Upgrading memory

[POLISH SAUSAGE]

Will upgrading memory from 512mb to 1.5 gigs improve the graphics of my nvidia 5200? would doing this allow me to run the grpahics on a high setting with no lag? or, would getting a 6600gt or g800 gt be better?

[Klown]

Get a 6600gt and upgrade your RAM to 1Gb.

[Phalanx]

this is a joke right, upgrade the graphics card if you want better graphics
It really isn't rocket science

[Cocaine]

Will upgrading memory from 512mb to 1.5 gigs improve the graphics of my nvidia 5200? would doing this allow me to run the grpahics on a high setting with no lag? or, would getting a 6600gt or g800 gt be better?

In short, no.

Firstly, Ram will just smooth things out for you, nothing more. Second, that card is reaching the end of it's cycle, so you should look to get rid of it. Essentially, you should be upgrading to 1GB of ram (as 1.5 won't be noticably different) and saving the rest of your money for a new video card, a 6600GT should be the absolute LOWEST you should go for.

[I Love Fat women]

Upgrade the RAM, it's most likely the bottleneck, depending on what games you're trying to play, and what applications you have running in the background. A good tip is to turn off as many applications as you can before running a game and seeing if it lags less to determine if the RAM is the bottleneck. A new graphics accelerator wouldn't hurt either though.

[Cocaine]

Yeah, I should have mentioned you'll want to close any un-necessary processes. When I game I never have more than 25 running, regardless of the fact my PC can handle more. Also, what processor do you have, just out of curiosity?

[even if they were canadian]

I need to upgrade my ram. I've only got 256 megs, and photoshop is kicking my ***.

[Cocaine]

I need to upgrade my ram. I've only got 256 megs, and photoshop is kicking my ***.

Which version? I've got CS2, and trust me, it get's worse. I've got 1GB of ram and it still sometimes hangs.

[Phalanx]

CS2 works fine for me on 1gig of RAM

[Cocaine]

CS2 works fine for me on 1gig of RAM

Mine too, but when I try to open huge VTF files (textures and whatnot for css) it needs a crapload of ram.

[even if they were canadian]

I've got version 6.0. :(

[Cocaine]

I've got version 6.0. :(

No shame in that, actually. I always liked 6.0. I'd defnitely say upgrade your RAM, not just for Photoshop, but just in general you could use some more.

[ArC]

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a question.

I'm running on a Radeon 9600x 256, with 768 RAM. What would be a good card to upgrade too? I'm running on an Asus motherboard with an AMD 2700 Anthlon processor. It isn't a great set-up, but I can play games like Half Life 2 and Everquest 2 at lower settings. I'd like to upgrade with some christmas money.

[Cocaine]

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a question.

I'm running on a Radeon 9600x 256, with 768 RAM. What would be a good card to upgrade too? I'm running on an Asus motherboard with an AMD 2700 Anthlon processor. It isn't a great set-up, but I can play games like Half Life 2 and Everquest 2 at lower settings. I'd like to upgrade with some christmas money.

Upgrade your video card you mean? Well, since that's most likely AGP, you can always upgrade to a 6600GT, but to be honest that processor seems to be what's holding you back, especially in HL2, which is more CPU dependant than anything. In short, though, the best video cards would be the 6600 or 6800 series.

[even if they were canadian]

No shame in that, actually. I always liked 6.0. I'd defnitely say upgrade your RAM, not just for Photoshop, but just in general you could use some more.
Yeah, I'm definitely going to upgrade at some point. It's pretty much the only thing slowing my computer down, which is amazing, since I got this thing in 2002. Ignoring the fact that I only have 256 mb of it, the memory I have is quite good. It's pc800, which is supposed to be one of the faster types of memory.

[ArC]

Upgrade your video card you mean? Well, since that's most likely AGP, you can always upgrade to a 6600GT, but to be honest that processor seems to be what's holding you back, especially in HL2, which is more CPU dependant than anything. In short, though, the best video cards would be the 6600 or 6800 series.

That's what i've been told. I'll look into upgrading it soon. Everyone I talk too says to go Pentium, but i'm not too excited about changing motherboards. Does AMD have some good processors that I can look into?

[Cocaine]

That's what i've been told. I'll look into upgrading it soon. Everyone I talk too says to go Pentium, but i'm not too excited about changing motherboards. Does AMD have some good processors that I can look into?

Yeah, some great ones, but you would most likely need a new motherboard. Basically, whether you go Pentium or not, you'll want a new motherboard. I can't remember which set that processor is in, meaning which pin connector is, but I woulndt count on being able to upgrade too much. Still, AMD is the way to go if you're going to be gaming (and I use Intel, haha). If you can find out which set/connector your processor uses/is from, I can help you out a little more. You should try the gamespot hardware forums, they'll be a better help.

[ArC]

My motherboard is an Asus a7v8x-x. The specs are here:
(http://www.mbreview.com/a7v8xx.php)

So it limits it too 2.25GHz Anthlon/Duron, so i'd definatly want to upgrade that. I don't know much in the way of motherboards (or really anything).

My processor
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103509)

I says operating frequency of 2.083GHz, but I when I run it at that, I get frequent (really frequent) lock-ups. I put it down to 1.73 and it has been working fine.

I got a decent ammount of money for christmas, so i'm looking to buy a new motherboard and processor. What would you suggest? (I won't buy something based soley on your recommendation, so no pressure.)

[Cocaine]

Alright. The fastest you can go is to a 3200, which is by no means a bad computer, but it's also not the most advanced. Still, dependant on the price, it might be worth it..

ps: nice avatar, Saul owns. I made a thread for him ages ago on my old account.

[ArC]

By 3200, do you mean an AMD Athlon 64 3200+?
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535)

I'd like to try and build a pretty decent gaming computer, not phenominal, but decent. Do you think I should upgrade my motherboard and get a new processor? How is my video card?

p.s. Thanks for all the help so far.

p.p.s. Yeah, I love Saul. Seen Slam?

[Cocaine]

By 3200, do you mean an AMD Athlon 64 3200+?
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535)

I'd like to try and build a pretty decent gaming computer, not phenominal, but decent. Do you think I should upgrade my motherboard and get a new processor? How is my video card?

p.s. Thanks for all the help so far.

p.p.s. Yeah, I love Saul. Seen Slam?

Well, I think if you can play HL2 on low for now, I'd maybe save up and just get a whole new system, bit by bit. The video card is alright, it'll do ok, but for a lot of new games you'll want to upgrade for sure. I mean, right now, you can probably build a decent gaming system for under 1000 easily. I dont know though, I'm not that great with building and configuring systems, I just know the specifications and parts well. It's hard to say really, it's up to what you're willing to spend that will determine what upgrades should be done.

[SurfOrDie16]

On the topic, what does unbuffered, and registered mean, referring to RAM?

[Cocaine]

On the topic, what does unbuffered, and registered mean, referring to RAM?

I copy and pasted this;

The difference between registered memory and unbuffered memory is the additional hardware to increase consistency and predictability of the address and data tranmission paths however it was made.

Registered memory is addressed by the CPUs or the Controllers through an additional set of registers, the registers remained the same input impedances to the CPUs and to the Controllers however the memory was made, be it Single-Sided or Double-Sided, 4 chips or 10 chips or 50 chips construction.

Unbuffered memory have varied input impedance depending upon their construction, Single-Sided and Double-Sided have widely varied input impedance from each other.

When using them properly within their limits, there is no difference between them whatsoever for using the PC (Gaming, multi-tasking, video editing etc). Simply expect that there is additional latency introduced by add-on registers in trade for address and data tranmission path greater consistency and more predictable quality despite their varied constructions.

[SurfOrDie16]

You should put that in quotes then, but what I get from it is that registered has more latency (lag?) than unregistered, but they are the same? ENGLISH PLEASE!

[POLISH SAUSAGE]

alls i have is a dell dimension 4600, so would that be able to run a 256mb 6800GS graphics card?

[Cocaine]

alls i have is a dell dimension 4600, so would that be able to run a 256mb 6800GS graphics card?

ugh, I dont know?