Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Hi,

I have decided not to sell my PC Tower and would like help as to what upgrade to do, I have around £100 and was thinking about either Ram or Graphic Card.

I am looking to speed the computer up and make games play smoother. As I tried a couple of demos out, both racing games and the steering was like press left or right and it did a sharp left or right as it seemed to freeze, unsure if this was just the demos, however games like Need for Speed: Carbon (Latest) plays fine, quake 4 seems to play fine.

What would you recommend to upgrade

Ram upgrade to 2gb (2x 1gb)

Or

Graphic card upgrade to Nvidia GeForce 7600GS 512MB DDR2 AGP8x

This has to last me till my new Build which will not be till the end of 2007, when I plan to upgrade to dual/quad core.

Regards,
Garry

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

refresh memory on rest of spec please

ok looked at spec upgrade the gfx :) but not a GS buy a GT (edit link was to pci e what a noob i am)

here is a nice GS http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...33&GroupID=331

here is a nicer GT http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=462642

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Hi,

I currently have a Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 - 256mb.

Just curious how would the GT be better as it has 256mb DDR3, and the GS has 512mb DDR2 ?

How better would the GT (256mb DDR3) be over my current GeForce FX5200 (256mb DDR)

Thank you for all your help :D

Regards,
Garry

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

The GT has GPU clocked at 560Mhz (rather than 420 on GS) and memory clocked at 1300Mhz (vs 400Mhz).
Either card will be a HUGE difference over an FX5200
Check out this chart on Toms Hardware the FX5200 is down the bottom. Now compare the top card on that last 6800Ultra with the 7600GT on here.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

I'd go for a graphics rather than RAM upgrade. Assuming you are buying PCIe, if you upgrade the GPU you could potentially reuse that card in any new PC you build in the forseable future. RAM on the other hand would probably not be reusable due to different timings. I'm assuming you do have 1GB RAM at present.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

nothing stopping you using a agp card in a asrock board later with a new intel. rob have you missed all my answers relating to the dual boards ;)

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

I have just upgraded my PC memory from 1Gig PC3200 to 2Gig PC4200 and have only noticed a 9% improvement using 3dmark01. I now wish I had simply upgraded my crap ATI X300 graphics card. I am watching Ebay for something like an ATI X850 at a bargain price.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Nope I have seen them, but although the dual AGP / PCIe boards are good, they will inevitably have some compromise over a dedicated PCIe only board. If nothing else AGP does not have the same pipeline bandwidth potential as PCIe. That has to count for something if you are lookinng at future upgrade potential.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

yes but the boards are cheap so you do not have to throw all your money in a complete build all in one go its a stepping stone and imo a very good one :) as far as bandwidth if your not buying top end your not likely to be that bothered about a cycle here or a cycle there ;)

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

dont start dude

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Calm down now!

It's simple he asked for advice, he also suggested he would be upgrading the whole PC in the future. It is entirely logical therefore to suggest options on GPUs that might provide better reuse upgrade paths.

No one person has a control over the precise topic coverage of a thread. Whilst we do not accept off topic - it is entirely reasonable for any thread on IT components to discuss relationships with other components.

---------- Post added at 14:57 ---------- Previous post was at 14:56 ----------


Bye ;)

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Hi,

Before I decide which one to order, will the GT or GS (AGP) take the same ammount of power as the current Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 - 256mb AGP or will it take more, as I think it currently has a 350 Power Pack, not sure though didn't build this one ?

Thank you all for your help :D

Regards,
Garry

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

well the 7600's ive used have not needed extra power added from the molex

---------- Post added at 15:12 ---------- Previous post was at 15:10 ----------

I did keep to what he wanted. Not everyone is prepared to throw money away like you have ..If I can save someone from making a mistake then I will.If they dont listen and still throw the money away then more fool them... Also read my sig see if I care about your paddy

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Lol @ Zing! :D You bad Bugger!:tu:

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Hi,

I am looking at getting the 7600 GT, but have a question about the DVI socket.

On the GT it has Dual Link DVI-I socket, but the monitor I am getting comes with a DVI-D, will it still all work ok, or will I need a new lead or something ?

Regards,
Garry

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

DVI-D will only transmit digital to digital with no conversion DVI-I are capable of carrying a digital or analogue signal so in theory if the screen is digital and the card can do both(which it can you will get an analogue converter for older screens)then your fine

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Detailed discussion on DVI-D & DVI-I here and here. Short answer is yes, with a DVI-D cable.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Hi,
Thanks for the link, will read them in a bit.

So if I got the GT and connected it with a DVI-D lead to a Sony TFT monitor, would it be better graphics than what I am getting with my CRT (VGA 15 pin) connection on to a GeForce FX5200 (256mb) ?

Thank you for all your help :D

Regards,
Garry

---------- Post added at 15:33 ---------- Previous post was at 15:23 ----------

Can you confirm the Monitor is Digital - This is the monitor - Click for details

I think this is the spec from sony site but no sure, click here for details

Regards,
Garry

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

Yep and it even includes a DVI-D cable.

Re: Upgrade - Ram or Graphic Card ?
 

the fx 5200 is total crap the 7600GT isnt simple as