What hardware will help raise frame-rate the most?

[thamantooth]

system:
Dell inspiron 531
RAM- 2.00 GB
Processor- AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz
OS - 32-bit Windows 7 Professional
Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8300 GS

i know my computer isn't the greatest, but when i run Star Wars: The Old Republic on the lowest graphics settings possible, i still only get about a consistent 7 fps, maxing at 20 at rare occasions at certain parts in the game. i run defrags and have been trying to fix any software problems i can think of.

i am thinking that i need some new parts for my computer because they are all outdated. I was thinking RAM because my physical memory usage is about 92% whenever i run Star Wars.

What should I buy if I want to raise my fps?

 

[rolli59]

A better GPU would help but your system is getting dated. What is the size of the PSU?

 

[thamantooth]

i couldn't tell ya with out looking inside of my cpu, but would the power supply really make a difference?

 

[rolli59]

It decides what card you can put in! Never mind found it online 300watts!

 

[thamantooth]

that's what i was going to guess! so, you would guess that my low frame-rate is to blame on my old graphics card?

 

[rolli59]

A card like this should run on your system and give you much better frame rates http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150553

 

[thamantooth]

wow that's a lot cheaper than i would have thought.. is that going to fit into my motherboard if the one i have now does?

 

[natemare]

Yeah it'll fit. It's not so much as to whether it "fits" on the motherboard, it's more about whether there is sufficient space between the back of the case and the drive bays at the front, and from the PCI-X slot to the side panel. I don't think it is an exceptionally big card, heck you might even be able to fit a GTX 260.

 

[natemare]

Ignore this comment, this was for another post, don't know it attached here...oh well.

 

[thamantooth]

Best answer selected by thamantooth.