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What should I upgrade?
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Author:  Acritus [ Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:27 pm ]
Post subject:  What should I upgrade?
I got some money burning in my pocket, only $300 so not enough to get anything really great, and I feel I need an upgrade. I can't run Bioshock even with the driver updates and hotfixes so this potential upgrade is definitely out of frustration :D

my question is what will get me the most bang for my buck, heres what I'm running now:

Quote:
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2
System Model: MS-7125
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Card name: RADEON X850 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON X850 XT (0x5D52)
Display Memory: 256.0 MB


Not the most bleeding edge setup, I know :) It's kinda old, 2 years but I can't afford a brand new rig so upgrade is my only option or start buying lotto tix in bulk :wink:
Right now I want to go with a GeForce 8800GTS 320MB but I've been reading recently that everything is now SLI-this and 2GB RAM that. Any recommendations?
Author:  Azzameen85 [ Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
I dunno with the graphics of yours. I my self have a Radeon X1950 Pro with 1 GB. (Atleast that's what most tests that is following some games is saying).

But maybe check out what the BioSchock need of graphics or Memory. Those are the two things I would point my finger at.
Author:  Ravage [ Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:15 am ]
Post subject: 
More RAM will give your computer the most bang for the buck. hell, even a 256 meg vid card will make the game scream with 2 gigs of ram.

I was bored at work today.... so i happened to throw my old AGP 7800 vid card into a really old Dell 360 workstation, put 2 gigs of ram it it, and installed bioshock on it.... just to see how it'd do.... if i didn't have the settings at max the game woulda ran smooth as a baby's butt.... but as it was, it was definately playable.

Thats proof enough you don't need a monster video card to play bioshock... but you could probably do with a decent upgrade with the cash you have left from RAM upgrade.

hella sweet game.
Author:  Acritus [ Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:09 am ]
Post subject: 
from what I read the prob w/ my card was the pixel shader 3.0 issue. The 850XT doesn't have it, so that's why I was thinking that would be the upgrade I needed most if I wanted to play just bioshock.

So whats good RAM these days (price and brand)? Can I just get 1GB of anything and plug it in or do all the sticks need to be the same brand/type?
Author:  Ravage [ Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:24 pm ]
Post subject: 
Corsair is good stuff.... http://www.ncixus.com/products/18582/TW ... 4/CORSAIR/

and top it off with something like this card, will be more than adequate to play the game, and keep you under budget.

http://www.ncixus.com/products/23716/25 ... 1-AR/eVGA/
Author:  Rocklar [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:42 am ]
Post subject: 
I've had a drink or two tonight so I wont' attempt specifics but I will echo Rav's endorsement of Corsair. Good stuff and I'm putting their high-end DDR2 chips in my new machine (no, I'm not going DDR3 - too pricy)
Author:  Acritus [ Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:22 am ]
Post subject: 
cool, thanks guys for the help. From reviews I've read I might just get some Corsair and get a card later, like x-mas or something. But we'll see how much my computer frustrates me :wink:
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