Upgrading My PC for the First Time

Wh1te Out

Wh1te Out

New Member
My current PC is a stock Dell Dimension 4700. I have a GeForce 6600 (256 MB, PCI-E) video card, 1 GB of RAM and the Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor that came with the machine. I am looking to upgrade my video card and max out my RAM before I go on a six-month deployment in late November. Then I got to thinking about possibly upgrading my processor as well. A buddy mentioned some great $100ish deal on a new AMD dual processor (no idea exactly what he's talking about) and it sparked my interest even further.

So, how hard is it (if possible at all) to upgrade my processor and what kind of price am I looking at? The video card is going to run me around $250 so I can't sink an awful lot into the processor.
 
if its a intel cpu and mobo than amd will not work, now your cpu is good will run evey game, you could get a 7900 or 7800 and add 1 gig of ram that would be good for some time
 
Well, the 7900 GT is my targeted card anyway. I just wasn't sure if that alone would speed up my gameplay. I thought maybe the processor needed to be faster for that. And speaking of the video card, am I going to need a secondary cooling source? Because I've never had to do that before and have no idea how.
 
I would advise researching the compatible video cards available from nVIDIA and ATI. I have a Radeon 9600 in my desktop, a GeForce Go 7800 in my laptop, and I think both are great.

Wh1te Out said:
So, how hard is it (if possible at all) to upgrade my processor and what kind of price am I looking at? The video card is going to run me around $250 so I can't sink an awful lot into the processor.
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Just out of curiosity, is there any game or program that runs slowly on your system? Judging from the specs you listed, you have a pretty good system already. The CPU is fast, the amount of RAM is good, and even the video card sounds solid. Hardcore gamers might not appreciate this question, but: Do you really need to upgrade?
 
I am against ati right now because they run too hot, are power hogs, and their linux drivers suck. Last I checked dell used standard memory, but their motherboard, power supplies, and heatsink mounts are all proprietary(proprietary means dont even bother changing it)

make sure you have enough power for the new components or you will have major issues.
 
Talon said:
7900gt would be a waste. Severe CPU bottleneck.
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Id say that his card is fine, a 7600gt would probably be close to the top his cpu will max. more ram is always nice. I have 2gb on my desktop and 1gb on my laptop. more is always nicer, but beware of the 3gb mark in 32bit microsoft OS's.
 
CPU bottleneck will give you half the performance output in the 7900gt. Its a waste of money.
 
Hes probably better of just maxing his ram, replacing the cpu could pose some problems, and a video upgrade maybe. Buy a nice 19" or 20" widescreen lcd(with dvi).

Depending on your job at deployment, video editing could be a fun past time, but the military tends to dislike cameras :(

Id say go to 2gb of ram get a 7600gt if your games are lagging like mad.

I run a 7300 and it managed to handle oblivian fairly well. (my machine runs linux 75% of the time where video cards dont count much). I spent most of my money on the other components.
 
Okay, so I don't need a CPU. Good, because that solves the problem of not knowing what I am doing. But I am going to upgrade my video card. My GeForce 6600 is not GT. It has a ton of memory (256 MB) but that doesn't help speed. I want both, so I'd like to get the max memory card for my system. Someone mentioned a 7600 GT. Would that show me some significant improvement?

As far as Radeon goes, I will never touch one again. Had a horrible experience with one on my wife's computer. I also don't like going back and forth between Nvidia and ATI. Much easier to just keep the same brand and upgrade it.

Tek, I can play most games on mid-high settings. But for example, Titan Quest (my current obsession) runs a little choppy unless I move shadows/reflections/some other things to low. It could also be part of the game's build, yes, but I'm upgrading so that when Neverwinter Nights 2 is released I can easily play fast with all high settings. It's good to know that I don't need a 7900 GT, though. I would've gone broke for nothing.
 
Wh1te Out said:
My current PC is a stock Dell Dimension 4700. I have a GeForce 6600 (256 MB, PCI-E) video card, 1 GB of RAM and the Pentium 4 2.8 GHz processor that came with the machine. I am looking to upgrade my video card and max out my RAM before I go on a six-month deployment in late November. Then I got to thinking about possibly upgrading my processor as well. A buddy mentioned some great $100ish deal on a new AMD dual processor (no idea exactly what he's talking about) and it sparked my interest even further.

So, how hard is it (if possible at all) to upgrade my processor and what kind of price am I looking at? The video card is going to run me around $250 so I can't sink an awful lot into the processor.
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Why would you buy something before you go away?
Why not wait till you come back and the prices are cheaper and also better things will be out by then?

If your going to do anything to it just get 1 more stick of ram for now and then decide what you want when you get back.
 
Wh1te Out said:
Tek, I can play most games on mid-high settings. [...] but I'm upgrading so that when Neverwinter Nights 2 is released I can easily play fast with all high settings.
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Roger that.

I'll likely start researching new hardware as the release date for UT2007 creeps closer.
 
Jeshurun said:
Why would you buy something before you go away?
Why not wait till you come back and the prices are cheaper and also better things will be out by then?

If your going to do anything to it just get 1 more stick of ram for now and then decide what you want when you get back.
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If I had asked whether or not you all thought I should upgrade this would be a good answer, but I wasn't really seeking opinions on that. The decision has been made. ;)

Vibro, I like your idea, and I do enjoy some video editing. I'm not bringing a monitor since the ship's 17" LCD one is the same as I have at home and good enough for me. But I am also getting a second digital camera before cruise, one that I can take with me since my wife uses ours for scrapbooking. Sounds like the 7600 GT may be the direction I go. I appreciate yours and everyone else's input on this.:)
 
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