Building/Upgrading a PC for TS2
Akharra:
Of course I have a Celeron! ::)
Hi!
I am attempting to upgrade my video card. I would like to buy the best card that I can that my processor can handle. I have a 550 watt power supply. I have a 2.6 and 2 gigs of ram. 80 gig hard drive.
I am looking to spend a maximum of $200.00.
Would someone please advise me on what to buy?
Thank You!
Edited to say I have a PCI slot.
Edit I am looking at either an Ati 1300 or an x1550 pro (both 256 memory). The 1300 is on the list of supported cards, the x1550 is not. Does that matter?
DrBeast:
Quote from: Akharra on 2007 March 10, 23:58:40
Of course I have a Celeron! ::)
Hi!
I am attempting to upgrade my video card. I would like to buy the best card that I can that my processor can handle. I have a 550 watt power supply. I have a 2.6 and 2 gigs of ram. 80 gig hard drive.
I am looking to spend a maximum of $200.00.
Would someone please advise me on what to buy?
Thank You!
Edited to say I have a PCI slot.
I hope you mean you have an PCI-E slot, not plain PCI.
Maximum $200...hm...Here's a few suggestions: do you play other games besides TS2? If yes and extensively, then go for an nVidia 7600GT, truly amazing mid-range card for about $130-$150 (depends on the manufacturer). If you're a sims-fanatic, ATi is the road to follow. For about $160-$190 you get an X1950Pro. Of course the Celery will act like a handbrake with regards to processing power, but at least you'll have a pretty fine card when you decide to get rid of it and get a decent processor *nudge nudge hint hint*
If you don't plan on upgrading the CPU any time soon, I think a cheaper graphics card is in order...for about $90-$100 you can get either an nVidia 7600GS (one step down from the GT) or a Radeon X1650Pro or even X1650XT (in Radeon models, XTs are better than Pro). Downside is, most of those cards in this price range will have the slower DDR2 memory instead of the faster DDR3 the more expensive models carry, but still the bottleneck will remain your Celery.
Quote from: Akharra on 2007 March 10, 23:58:40
Edit I am looking at either an Ati 1300 or an x1550 pro (both 256 memory). The 1300 is on the list of supported cards, the x1550 is not. Does that matter?
Nope.
ETA to syberspunk: sorry for leaving your questions unanswered bud, but I don't check in here that often any more as you might know, and by the time I checked in again your thread was already reeking of decomposition, buried somewhere along Page 2 and 3 ::) Oh, and you had already ordered the parts ;D
Akharra:
Yes, it is a PCI. I bought this computer before I knew any better. Next year I am building my own gaming pc. For now, though, I need to upgrade a little or my eyes will start to bleed!
Actually, Sims plays fairly well. Just very, very ugly.
Thanks! I think I will go with the 1300/ 256. I hope it helps!
syberspunk:
Quote from: witch on 2007 March 09, 13:48:01
Read RTFMs, touched things lovingly. Hah, I'm not a nerd.
* syberspunk has mental images of witch gently fondleing her power cords and caressing her various computer parts, holding them up to cheek.
Lol :D
As for the rest of you:
@twisingsims:
kate has it right, forget Celeron. Celeron is JUNK! It is totally not worth it, unless you are like super dirt po' and really can't afford a REAL processor, and/or it is an Emergency, and you really need a cheap computer NOW. Otherwise, as Pescado says, sell your ass until you can scrape up enough loot to be a REAL processor. :P
Also... I would bump up to the x19N0 series (1900, 1950, or 1950 PRO, etc.), if at all possible. As Beasty says, it's worth the extra. And since you're bothering to build your new compy from scratch, I think the extra 30-50$ is totally worth it. If you're going NVidia, then I also agree, and say the 7600GX to the 79N0 GX is the way to go.
Finally... once you've selected your mobo and graphics card, check the specs for each to see what the power requirement is. The higher end cards require more power. 480W seems decent, but I've seen some specs of more powerful cards say at least 500W.
@Akharra:
Ack, you only have a PCI slot? If you're computer is that old, you should check if you have an AGP slot. AGP is definitely better/faster than PCI. I think older computers at least had AGP slots. My old machine is about 4 years old, I got it from Best Buy, and it has an AGP slot. So... I would hope that, if you got your machine later than that, you should have an AGP slot. On my old mobo, the AGP slot was brown and the PCI slots are white.
Most of the prices that people report here are probably PCI-E cards. AGP cards are more expensive. I'm not sure about regular ole PCI cards... but I would think PCI is probably crap in comparison, so the extra cost for AGP would still be better. Unfortunately, an AGP card would most likely limit your upgradeability, as newer mobos don't seem to have AGP slots anymore. And even tho newer mobos do still have regular ole PCI slots, you would be better off getting a PCI-E card anyways. So... it seems that, no matter what card you get now, it probably won't help as much in the future for your next machine. :-/
@DrBeast:
Oh poop! Well... even though I did purchase the items, I had other questions about building the machine itself. But oh wells... I ended up putting the OS on the SATA drive. Hopefully, by week's end, I'll be back up and running, playing Seasons on my shiny new PC. :D
Ste
Akharra:
syberspunk:
Definatly a PCI only...sigh!
Next year at tax time, I should have about $1,000.00 - $1,500.00 to spend on a new gaming rig. I have 3 pc's at the moment (old, older, and oldest). I figure I can use it somewhere. This is just to tide me over. Thanks for the advice!
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