Graphic card advice needed here

[J@mes]

I am planning on upgrading/rebuilding my machine to an updated spec could someone please help me out with whats are the best graphic cards that don't cost the earth and will allow me to run medieval II on high and possible play the next totalwar Empire game

Thanks.

[Shaun]

8800GTS, X1950XT/Pro/XTX, 7900GT/GTX ... although I do not advise buying a top end DX9 card any more, so no need to but an XTX or GTX.

What are your current specs, and what do you hope to upgrade to?

[J@mes]

Thank you shaun i have increased your REP

I have another questions what are the best motherboards around i have a KV8 dual core board running my current system what is better? and would be able to tell the different between dual core and quad?

[drak10687]

Well, the difference would depend on what sort of tasks you are going to do on it.

But, either way, I would suggest that you take a look on the first page of the "PC hardware buyer's guide" thread which is stickied in this forum. From there you can decide what parts you want and list them here so that people can tell you if that's a good build, if there is something wrong with it, or if you're wasting your money somewhere.

If you are really lost, then you should add a bit more detail as to what you are planning to use your comp for (besides playing M2TW), what your current system is, and how much money you are willing to spend on parts.

[J@mes]

yet more questions on components

1) Graphics cards what are the shaders 1 and 2 ?
2) Can i buy a graphics card from the U.S and used it with parts i buy in the UK?
3) for gaming DUAL core or QUAD?
4) RAM speeds what is recommanded? i have seen RAM at speeds of 800Mhz! i current have 333Mhz would i noticed the difference? and are the speeds governed by the motherboard?

[Dick]

1) Graphics cards what are the shaders 1 and 2 ?

These are features of the graphics card, any modern one will come with support for both.

2) Can i buy a graphics card from the U.S and used it with parts i buy in the UK?

Yes, as long as the parts are compatible with each other in the first place (e.g. correct graphics card slot).

3) for gaming DUAL core or QUAD?

Go for dual. Dual core support in itself is only starting to be used properly by games at the moment, and quad core support is a way off. Plus the cost of quad core makes it poor bang for the buck.

4) RAM speeds what is recommanded? i have seen RAM at speeds of 800Mhz! i current have 333Mhz would i noticed the difference? and are the speeds governed by the motherboard?

I'd recommend 800mhz, just to be future proof. DDR2 is so cheap nowadays, you may as well go for it, but 667mhz would be fine as well. Your 333mhz RAM is only DDR, and the up-to-date motherboards will come with DDR2 which is not compatible, so your 333mhz stuff would not work in a DDR2 motherboard.

The amount of RAM is more important than the speed, especially if you are not going to overclock. 2GB's minimum is a good place to start for today's games.

[Ummagumma]

yet more questions on components

1) Graphics cards what are the shaders 1 and 2 ?

Shader Model 1 and 2 are both old technologies now. The new Directx 10 cards have support for SM 4.0.

RAM speeds what is recommanded? i have seen RAM at speeds of 800Mhz! i current have 333Mhz would i noticed the difference? and are the speeds governed by the motherboard?

Unfortunately your motherboard uses socket 754 which is now an outdated technology, and you are limited to a memory speed of DDR400 (PC 3200)
Your current memory at 333Mhz has a maximum (theoretical) bandwidth of 2700 Mb/s (Called DDR333 (PC 2700)) There is little point in spending money upgrading to DDR400, as that it also slow in comparison to speeds available. Save your money and eventually invest in a new motherboard, memory and processor.

The DDR2 system allows for memory speeds of up to 1066 (PC2 8500) dependant on cpu and chipset present.

A new Motherboard would also allow you to use PCI-Express graphics. (You currently have AGP 8x, which limits your choices)

Unless it is particularly bad (which I doubt, unless you play the very latest games) I would hold on with any upgrades, save up and invest in a new system. Almost all the technology present in your PC has been updated and improved - any minor upgrades are still limited to a relative cul-de-sac of expansion options.

[VALIS]

Geforce 8800GTX is the only way to go.
It will run games on high for the next year at least.

Some will say its not necessery yet but if you want to future proof your system for quite a while and don't want to upgrade every 6 months go for the8800GTX try and even get a SLI version, if money is no object.

[J@mes]

What does everyone thing of this...

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz

With four cores and high scores, the Intel® Core™2 Professional processor Q6600 is flat out the most extreme desktop processor. It’s specifically built for hardcore enthusiasts who don’t take kindly to compromise. Based on the Core™ Microarchitecture, the Intel® Core™2 Professional Q6600 is a multitasking monster, and the ultimate multimedia engine. The performance? It eats benchmarks for breakfast. This energy efficient version consumes 10W less power than the traditional Q6600 which means it produces less heat and is better suited for overclocking purposes.

- Quad Core Technology
- SLACR Stepping, 95W
- Energy Efficient Edition (Consumes 10W less power, less heat, better overclocking)
- 2.40GHz clock speed
- 8MB L2 Cache
- Intel Speedstep Technology
- EM64T 64-Bit Technology
- Execute Disable Bit
- Cooler running technology, less heat and less noise!
- Supplied with Intel referance heatsink & fan

[Lacirtemis]

It's in what we call the sweet spot right now, in terms of price versus performance, it offers the best performance for the least price.
(Well to be honest the 1333 FSB E6750 does but the Q6600 is the sweet spot for Quad Cores).

As for video cards, the 8800GTX is a good buy, but the 8800GTS sits in the sweet spot, so that comes down to price versus performance for you. The GTS is enough for any game currently out, but the GTX gives a little insurance for the games soon to be released (such as Crysis, etc).

If you are on a budget, then a E6600 core2duo, 8800GTS 320mb, 2GBs DDR2 ram is the way to go, plus a Gigabyte DS3 motherboard.

[J@mes]

would you say that 2.40 is a good dual core clocking speed? with 8mb lv cache?

[spartan_phalanx]

2.4GHz is fine for a dual core speed. Considering you can overclock it a fair bit more makes it even better.

[Dick]

would you say that 2.40 is a good dual core clocking speed? with 8mb lv cache?

The details you posted above are from a quad core, not a dual core.

Dual core = 2 cores.
Quad core = 4 cores.

[J@mes]

sorry i mean quad core

[J@mes]

The Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 is on offer so i think i'm going to buy this porcessor so i will need a 775 motherboard? or an AMD (which i perfer) which supports 1gb Ram per slot any idea of the type i should buy sorry about the questions but I did't want to get ripped off by PC world again.

[spartan_phalanx]

You want a solid motherboard to go with that CPU so I would say the EVGA 680i motherboard. If that's just too much then the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. Both are great overclockers as well.

[J@mes]

Thank you spartan_phalanx that motherboard as some good feed back

I quote
" Pros: It is amazing. I just am speechless. Right now running Intel Core 2 Dou 3.0 overclocked to 3.5 with 8 Gigs Ram and 2x 8800GTXs!!! Amazing
Cons: My Thermaltake Blue Ord 2 doesnt fit. The north bridge is to big. So i had to saw the buttom of the heat sink on the fan off...
"

will this board run two grahics cards? or maybe a one gig grahic card? what about the max ram speed this motherboard can take?

Thanks again

[Dick]

I presume you mean the EVGA board. It's an SLI motherboard, so it will run 2 graphics cards. The max RAM speed is 1200mhz.

If your not overclocking, you could probably get a cheaper board and suffer no performance decrease.