Computer Upgrade!

[CaptainVincent]

Hey Guys

When I play games like Half-Life 2 and change graphical settings and resolutions between 640x480 and 1900x1440 my frame rate is EXACTLY the same.

I relise this is because one of my components is holding my crappy pc back.

I have a pentium 4 1.7Ghz, Radeon 9600 256MB, And 1.25GB RAM.

I think it might be my ram because is is only 133Mhz.

Eventually I will trash this computer, but for now I just wanna play half-life 2.

Thanks Heaps.

 

[emp]

It's your CPU and Graphics card, not your Ram. I wouldn't invest any money on it to be honest, because it's just not worth it, just save for new components.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

you can play half life 2?

 

[tlmck]

Per my response on your other thread(crap machine), I played HL2 on that machine also, as well as many other FPS games(the only kind I play). All worked fine on at least medium settings at at least 800x600.

You might try a fresh install of XP(SP1 if possible). Sometimes XP just gets so scrambled, that a fresh install is the only fix.

SP2 is just a bunch of bloat and useless security. I ran SP1 with Comodo firewall and never had a security problem.

 

[MarkG]

you can play half life 2?

The original Half-Life 2 is an old game now and not terribly demanding; I played through it at 1600x1200 on a Radeon 9500 Pro. The new episodes need a lot more power.

Anyway, if the frame-rate stays the same I'd suspect it's CPU or RAM... from what I remember using PC133 RAM typically cost you about 20% of the CPU performance on a Pentium-4, and the 1.7GHz P4 wasn't terribly fast to begin with (AFAIR 1.6GHz P4 was roughly as fast as a 1GHz P3).

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

upgrade man

 

[CaptainVincent]

It's your CPU and Graphics card, not your Ram. I wouldn't invest any money on it to be honest, because it's just not worth it, just save for new components.

It's Not My Graphics Card....It's My CPU Or RAM Because Changing Graphical Settings Doesn't Strain My Graphics Card, There Is Also No Frame Difference Between Playing Half-Life 2 In DirectX7 And DirectX9.

I'm Not Going To Get A New Computer Yet So I Just Need A Bit Of Help On Upgrades.

I can get a Geforce 7600GS for $100NZD Thats Around $75NZD
I can get 1GB Decent RAM For $60NZD ($45USD)

But now for the processor, my motherboard is a piece, its only socket 478 so I can only get a pentium 4 3.2Ghz which is fine for me, my motherboard also only support 400mhz FSB but i understand this is backward compatible? Say I got a socket 478 processor with 533Mhz bus it would just slow it down to 400Mhz right?

Thanks Heaps.

 

[CaptainVincent]

Even Worse....My motherboard only support up to 2.2Ghz Pentium 4, Looks like i'm gonna get a 2.2Ghz Pentium 4 socket 478 400mhz fsb.

I migh tjust find out how to upgrade my motherbard, maybe save up for a desktop with no monitor.

 

[tlmck]

The following would run your games. You could reuse the remainder of your existing components. I have used Newegg links for informative purposes only as it will not be a shopping option for you. Hopefully these will be available in your area.

Asrock MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157115
1gb ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146580
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052

Even better would be the same CPU and RAM with this MB and a new Vid card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130075