What do I need to upgrade on my computer?

By JohnnySmash on April 21, 2009 5:55:32 AM from

Okay my computer is a few years old and this is the first game that I'm unable to play. The game runs but once I get into a game the framerate is just extremely choppy and annoying to play and that's with the graphics/sound settings all the way down.

My graphics card is an "ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series", I have 1GB of RAM, and my processor is an Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80ghz. It seems like I meet the minimum specs but I don't really know much about these things, especially the graphics card requirements. I just want to know what I need to upgrade to get it to work, or if my computer is just a lost cause?

0 Karma | 6 Replies

nothing; don't waste money on an upgrade.

instead; save up about $700USD and buy a new one.

it's much better value-for-money, and you will get a nice new computer too! your current computer is too old for it to be worth spending time and (more importantly) money on.

hey i just also noticed i'm pretty sure my computer is dual-core because it says (2 CPUS) next to the whole pentium 2.8 ghz thing. does this help at all? i would like to not have to buy a new computer, if i got a $140 graphics card (Looking at GEForce 9800 initially?) and a bunch more GBs of RAM (stuff seems cheap) would I be able to run it well or no?

even if u upgraded ur ram and video card, ur cpu will still hold you back, seriously it's a POS, i core 2 duo E6300 clocked at 1.86ghz would perform bettr than that, also ur cpu says dual core but really it isnt true dual core, it's really more of a single core modded to be dual core. so take bullet magnums advice and just buy a fresh computer, it's probably the easiest option.

interesting thanks for the help, it's crazy how helpful forums can be compared to google when it comes to stuff like this.

now to find a decent computer...

you may have one of the earliest dual cores on your hands, but you may be being lied to you (with a clever technology that Intel uses).

either way; spending money on that computer is money wasted.

i don't know how much money you have currently, or when you'll depart with it so take the following with a grain of salt. this is what i would recommend to a gamer-on-a-budget; it's got plently of grunt at a cheap price and is moderately upgradable in the future.

CPU: AMD Phenom X3 720,

GPU: any HD4830 (don't get me wrong, i love my nVidia card to death, but ATI's current crop of cards are superior to all but the really high-end nVidia cards),

RAM: 4GB of DDR2-800 (as cheap as you can get it)

Mobo: anything with a 790GX chipset.

you can recycle your old case and hardrives, you may need a new power supply, but ask your local computer geek about that as it's really something that should be done in person.

just remember; this could become out of date at any moment (and if a random person is reading this in a months time, it could be out of date right now). be sure to do your own research and fact-checking, it won't be my fault if you don't.

yeah i do seem to recall that it wasn't really a dual-core computer or the dual-cores just added up to 2.8ghz or something like that. I bought it in probably 2005.

sweet thanks for the recommendations that'll help me start looking, i do usually do a lot of research before i buy a computer.

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What do I need to upgrade on my computer?