Need Help Upgrading

Bisna

Bisna

New Member
Ok so my comp is 3 years old and I can't play any of the newer games.

As far as I can see I need 3 things to upgrade; a PSU, video card and RAM.

I've got Compaq Presario SR2177CL Desktop PC an a link to the specs here.

The system can handle 4Gb RAM max so I'll probly go with 2x 2GB kit (1GBx2). I'm trying to go with 550W-600W PSU and to get the best video card I can with at least 1Gb of ram on a tight budget.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get more advice but here are a few: Specs advise PC2-4200 RAM, but crucial.com advised 5300, and I found a testimonial backing this up here.
How do I know if a PSU will fit my tower?
Since my vid card is integrated into the motherboard where will I put the new one and can they work together like when people double up vid cards?

This is the first time I'm upgrading ever, I know very little of what brands are reliable yet cheap, so I'd like to ask the pros. I'm trying to stay under $250 for everything.
 
You have PCI Express x16
I feel you are best to purchase a PCI Express x16 internal card say 512meg
Have a look around for that
 
kimsland said:
You have PCI Express x16
I feel you are best to purchase a PCI Express x16 internal card say 512meg
Have a look around for that
Click to expand...
Memory means nothing as far as how powerful a gpu is.


You may want to think about getting a larger case while you are at it...as you may not be able to fit an ATX power supply unit into that system.

Second, it will still be difficult to "play the newest games" as that is an older single core cpu in that system.
 
Please define "Tight Budget"...How much are you looking to spend?

The problem with these "upgrades to play the latest games" is that once you get into them, you'll soon find out it's a chain reaction. If you have some existing components, maybe think about getting a "Barebones Kit" of some sort. That will at least give you a better case and power supply, and then swap the components. But again, you may run into the simple fact that you'll end up wanting to upgrade beyond what you originally intended.

Something else to keep in mind...you mentioned that you'd want to purchase a video card that has at least a Gig of memory. Just cause a card has more memory than another does not always mean that it will out-perform a lower memory card. There are cards that only have 512, but out perform gigs.
 
bomberboysk said:
Second, it will still be difficult to "play the newest games" as that is an older single core cpu in that system.
Click to expand...

I'm definately a noob when it comes to understanding specs and whatnot...so even though it's listed as a "dual processor", is it running as a single? I have my specs page linked here if you want to take a look.

How much are better processors?

I've been going to "can you run it", to see what I need and out of all the games I checked cod4, L4D, Mirrors edge, Crysis...and others, my cpu is groovy even for most of the recomended specs, definately all the "required"...what it's telling me I need is RAM, and a Video card...of course to get a new video card, I need a better power supply.



Crash_Override said:
Please define "Tight Budget"...How much are you looking to spend?

Something else to keep in mind...you mentioned that you'd want to purchase a video card that has at least a Gig of memory. Just cause a card has more memory than another does not always mean that it will out-perform a lower memory card. There are cards that only have 512, but out perform gigs.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to keep everything under $250

Can you recommend any of these video cards?
 
Ok so the XFX GeForce 9800 GT Video Card I was looking at...will this fit? or since it's DDR3 and the RAM I have is DDR2...is it not going to work?

I loked at the Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply , would this physically fit in my case? would I need a PSU with a rear fan or will it work to flip it upside down so the plug is on the left side as my current one is and the fan to just blow inside the unit?....I'm sure I asking some ridiculus questions...they say there are no stupid questions, but I don't know;)

I'm trying to avoid having to get a new case and swap everything...but how much could I get a decent one for?
 
Last edited:
It will work fine. GPU ram and system ram have nothing to do with each other. except for one thing: if you have a 512mb card, any less than a gig of system mem would bottleneck it.
 
daisymtc said:
RAM - $60 - 70
PSU -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Video Card - 1 GB not needed if you not running high resoulution.
4850 512MB should suit your budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&name=Radeon HD 4850&ActiveSearchResult=True
Click to expand...

So that PSU will physically fit in my case? I'm not sure how to check the dimensions. Other than that it looks great.

For the video card you suggested is it the equivalent of NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or greater, Shader Model 3.0, 512MB memory(that's what I know I need)?? I guess there are different numbers for different manufacturers...I'm so freakin clueless, lol. would ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB be the equilivent of XFX GeForce 9800 GT Video Card - 512MB?? and if so which brand would you recommend?

Now is RAM just RAM besides the dual kits or does brand matter?

I knew I'd have lots of questions and thanks for the input for a tech noob, like I said this is really the first time I'm trying to upgrade. I look to you the tech gurus(heh heh that rhymed ;).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top