 256 meg though is a serious bottleneck.

Then get a 6800 GPU. I don't really feel this is money well spent either, but will get you a nice performance boost over what you have, give you DX9 compatability, and will let your system live up to it's full potential, though it's full potential will not be mind blowing

Leave the processor alone.

If you fell you need more than this, it's time to put ALL of your current hardware to rest and start over from the ground up.

 

[melarcky]

well this is what i would do
CPU : P4 2.8ghz $62.00+ $4.99 shipping
RAM: 1GB (2x512mb)$64.99 + $4.99 shipping
VGA: GF 7600GS $89.99 + $5.64 shipping

this comes out to be like $235 which shipping from what i see, and its the best i could come up with the CPU is actually quite good, and it should work, my best friend has one and its been working great
as for your AGPX Bus i think its 4x/8x because you can run a TNT on AGP 8x bus anyways
hope this works

 

[4745454b]

The TNT is a 2x card, at best a 4x. I'm hoping that the slot is a 4x/2x, which will allow him to run an 8x/4x card.

 

[melarcky]

i know that the TNT is 2x but it will work on a 8x slot i had a friend who was suring a p4 2.8ghz on an ASUS P4800 board or something it had an agp8x slot and the TNT worked fine

 

[4745454b]

There are universal AGP slots that can handle 2x/4x/8x. But to tell someone that "your AGPX Bus is 4x/8x because you can run a TNT on AGP 8x bus" is just irresponsible. As I mentioned in my post, before buying a card he needs to determine what motherboard he has, and what AGP port he has. If his motherboard is ancient, and he has a 2x only slot, then he's F'd. As long as he has a 2x/4x slot or better, he's good.

 

[melarcky]

yes i totally agree, if he could tell us the Mother board it would be great, but i an betting its has at least 4x and then we will see from there

 

[melarcky]

yes i know but i think that it should have at least 4x because its a Celeron 2.4 so i am quite sure it will, if not we will see from there