Resist_The_Dawn

Join Date 03/2009

Which should I upgrade first?

My system had 3 gigs of RAM, an nvidia Geforce 9500 GT, and an intel E2200 2.2 GHZ processor (2 CPUs). Now I was gonna buy a better processor as I already upgraded the Graphics once, but It occured to me that in most games, I can turn the details and such all the way up, But if I turn the shadows up too high, it starts to lag, and obviously shadows are the graphics cards thing. So am I wrong here and the processor really is the problem? Or is the Card? and Please reccomend a replacement card if it is the card. Thank you.

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can't you just not have shadows? would save you the extra money that you can then spend on something else

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Graphics Card. Processor is fine, your ram is fine, your graphics card is what is holding you back. Get a nice 9800GTX+ or a GTX260 and Demigod will give you no problems.

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Firstly, shadows are more processor dependant than video card in most games (one of few graphics options that is). Secondly, the E2200 is highly overclockable so if you are willing to do that you can get a LOT more performance out of that (Guaranteed ~3Ghz with modest voltage increase). I would overclock that processor and replace the videocard, a 9500 GT is very dated and you could get a huge upgrade for ~100USD with a radeon 4770.

If you want help with overclocking let me know, its not difficult to do - its something you can learn to do in an hour and it will make a very big difference in performance.

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Ditch the E2200 for an E6600 or better. You can get a great Wolfdale [E8500?] core for a very reasonable price now. There is a difference beyond clock speeds with the low end versus high end core2 chips. I personally have an E6600 and can vouch for a stable [ie: left on for years] 50% overclock on air with a decent heatsink and case. The graphics card also has to go... NV8800 series or better / ATI equivalent. Those two properly configured and tuned will make a whole world of difference.

-Gonzo

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do urself a favor, for ~ 180-200 look into a 4870 1gb and it will last for much longer than a decent 9800gtx+ of which is in the same price range and is much slower. the 512mb 4870 is a lil bit cheaper tho. I have the 1gb 4870 from sapphire paired with a q9550 overclocked to 3.85ghz and the only game i have to turn the settings lower than max is crysis/ crysis warhead.

Please remember this, no matter what gpu or cpu u may end up getting, BE 100% POSITIVE your power supply is able to handle the new hardware. Sad to see people upgrading to newer hardware and ending up frying em cuz they didnt pay attention to one of the most important peices of hardware for a computer.

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Quoting Heinekus,

reply 5

Sad to see people upgrading to newer hardware and ending up frying em cuz they didnt pay attention to one of the most important peices of hardware for a computer.

Ditto. and don't just consider the size of the PSU. but also its age. even if it is plenty large enough, if it is 2 or 3 yrs old I would recommend replacing it.

PSU's lose output ability over time, a nice 750W 60A for example may be nothing more than a junk 525W 40A after 2 or 3 yrs. especially if it is a run of the mill average PSU and not from a high quality manufacturer, or if it is run at close to peak output most of the time.

do yourself a favor and browse around jonnyguru.com find your PSU or at least a couple from the same manufacturer and see what jonny has to say about them. dude knows his shit with PSUs and tests the hell out of them. if you can't find your PSU or others from the same manufacturer with ratings of at least 8 or better ditch it and replace it even if it is only 3 months old. Jonny won't recommend a PSU unless he can rate it 9 or better after extensive testing.

4 things to remember about PSU's

1. IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE WATTS....YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE AMP OUTPUT. the same wattage can be configured to a wide range of AMP output.

2. buy ONLY top quality brands...research at places like JonnyGuru. My personal fav...PCPOWER & COOLING.

3. NEVER FOR ANY REASON, use a PSU that came with a case you bought for a build your own tower. they are ALWAYS the cheapest piece of crap the case manufacturer can get.

4. replace at least every 3 yrs

Heed the warning...the PSU is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT component in the system.

Failure to heed the warning....sooner or later you will lose system components to poor quality and/or aging / under powered PSU's, some poor quality PSUs have even been know to catch fire. usually the video card is the first to go due to being the single most power demanding component, however you can also lose mainboards or CPUs t the same time.

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1. IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE WATTS....YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE AMP OUTPUT. the same wattage can be configured to a wide range of AMP output.

I was under the empression volt*amps=watts; and since we really don't change voltage, more watts = more amps, and not a varying number or "range" of amps. Maybe I am misunderstanding how power supplies are rated? (Most outlets are rated for not much more than 15A, and the breakers their usually attached to are designed to fire at 15A.)

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