Need some advice

[Ko3a]

Hi, I'm new to this community and I would appreciate it if someone could just give me a hint what to do...
I have a P4 2.53Ghz FSB, 256ddr 333, a GeForce4 MX460 and a MSI 648 Max mobo (533 FSB). I would like to get a better video card, something like GeForce 6600GT or a 6800, plus a 512 ddr stick... the problem is, I'm worried of my mobo not supporting dual-channel ddr, and my ram isn't like 400 ddr... does it make that much difference in games? Will my Ram be a so-called "bottleneck" of my system? Should I upgrade my computer, or should I wait for a new one? Any help would be appreciated... P.S. Sorry for my English - I come from a country far, far away ...

 

[pauldh]

You don't need a computer upgrade to add ram or a 6xxx series card. An AGP 6600GT or 6800 will work just fine on your motherboard. Also, your mobo is a SIS648 chipset, so it's not a dual channel DDR mobo, but you can add another stick of memory without any problem. Just buy PC2700 (DDR333) or faster and you will be fine. Buying PC3200 will more likely allow you to reuse that stick in the future. You may have to adjust the memory timings a little more conservative if the new ram won't run the other settings. It's not as fast as an 800 bus P4 on a dual channel DDR mobo, but still not that bad that you need to upgrade to enjoy games.

That system is about equal to an XP 2500+ or P4 2.4C, which isn't that bad. Some games like HL2 won't run as quick as they could, but for sure the upgrades you mentioned will allow you to have a much better gaming experience than now with 256MB ram and a GF4MX. Some games you will be cpu/system limited, but all in all you'll be much better off than now. If your system is stable, I think going for the upgrades you mentioned are a good choice.



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