S.C.G Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Ok so I'm looking into upgrading the RAM in my PC, gone on to Crucial, done the test and it says I need this... 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-4200 memory module CT734422 £30 I also noticed they have "Ballistix Ram" which apparently offers higher performance and I was just wonder if it's really worth it, all I'm doing is getting rid of my currently installed 2 X 512MB and gonna put in the 2 X 1GB set so that I can get better performance generally. Secondly I'm thinking of upgrading my GFX card which is a... Ati Sapphire Radeon X1650 all I want is a slight upgrade from that really, (I'd imagine it'd be dirt cheap by now too) one that will work well with the above Ram would be good too, also if I get them both, should I install both the Ram and the Gfx card at the same time (sounds like less hassle) ? My PC specs are... HP Pavillion Pentium D (dual core) 2.66 ghz 2.67 ghz 1 GB Ram PCIe slot I think thats all for now, any help / advice appreciated, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 I'm in dire need of an upgrade, but I'm afraid I don't have the monies. So I would probably just get DDR and maybe a gfx card, however I'm afraid that might require a new PSU and maybe cooler... Might as well hear opinions too :P AMD 64 3.7+ X800 GT 256 A8N SLI Premium/Deluxe don't remember 1x Kingston DDR So yeah, can't put DDR2 :P Sorry for the piggyback SCG :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 Nps Hellfire :P Hmm update - my current card is a Ati Radeon Sapphire X1650 512MB DDR2 memory, pretty old I'm guessing but meh I don't want to run anything cutting edge, just want better performance. The one I'm thinking of upgrading to is... Play Value ATI Radeon HD 2400Pro / 256MB / PCI Express x16 / Graphics Card http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/5973010/Play-Value-ATI-Radeon-HD-2400Pro-256MB-PCI-Express-x16-Graphics-Card/Product.html Looks better in every respect, only thing is the memory, it's 256MB and my current one has 512MB, but, thats 512MB DDR2 and the one I want to upgrade to has 256MB GDDR3 so I'm guessing thats better anyway? Update - Ordered my Rams and card, when I get them, should I install them both at the same time or is that asking for trouble? :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Nps Hellfire :P Hmm update - my current card is a Ati Radeon Sapphire X1650 512MB DDR2 memory, pretty old I'm guessing but meh I don't want to run anything cutting edge, just want better performance. The one I'm thinking of upgrading to is... Play Value ATI Radeon HD 2400Pro / 256MB / PCI Express x16 / Graphics Card http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/5973010/Play-Value-ATI-Radeon-HD-2400Pro-256MB-PCI-Express-x16-Graphics-Card/Product.html Looks better in every respect, only thing is the memory, it's 256MB and my current one has 512MB, but, thats 512MB DDR2 and the one I want to upgrade to has 256MB GDDR3 so I'm guessing thats better anyway? Update - Ordered my Rams and card, when I get them, should I install them both at the same time or is that asking for trouble? :P This card is terrible and about half the speed of your current card. Can you spend more than £20? In regards to the RAM, with the rest of the specs I don't imagine shelling out too much on a premium brand would be worth it unless it was only £5 more than standard value RAM. I'm in dire need of an upgrade, but I'm afraid I don't have the monies. So I would probably just get DDR and maybe a gfx card, however I'm afraid that might require a new PSU and maybe cooler... Might as well hear opinions too :P AMD 64 3.7+ X800 GT 256 A8N SLI Premium/Deluxe don't remember 1x Kingston DDR So yeah, can't put DDR2 :P Sorry for the piggyback SCG :P Get an extra gig of RAM and how much would you be willing to spend on a new graphics card? I assume you have PCI-E. You wouldn't need a PSU upgrade unless its under 450W, in most cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 This card is terrible and about half the speed of your current card. Can you spend more than £20? In regards to the RAM, with the rest of the specs I don't imagine shelling out too much on a premium brand would be worth it unless it was only £5 more than standard value RAM. . Hmm I figured the card (although cheap) may be worth it as my current card is about 3 years old and that other one is about a year old, what makes it so bad, is it the 256MB of GDDR3 memory versus my current 512MB DDR2? And yeah I thought that too in the end, just went for the standard Ram that they had recomeneded, got the best in that list though, only cost £30 for the 2GB set with I thought was ok. I could spend more on a card, just saw that for the price it was and figured cos my card was 3 years old and that was only 1 year old that I'd risk it :S but as for my current card, I bought the best that I could afford at the time but I didn't expect it to remain any good for more than a year or two with the way that things move on so fast with GFX cards in general. Got any recomendations for less than £50? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140617 This. If you're a man of the nvidia persuasion you might prefer this: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127344 I'm not sure which is faster exactly but I suspect it would be the ATI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 Ty Sanchez ^^ I ordered the Ati one, I'll sell the cheap one when that one arrives too, if anyone wants it :/ anyways got my Ram and GFX card on it's way now and thats the main thing, it'd be ok to install them both at the same time wouldn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Yeah. If you don't open the cheapo you should be able to return it for delivery costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supercube Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Ty Sanchez ^^ I ordered the Ati one, I'll sell the cheap one when that one arrives too, if anyone wants it :/ anyways got my Ram and GFX card on it's way now and thats the main thing, it'd be ok to install them both at the same time wouldn't it? If it's easy enough to install the ram, then start up your pc to recognize it, then turn it off to do your card, then do that. It won't hurt to have the cover off during this process if you're careful! Doing both together won't mess anything up though, it'll just take a little longer to settle down again. Your call really, can't do any harm either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Get an extra gig of RAM and how much would you be willing to spend on a new graphics card? I assume you have PCI-E. You wouldn't need a PSU upgrade unless its under 450W, in most cases. Yeah it's PCI-E. I was going to buy the 8800GT a few months back, but I didn't get it, I suppose it's cheaper now, maybe it's still a good buy?. Also my PSU is 400W. I don't have a fixed price point, but something that allows me to play games, it doesn't need to be the best of the best. I got 2x512 DDR from a friend that didn't need it, but since they were different from the one I have, only one worked and it didn't work very well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted July 6, 2008 Author Share Posted July 6, 2008 I got 2x512 DDR from a friend that didn't need it, but since they were different from the one I have, only one worked and it didn't work very well... for the ram... http://www.crucial.com run a test and they'll tell you what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanchez Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Yeah it's PCI-E. I was going to buy the 8800GT a few months back, but I didn't get it, I suppose it's cheaper now, maybe it's still a good buy?. Also my PSU is 400W. I don't have a fixed price point, but something that allows me to play games, it doesn't need to be the best of the best. I got 2x512 DDR from a friend that didn't need it, but since they were different from the one I have, only one worked and it didn't work very well... http://www.ebuyer.com/product/146428 This is the best value card, if it's out of your price range you'd have to look at something from an older generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 That price seems about right. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCK Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Be careful, I doubt that you'd really need a 8800GT or 4850. Your CPU is pretty old, I doubt it'd make much of a difference if you went beyond a 3850 or 9600GT. Dunno what the prices are, but I doubt your computer could utilise the 4850 fully so you might as well go a bit cheaper. As for the RAM, any 2x 1 GB DDR400 set would make a pretty big boost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 Installed my Ram and GFX card today, after a couple of odd start ups (everything seemed slow then all of a sudden really fast) and a download of the appropriate (closest match) drivers for the GFX card, everything seems to be running nice and smoothly, tomorrow I shall test it out properly with a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Be careful, I doubt that you'd really need a 8800GT or 4850. Your CPU is pretty old, I doubt it'd make much of a difference if you went beyond a 3850 or 9600GT. Dunno what the prices are, but I doubt your computer could utilise the 4850 fully so you might as well go a bit cheaper. As for the RAM, any 2x 1 GB DDR400 set would make a pretty big boost Might not use it fully, but it's a good card, and when I'd make another upgrade I could probably use it. Why spend a little less for a worse card which would mean I'd totally need a new one in the next upgrade, when I can fork out just a little more for a better one that could live longer? I dunno, we'll see, but for now I'll probably only afford RAM. And the CPU's not that bad, you youngun's get carried away with all that dual core business! Get off my lawn! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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