[hl0m4n]

im thinking about upgrading both my pcs. question is is it necessary. right now it runs tf2 fine and stuff but these new games like hell gate london, crysis, etc all require so much and it will only get more demanding. im mainly just thinking about upgrading video card and ram. both pcs are on xp pro but im thinking if i should upgrade to vista now and get used to it b/c pretty soon that will be out as well...

PC 1 is about 4 years old
3.2ghz on ati x850pe AGP and 1gb corsair (x2 512mb)
upgrade: nvidia 7900gs AGP and corsair 2gb (+x2 512mb)

PC 2 is about 3-3.5 years old
3.6ghz at x850pe PCI-E and 1gb corsair (x2 512mb)
upgrade: nvidia 8800 OC PCI-E and 2gb corsair (x2 1gb sticks, my cpu cooling blocking ram slot near it)
and maybe the physics card for unreal tourny 3.

vista is a

your thoughts?

[FirstClass]

What are the processors?

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by FirstClass

What are the processors?

processors i don't plan on changing both intel single core 3.2ghz and 3.6

[e90pdto]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

PC 1 is about 4 years old
3.2ghz on ati x850pe AGP and 1gb corsair (x2 512mb)
upgrade: nvidia 7900gs AGP and corsair 2gb (+x2 512mb)

x850xt pe to 7900gs?? doesn't sound like much of an upgrade?? (if at all?)
2GB ram would be nice & essential, you will see a huge difference in games.

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

PC 2 is about 3-3.5 years old
3.6ghz at x850pe PCI-E and 1gb corsair (x2 512mb)
upgrade: nvidia 8800 OC PCI-E and 2gb corsair (x2 1gb sticks, my cpu cooling blocking ram slot near it)
and maybe the physics card for unreal tourny 3.

2GB ram is decent enough. Anything over 2GB would not make sense unless you are running ultra high texture + ultra high resolution. Also, you pretty much have to use Vista to take advantage of larger memory size.
The physics card is totally worthless (check review all over the net..), you should rather spend that money on a better video card, (e.g. 8800GTX, 8800Ultra, or 8800GTS SLI for that matter), or do a complete rebuild with a Core 2 Quad.

[e90pdto]

Originally Posted by hl0m4n

processors i don't plan on changing both intel single core 3.2ghz and 3.6

Itis the biggest bottleneck in your Computer 2.

And it will be a huge bottleneck in your Computer 1 as well, if you proceed to upgrade your other system components in Computer 1.

[mds82]

What do you plan on doing with the PC. that is the Big questions

Vista .... CRAP

[hl0m4n]

Originally Posted by mds82

What do you plan on doing with the PC. that is the Big questions

Vista .... CRAP

both pcs are everday use, internet, a bit of pshop, and games. i just want to upgrade ram and video card maybe even to vista to get direct x 10 for the newer games that demand so much.

and god damn the dual 8800 sli requires over 1000w psu. jebus demands now days...

[BMW F22]

Vista is not compatible with a lot of hardwares and softwares so I would take that into consideration.

[Zirenz2006]

I am running Vista with tons of software, most of which is memory intensive music production software without one issue. Do people just like to bash Vista or do they actually have a clue what they are talking about?

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by toattett

2GB ram is decent enough. Anything over 2GB would not make sense unless you are running ultra high texture + ultra high resolution. Also, you pretty much have to use Vista to take advantage of larger memory size.

Not really. Go here: Memory support and Windows

[FirstClass]

Originally Posted by MadDog

Not really. Go here: Memory support and Windows

He's right, you're wrong. Anything over 2 gigs is essentially useless unless you're doing very specific things. (Which don't include gaming and light PS use) Even top end gaming rigs can't really use over 2 gigs of ram, you're better off buying faster ram @ 2gigs than more ram that's slower.

To the OP: You're using single core P4's and DDR? Those video card upgrades would be pretty useless because I doubt either P4 can handle the demands of an 8800. Get a Core 2 Duo at least or a Core 2 Quad and some DDR2. This would require a new mobo, RAM, etc. but imo you're better off with one kickass PC than two shitty ones. (Which is what you would have if you upgraded as per your original post.)

[hl0m4n]

hm haven't thought about the 8800 demands. i got the psu for it. back in the day there was no core, well there was like one or two in the thousands price range. so i opted for single core. both ram i believe are ddr2. they are the xms2.

i have watercooling and it would be a major pita for me to change mobo, processor, psu on my 1st comp (450), etc. plus i have my wires all zip tied and loomed through the back casing .

i should be able to run unreal tourny 3 just fine the 2gb ram would help alot but for future crysis and hellgate london, no change. direct x10 i believe is a must with those...

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by FirstClass

He's right, you're wrong. Anything over 2 gigs is essentially useless unless you're doing very specific things. (Which don't include gaming and light PS use)

That's 2 GB per application. If you have a lot of processes running, you'll definitely use whatever amount of memory you have available - be it 2GB or 4GB.

[FirstClass]

Originally Posted by MadDog

That's 2 GB per application. If you have a lot of processes running, you'll definitely use whatever amount of memory you have available - be it 2GB or 4GB.

I'll give you that, but most people don't render high end graphics on one monitor and play BioShock on the other, with Firefox w/50 tabs running on a third monitor, hence my "very limited use" disclaimer.

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by FirstClass

I'll give you that, but most people don't render high end graphics on one monitor and play BioShock on the other, with Firefox w/50 tabs running on a third monitor, hence my "very limited use" disclaimer.

Agreed.