I want to upgrade my old computer for my younger brother. He wants to play games on it. The really new ones. This is my configuration. P4 2.4 GHz Prescott 246 MB DDR RAM GeForce FX 5200 128 MB DDR Intel 865 motherboard I'm planning to put in 512 MB DDR400 RAM. What I'd like to know is, will 1 GB RAM make a major difference to the system? Is it worth the extra money? If I'm going to get just a 10 percent performance increase, I don't think it's worth it. Please tell me your comments.
1gig minimum, or 2gig if u can afford it, tho with a FX5200 he aint gonna be doing gaming as its such a piss poor card. The games will be helped with 1gig but overall windows experiance will be better P.s. Welcome for the forums.
I laughed @ piss poor, very true info about the card. As already 1 gig min, with 2 gb you will really notice a big performance in load times etc. If you are on a budget, go for the 1 gig and try to pick up a used 97/98 Pro, 30/35 pounds, sell the 5200, your brother will thank you for it.
The budget is always the problem. I shall get the 1 GB RAM then. 512x2 dual channel then? (atanum141, thanks for the welcome.)
Yes, that would probably be your best bet. The computer (and your brother) will thank you for it. That said, the graphics card will still be a major limiting factor, seeing that it's the low-end card of three generations ago (four shortly, by the sounds of it). And indeed, welcome to Bit-tech!
Would suggest you get a 1GB stick rather than 2x512mb's and then if future funds enable then get another stick.
I wouldn't recommend 2GB for this system... well ultimatly I would recommend it but thats if you have the money. I think 1GB should be enough, and an upgrade of the graphics card would show a big difference... even todays low end cards would be enough to see a BIG difference. Ed
I doubt 2 GB would show performance increase worth the money I'd be spending on it. The card, the processor and the generic hard disk would be highly effective bottlenecks! For some reason, one 512 MB DDR400 module costs $63 (US dollars) in India, where I live. Comments?
I'd go for a newer GFX card before even touching the ram... Gaming on a FX series is laugable... Certainly new games...
Yeah, if you have the money, upgrade to a GeForce6 series card(6600 or above) or a good Radeon X series card(x700, x800, x850). Adding another 512mb of RAM to what you already have, and getting a new video card will increase your performance in games more then moving up to 1GB as your total of RAM.
1GB should be enough but definitely purchase the 1GB stick vs 512mb x2 sticks, it would allow you to add another in the future if and when necessary without having to start over.
Well, I say go for no more than 1 gig. What's the front side bus on that prescott? There are a lot of bottlenecks in that system. For decent gaming, you're going to have to upgrade the vid card as well. Otherwise, you're going to see a very minimal difference with a ram upgrade.
