Time for an upgrade

I've had the same computer for all of my 7 years of CoH. Only thing I've changed was adding a GeForce 7600 Video Card. A friend sent me a 9800 GT and I forgot about it since my computer could only put out 300W. Digging around in the closet & finding it made me realize it's time to get with the program and stop running everything on minimum. I know that my system is probably to old to upgrade certain parts & be ok, so I'm okay with buying a whole new rig & possible upgrading it if that'd be cheaper.

I don't know a whole lot about computers, so I need help with a lot of choices, like a starting point, where to look. Think of me as the new 6th grader that needs his hand held every step of the way, lol.

My budget is anywhere around 500, I can go a little higher, but that's just something in the ballpark I'd like to stay in. I don't need a top end computer that can run everything maxed out with 60 FPS, just something nice. Figured with the video card & 2 sticks of 1GB RAM, that'd at least knock a small chunk off the price. So CoH community, any help at all?

---

The Only Token Black Guy

To get some ideas, you might want to check Father Xmas's guide to picking computer components

His low-end system is a bit more expensive than the budget you mentioned, but there should be a way to finagle something out of it.

---

Keep NCSoft from shutting down City of Heroes : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes

Swan, I, too, have a +7 year old putersaurus that still has an agp card. (Nvidia 7900GS) I put a 550-watt psu and 2 gigs ram also in to handle everything, and I have quite a bit of the ultra mode eyecandy in my game. (Been playing since day 1 also.) Is your 7600 an agp or pci card?

---

�Many things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.�

Thing is, I have a 9800 GT laying around I just can't use it because of the power req. I only have 2 Gigs of RAM, figured I should do something about that as well. My main problem I think is my processor. 1.6 Ghz =/ And how do I find out if it's agp or pci?

---

The Only Token Black Guy

Some pictures that may help:


Google image search FTW!

---

It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.

Mobo: ECS 945GCT-M3
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2140 1.60Ghz
RAM: 2gb
PSU: 300w
Graphics Card: GeForce 7600 GS
Anything I miss?

---

The Only Token Black Guy

Swan, you really do need a more powerful PSU no matter what card you have. And since Nvidia make the 7600GS card in both agp and pci, I still don't know which your card is. If it is a pci, the 9800GT will work with a better PSU. If it's an agp, you could get the 7900GS or a 7950GT card that you'd most likely be really happy with.

---

�Many things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.�

I've tried putting the 9800 GT in my computer, it fit & everything, just wouldn't start up because of my PSU, at least that's what I'm guessing.

---

The Only Token Black Guy

You should use the video card you had lying around and upgrade the power supply to at least 500 watts and the RAM to 4GB and you should have a whole new play experience

---

Keeping it Brutal !!!!!!!!

My motherboard maxes out at 2GB. I think I might just get this, & replace the power supply if I need to, and switch out the Graphics Card. Input?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227339

---

The Only Token Black Guy