Lets play the weakest link

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fireforge112

n00b
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Sep 24, 2008
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14
Here goes

I have a monitor that runs at 1920x1200 it is a blessing and a curse It looks amazing but puts me in a never ending circle of upgrading.


So find the weakest link my my computer

E6600 c2d one of the crappiest numbers at 3200 full load it goes up to 62c.

GeForce 7950 Gx2 with 512 megs of ram. I am scared to OC it, it already runs so damn hot.

Wester digital 7200 hd sata model number WDC WD1600js http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144415

Lol a vintage sound blaster live! sound card I do not really care about upgrading this I have had it since 98 or 99 still going strong.

As far as memory corsair xms ddr2 2 gigs nothing magical but it does the job
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145566


I think that is all any advice would be awsome thanks for reading my post :)
 
Video card.


RAM would be the cheapest to upgrade (you can get a 4GB set for under $50 now)
HDD next prolly
CPU is fine
 
You forgot to tell us which motherboard you have.

Regardless, the video card is the "weakest link" with the monitor you have.

The next question is: How much are you willing to spend on upgrades?
 
I have it overclocked too 4-4-4-4-12 you think it would make much of a performance difference. What kind would you recomend.
 
One more question: Which games do you (want to) play on your (new) monitor?
 
fireforge112 said:
I have it overclocked too 4-4-4-4-12 you think it would make much of a performance difference. What kind would you recomend.
Click to expand...

Not really. You won't notice the lower latency outside of synthetic benchmarks.

For COD4, TF2, Civ Col, and WoW, even the $185 HD4850 will be enough for 1920x1200 gaming. For Diablo 3 and WAR, those games might require the GTX 260 for 1920x1200 gaming

VisionTek 900241 Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-E Video Card - $185
PNY VCGGTX260XPB GeForce GTX 260 896MB PCI-E Video Card - $250

But what power supply do you have?
 
Let me check but either way the 7950 is a beast and probly uses the same if not more the power I think its a decent brand 650 700 watt. Just checked antec 650 w
 
What do you think of that 4870 at best buy for 250? True power trio. I dont think its the best in the world but when I bought it my old psu blew up and I was desparate.
.
 
The True Power Trio is fine for your needs.

If you can, get the HD4870 at Best Buy that's on sale. IIIRC, I believe that it's the VisionTek brand (that offers a limited lifetime warranty).
 
Videocard and ram easily.

Core 2 Duo around 3ghz blazes through anything.
 
TheLordsServant said:
Definitely more RAM would help, but I see nothing wrong with your current graphics card or CPU.
Click to expand...

The OP is using a 512MB 7950GX2 on a 24 inch monitor with a resolution of 1920x1200. We normally recommend, at a minimum, a card along the level of either a GeForce (G92/512MB) 8800GTS/9800GTX or a Radeon HD4850 for that resolution.

The OP doesn't like his processor (I'm guessing here) because it's running too hot (at load) for his tastes and he feels like it's running slow. (Am I right or wrong here?) However, with the resolution he's playing games at, in most cases, the games are GPU-limited.
 
GeForce 7950 Gx2 with 512 megs of ram for sure. Not to say the card's terrible, but it's the worst in your system. HD is fine 2gb ram is all you need unless you're using vista or doing some serious multitasking. CPU is fine.
 
Video card. We (we meaning the company I work for now and the OEM I worked for before THAT) had many problems, some heat related, some architecture related, as you've noted. There are so many really good, affordable video card solutions out there right now, that would be one of the first things I'd replace on that system.
 
i would have to say that 7950gx2 is definately the weakest link, you can gain some good performance increases by going with a 9800GTX+ or gtx260/ ATI equivalent.
 
Hell, for 300 bucks you can totally redo your computer..

$150-e8400 oc your system to 4ghz and still run pretty cool
$125ar- ultimate 9800gt-- runs faster then some of the 9800gtx+'s and only needs one 6pin http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121266
$70-ish for 4 gigs of ddr2-1000 ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145
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$345 and that system will smoke.. :)

if i was to pick one thing.. well id pic 2 things-- get that ram and get that gpu..200bucks and your set..
 
Just a little update guys. I bought the 3870 fro best buy for 250. I downloaded Crysis last night and it ran on the highest settings without any trouble. I think it was most likely the most bang for my buck.

Btw guys I already have 2 gigs of memory and is there any real point to run 4 gigs on XP anyway?

One last thing I ran 3dmark06 benchmark and I only scored a 13k it was on the lower end of my types of systems. I wonder what could cause that.

Thank you everyone.
 
Please tell me that's a typo and that you meant the 4870. The 8800GT is a better card than the HD3870, and that card struggles with Crysis at that resolution.

You wouldn't see as much of an improvement with 4GB of RAM (assuming you would double the amount of RAM that you already have) as you would by getting a better video card. Few games today benefit from having more than 2GB of RAM available, so you should be alright in that regard.
 
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