Computer/Video card upgrade help

B

Brolly

New Member
Hi guys I'm looking for some help and suggestions as to what I should upgrade on my computer. I'm wanting to upgrade it mainly for gaming purposes. Age of Conan has just came out which I want to try and with Warhammer coming up I figured nows a good time to upgrade.

Right now I'm using a stock Acer Aspire E360

AMD Athlon 64x2 dual core 3800+
1.5 gig ram DDR (512 upgraded)
ATI Radeon X600 256mb (pci express)

Here is a link to it.
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/acer-aspire-e360-2/4507-3118_7-31749343.html?tag=specs

I know my vid card sucks and I have to upgrade it as well as prob some ram. I'm only really wanting to spend around $100 on a video card but can go up to $150 tops. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If theres anything else you need to know about my comp just ask and I'll be happy to dig up the info. Thanks for the feedback.
 
Last edited:
You'll need to give us the wattage and +12v ampere rating that located on the side sticker of the PSU. It may show multiple +12v rails, list all specs, ignore the other rails (+5v, +3.3v, -12v, etc). Some units go so far as to list the maximum wattage of that rail, include that as well, example given:

TT1200_top_sticker.jpg


As for the video card, $150 can net you a 9600gt, great card for the money. It recommended to ran on a 400w, +12v@26a, and we'll have to ensure that you meet this.
 
I took a look at the PSU and it wasn't as clear cut as your picture. Alot of it was in chinese (probably not a good sign) so I took a quick pic. Looks like 300w?

 
Ok, yeah that's not a keeper. Plus it'll surely effect graphics card options. If you're willing to spend an extra $50, you could purchase a quality unit that'd work splendidly.

http://www.computerforum.com/90117-ceewi1-s-psu-recommendations.html

You could then, to keep the budget balanced, choose to purchase an EVGA 8800gs, instead at only $90 after MIR. It's not as provident an option as the 9600gt or even better, a $130 8800gt, but EVGA has a option called "Step Up". within 90 days of purchasing one of their cards you can trade it back in for full credit (probably minus the MIR) toward any other card of your choosing. It might help to work around your tight budget, So you can step up to a 9600gt or even better a 8800gt/gts 512mb. Or you could keep the 8800gs, it's not a bad card.

Add an extra 512mb of RAM, maybe overclock that proc, and you'd be in a pretty well of situation for any new game (exception of Crysis).
 
Last edited:
Great suggestions, thanks alot for the input. I will probably go with a 50 dollar PSU and one of those vid cards. Quick ram question. I have the 3 stick of 512 right now all DDR I believe. I was thinking of taking 1 stick out and putting two 1 gig sticks in or even just adding a single 1 gig stick. But can I add DDR2 or DDR3 with the regular DDR ram I have in? And can my computer use DDR2 and DDR3 ram? Is there a big difference in ram? Or just cram anything in there?

That and I have no clue how to overclock my CPU. How complicated is it?
 
Last edited:
9600GT + OCZ StealthXStream 500W

RAM: you can only use DDR RAM. No DDR2 / DDR3.
Just check on web, Your Mobo support up to 4 x DDR RAM, but some say each slot up to 512MB, while other say each up to 1 GB. The best way is check your user manual.
If your mobo support 1 GB. You can get 2 x 1GB and leaving 2 x 512Mb, making total of 3GB RAM
 
Last edited:
There you go. ^

Brolly said:
That and I have no clue how to overclock my CPU. How complicated is it?
Click to expand...

Pretty easy once you get used to it, it's not nearly as complicated as you might hear from the uninitiated. If you ever decide to take the plunge, make a thread in the CPU section, one of us would be more than willing to render assistance. =]
 
Hey guys again thanks for the help but I have one last question for you on this topic. As I've been shopping around I've been seeing computers that look much better than mine for so cheap. Should I just get a whole new rig? Or is it really worth it to just upgrade this one? Seems like you can get quad core computers with like 4gig DDR3 memory for dirt cheap. (How much better is the DDR2 DDR3 memory?)

Anyways what would you guys do if you were me. Just put the upgrade money towards a new computer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top