I need help on upgrade

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 05:31 AM

I got

Pentium4 3.0Ghz
FX 5700 128Mb
512Mb RAM DDR

i was planning to change the graphic card and the RAM
i do have to change the motherboard too
but it seems i have to change the processor too
So in fact almost an totally new computer!!

i was thinking of the Geforce 7950 256 or 512Mb and putting the adequate RAM (1Gb)
For the motherboard ABIT AB9 Pro

So what do you think ?

And for the processor i am totally lost, specially from what i read in the MTW2 discussion about single or dual processor ?

**BeastG33** · October 12, 2006, 05:45 AM

You will definitley need at least one gig of ram. Make sure your current mobo supports the 7950, as I think it's only available in PCI-E express unless I'm wrong. Your processor, while not high end, should do fine for M2TW.

I'll try to help more later but hopefully that gets you started. Check your mobo and see what type of GFX you can use.

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 06:39 AM

Yes you are right 7950 is for PCIE.
That is why i have to change the motherboard.
That new motherboard is OK for the 7950

I was not planning on changing the processor(at least not yet) but i asked in a shop (i'm not in computer) and the guy told me that my processor will not fit with the new motherboards that goes with the 7950 (socket problem if i understood right ? )
But on the other hand is a shop guy(salesman) and i am not a computer guy so i would trust you more here.
Is it right what he said ?

**mac89** · October 12, 2006, 06:50 AM

Buy a 7900 GTO, cheaper and better.

**Spart** · October 12, 2006, 06:51 AM

I think 7950 is a bit too much? Afterall, players who are ready to invest that much to graphics card will propably want a DX10-card when they're available.. I would just buy gf 7600-7900, those will run games very well for now. And upgrade then to DX10... Just my opinion.

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 06:57 AM

i was thinking 1st of the 7900 but as the price are almost the same here (20 euros difference)
i don't know...

and what about that processor thing ?

**Spart** · October 12, 2006, 07:12 AM

Well, in here 7900GT is ~250€ and 7950gx2 ~450€. Have you checked various stores? And processor... This is problematic, because there has been problems with dual cores in M2TW demo. Can't say about the final version.. Otherwise I would recommed Athlon 64 X2 4000-4600+ or Intel C2D E6300-6600. But maybe you should wait till the release and see if it really works fine with dual core. In other games dual cores do the job.

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 07:30 AM

yes almost same here , i was unclear in my previous post, i was talking of 7900GT and 7950GT

and what about what the guy told me, do i have to change the processor ?

I've seen there is intel core 2 duo and pentium4 dual core and intel duo core, what is the difference?
i'm totally lost

Is there problem with all the double processors ?

**Arakorn** · October 12, 2006, 07:38 AM

Yes, you have to change your processor unless you find a MoBo that supports PCI-e and your old Processor socket (Download a program called CPU-Z, it should give you most stats you need, such as what kind of RAM you have, what mobo and socket etc).

Don't buy AMD, unless you're a fanboy or anti Intel, Intel's new Core 2 Duo is much better. Unless you're only gaming, in which case you probably won't need Dual Core (but it's always nice). The E6400 is just as good as AMD's best, the FX-62, and it's like 2 to 3 times cheaper!

It all depends on your budget...

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 07:51 AM

Thanks a lot, so that socket thing is right !!

so i need a new processor.
i will check with that CPU-Z

I'm used to intel, but as i said the talking about the duo processor and MTW2 got me confuse about what to choose.
and yes it is mostly for gaming.

**Spart** · October 12, 2006, 08:53 AM

I quess it all depends on your budget now. Core 2 Duo if possible. And don't buy too expensive graphics card, DX10 is coming, and as a gamer, you'll propably want that. =)

**Shaun** · October 12, 2006, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Spartacus(FIN)

I quess it all depends on your budget now. Core 2 Duo if possible. And don't buy too expensive graphics card, DX10 is coming, and as a gamer, you'll propably want that. =)

Actually, its not as simple as that.
Vista is £180, the price of a 7950GT 256mb, or £30 less than an E6600, or the price of 2GB DDR2800 RAM. Not very many games support DX10 in the near future, and the only game being DX10 exclusive is Halo 2, out for XBOX by the way, nd dont expect publishers to take interest in DX10 for at least a year to come. Valves PC survey showed that most of us still use crappy systems, and the was FPS gamers they need a better system than us RTW gamers, so publishers wont want to alienate most of the market. Get DX9 for now, at least it works.

Pentium4 3.0Ghz
FX 5700 128Mb
512Mb RAM DDR

Right then, looks like everything will need to be replaced, well you might manage to salvage the CPU. Firstly, what DDR or RAM ( either DDR or the newer and faster DDR2) does your mobo support? And secondly what graphics interface (PCIe or AGP) is your mobo?
If your mobo supports PCIe and DDR2 RAM then you are laughing, 2GB of DDR2666 RAM and an X1900XT will be great, and within £400.

So whats your budget, if your mobo does not support DDR2 and PCIe then you will need to upgrade that as well, and most likely your CPU. If you do need a new CPU then look for either an E6600 (£220), an E6300 (£125), an E6400 (£155). Or you might wanna go AMD if your budget is low, the 3800 X2 (X2 means dual core) is £100, and the single core version is only £60!

**Spart** · October 12, 2006, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Shaun

Actually, its not as simple as that.
Vista is £180, the price of a 7950GT 256mb, or £30 less than an E6600, or the price of 2GB DDR2800 RAM. Not very many games support DX10 in the near future, and the only game being DX10 exclusive is Halo 2, out for XBOX by the way, nd dont expect publishers to take interest in DX10 for at least a year to come. Valves PC survey showed that most of us still use crappy systems, and the was FPS gamers they need a better system than us RTW gamers, so publishers wont want to alienate most of the market. Get DX9 for now, at least it works.

Well, if someone really buys Vista for that prize... And I kind of meant that one shouldn't get any crazy 500€ graphics cards, because 7900GT or X1900XT will do fine till the next update (Let's think it's DX10 next year). If he has too much money, then why not, but I think these cutting edge cards are way too expensive.. And I didn't know there's 7950GT, that's new, and maybe more reasonable than GX2.

But a good cpu is a must, Core 2 duo will do for a loooooong time. If you know anything about overclocking, even E6300 beats FX-62 then..

**Arakorn** · October 12, 2006, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by Shaun

Actually, its not as simple as that.
Vista is £180, the price of a 7950GT 256mb, or £30 less than an E6600, or the price of 2GB DDR2800 RAM. Not very many games support DX10 in the near future, and the only game being DX10 exclusive is Halo 2, out for XBOX by the way, nd dont expect publishers to take interest in DX10 for at least a year to come. Valves PC survey showed that most of us still use crappy systems, and the was FPS gamers they need a better system than us RTW gamers, so publishers wont want to alienate most of the market. Get DX9 for now, at least it works.

Well first off, Alan Wake is also being exclusively developed for Vista and 360 (Yep, it's from the FINNISH developers of Max Payne :wink: ).

Originally Posted by Shaun

Right then, looks like everything will need to be replaced, well you might manage to salvage the CPU. Firstly, what DDR or RAM ( either DDR or the newer and faster DDR2) does your mobo support? And secondly what graphics interface (PCIe or AGP) is your mobo?
If your mobo supports PCIe and DDR2 RAM then you are laughing, 2GB of DDR2666 RAM and an X1900XT will be great, and within £400.

So whats your budget, if your mobo does not support DDR2 and PCIe then you will need to upgrade that as well, and most likely your CPU. If you do need a new CPU then look for either an E6600 (£220), an E6300 (£125), an E6400 (£155). Or you might wanna go AMD if your budget is low, the 3800 X2 (X2 means dual core) is £100, and the single core version is only £60!

Secondly, I've outsmarted 'ya! Damn I feel good about myself!

I practically said everything you've already said!
LOL

No offense, just wanted to prank with my limited tech skillz :tooth:

**AlfonsoVIII** · October 12, 2006, 12:11 PM

I do not have core 2 duo as the prices are not to my liking , especially because of the motherboard costs. I would seriously consider buying on the net instead of at the store as you will get cheaper pricing. Now, since I do not know where you live, I cannot recommend a website to buy components from. Now if you do not want to build your computer, we can still use that site to make specs on a computer that fits your budget. So let us know. As far as the single - dual core processing goes, I would advise single core for if you work on one thing on your computer, but if you surf the net, play games, do word processing at the same time, dual core will be more advantagious.

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 12:57 PM

I live in France.
i went to a shop for asking questions, i usually buy at grosbill.com or LDLC.com, the good thing with grosbill is that they have a warehouse close to my place so i can pick it up the same day(no need to wait)
but if you now cheaper you are very welcome (i can learn patience

)

i mainly upgrade right now for MTW2, TW being my favorite game, that's the one i really want to work well.
But from what i read in the "MTW2 discussion" about dual processor and the demo, i am lost.
It seems for some people it work well and for some others not quite well.
And everybody have different view on the question, so for me who is not in the computers it is really ???

**AlfonsoVIII** · October 12, 2006, 02:07 PM

Ok, I will spec you out what I have and see how much that costs and we can go from there. I am going to assume you need everything hardware and no software.

**AlfonsoVIII** · October 12, 2006, 02:08 PM

Well, I went to grossbill.com and got this:

memoire ddr2 CRUCIAL --1-Go---PC5300---677-MHz---CT12864AA667-
139.90 €
(917.68 frs) 139.9 €
(917.68 frs)
processeur AMD DUAL CORE X2-3800 -Socket-AM2-2.0GHz-L2-1Mo-(2*512Ko-)-boite
149.00 €
(977.38 frs) 149 €
(977.38 frs)
carte graphique TWINTECH GeForce 7900 GS OC Version XT Cooper Fan
Jeux pc Ubisoft Ghost Recon 3 Advanced Warfighter

201.892 €
(1324.32 frs) 201.892 €
(1324.32 frs)
carte mere MSI K9N-SLI--PLATINIUM---Socket-AM2---DDR2---NFORCE-570-SLI---Firewire----Pci-Express-
136.90 €
(898.01 frs) 136.9 €
(898.01 frs)

Now all you will need is a hard drive, any cdrom drives and a case with a 550w power supply. I like anything above 550. BTW, I cannot speak a lick of French so I did my best. Although, I wish they had a faster AM2 processor.

**Phoenicia** · October 12, 2006, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by AlfonsoVIII

Well, I went to grossbill.com and got this:

memoire ddr2 CRUCIAL --1-Go---PC5300---677-MHz---CT12864AA667-
139.90 €
(917.68 frs) 139.9 €
(917.68 frs)
processeur AMD DUAL CORE X2-3800 -Socket-AM2-2.0GHz-L2-1Mo-(2*512Ko-)-boite
149.00 €
(977.38 frs) 149 €
(977.38 frs)
carte graphique TWINTECH GeForce 7900 GS OC Version XT Cooper Fan
Jeux pc Ubisoft Ghost Recon 3 Advanced Warfighter

201.892 €
(1324.32 frs) 201.892 €
(1324.32 frs)
carte mere MSI K9N-SLI--PLATINIUM---Socket-AM2---DDR2---NFORCE-570-SLI---Firewire----Pci-Express-
136.90 €
(898.01 frs) 136.9 €
(898.01 frs)

Now all you will need is a hard drive, any cdrom drives and a case with a 550w power supply. I like anything above 550. BTW, I cannot speak a lick of French so I did my best. Although, I wish they had a faster AM2 processor.

WOW ...thanks a lot, that is very kind what you did

but to be honest i'm used to intel and i'd like to stay with an intel processor
i already chose the graphic card and MoBo as stated somewhere in that thread
harddrive, DVD,etc... i already have
Power supply, thanks, i forgot about that, connection are different, so i need a new one

but the point is you advice me to take a dual core, right?

as you can see the talking in the MTW2 discussion about the dual core processor and performance with the game got me really confused
so for MTW2 it will be good ?

**Phoenicia** · October 18, 2006, 02:14 AM

With the new motherboard i'm planning to get, i will have a problem.
I have 2 hardrive that i would like not to change but they are ATA connection.
So i will have only 1 ATA port for hardrive and CD/DVD player.
and it seems all actual motherboard have only 1 ATA connection, i can't find one with more.

Is there a way i can keep them ?
A ATA/SATA "transformer" (sorry i don't know the word), does it exists ?
Or whatever way not to change them ?