I'm learning, but it's so confusing! I've just bought COD Black Ops without checking my PC was up to scratch. It isn't. So I'm looking for a new graphics card to replace my 7600GT 256mb DDR3 card and my processor needs updating to from Intel Core 2 Duo E6420. I'd like to go beyond the game: Minimum System Requirements: - OS: Windows Vista/XP/7 - Processor: Intel Core2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom X3 8750 or better - Memory: 2GB - HDD: 12GB - Video: Shader 3.0 or better 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT/ATI Radeon X1950Pro or better - Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible - DirectX: 9.0c But don't play games much so can't justify spending much just to play this. So is it worth buying second hand on ebay and having something older but still good enough, or should I buy new so I know what I'm getting? Any suggestions? I was hoping to spend £100 total but may need to revise that if everyone tells me that's what I need to do. The more I try to read and learn the more muddled I'm getting!!!
A second hand graphic card will give the best gaming performance boost at that price. Though you should also list the rest of the system, can your power supply handle a new GFX card, is there enough (4 GB) memory, etc? Also are you willing to overclock that CPU and does the motherboard have the required settings to do so. My personal recommendation however would be to forget about the CoD:BO and play CoD4 instead.
BO should hardly be any more demanding than COD4. OP, what is your native resolution and what power supply do you have?
Your CPU should provide adequate peformance, but your graphics card could do with an update. You may still have to scale down the graphics options a little but it will certainly improve things. Post up your full system specs matey. Will be easier to help then.
TBH I don't have a clue! I'll open the box up tonight and have a look what I can see. Are there any reasons why I shouldn't be willing? I'm just an old fella who likes to play a game now and then. I really don't understand overclocking, all the different memories, PSU's and cooling requirements!
Maybe it would have been better to go with the console version and just buy an Xbox; it's much less hassle and it's guaranteed to run, if that's all you're after, and you only want to play the occassional game on it. PC's just chew up money constantly. However, as it would only cost around £120 to fit a GTX 460 768mb and you already have a fairly decent CPU (or you could purchase a second hand graphics card as you said) I would just go that route. I ran Black Ops with everything maxed out on my GTX 260 and it was near-perfect.
First place to start is to post up the full system spec of your current machine. From there people should be able to give you some more sound advice. CPU-z is a free program that will identify the CPU, the mainboard & chipset + the memory. Posting up what case you have will be helpful, and telling us what Power Supply you have is very important. For the power supply you may have to open the case and look for some labels/model numbers etc. Just make sure you dont go touching everything and you will be fine. Look for any identification on the power supply and post it up here (along with the info you get from CPUz)
The thing is BO is currently having performance issue (poor optimisation)...it is eating CPU power like mad, while hardly looking any better than COD4. Hopefully the new patches will fix the issues. Most dual-core are delivering very poor performance for BO at the moment. Look at the following review: http://www.techspot.com/review/336-cod-black-ops-performance/page8.html A 5970 with that kind of frame rate on an aging dx9 engine is a bloody joke.
I'm aware of the performance issue, however not everyone is experiencing it. For instance i'm not. So i guess i should rephrase my statement to "it's not much more demanding than COD4 as long as it works properly".
My PC is open, the mother board is Asus P5LD2-VM/S Power supply is Delta Electroics GPS-350EB-200 A CPU-z results Processor is Intel Core Do E6420 Mainboard is as above Chipset Intel i945P/PL/G/GZ Graphic interface - PCI-Express Link width X16 Memory DDR2 2048MB Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT My screen res is 1440 x 900 Hope that's everything you need. And thanks again for your advice.
i play black ops on my laptop, which has an intel q9000 processor, nvidia gt 240m, 4gb ram, 2x500gb hd. it runs fine most of the time, just have problems with lag as i'm using my wireless connection, which seems to introduce some lag, some of the time.
It seems that anybody running dual core CPU is having this problem (including me) Look at the second hand market for something like an ATI 4850/4870. If i were you ajay72 i would hold off buying Black ops until you know it's fixed, I wish i had done that. If you want to play a good cod game on pc look at COD4 for now.
Ok good work..... So first of, i do not believe that your PSU would be suitable for overclocking. So its probably best to rule that out. Your CPU (in my humble opinion) is adequate. Not amazing, but it should be good enough. Your graphics card is the most obvious contender for an upgrade. This would provide a decent boost when gaming, however, depending on which card you get, you may find that you 350w power supply is a limiting factor. Im not 100% that it will handle some of the newer cards..... Some of the graphic cards gurus here might be able to help on that one. Upgrading your ram to a 4gb kit would also be beneficial, not massivly, as the recent CPC issue showed, but it would definatley help a little. As others have identied here also, there are some known performance issues with the game you are trying to play (on the PC). So there may be a patch/update that helps to improve that slightly. I do not think this will eliminate it completely for you though.
I don't believe that PSU would be suitable for anything. I know Delta is Antec's OEM now but that doesn't make their own branded units trustworthy.
Specs of PSU from an ebay advery: 300W (peak of 350W) 12V (1) = 10A, 12V(2) = 15A 12V lines can't exceed 290W I'd be wary. If your up to the task, I'd replace it with a good quality 400W one.
It depends how much you want to invest in making your PC suitable for gaming. It would at bare minimum take a new PSU & Graphics card. A nice Corsair CX400 is available for £33, then anything from £80 - £200 on a GPU depending on your budget + requirements. You might prefer to get an xbox... not sure.
That's a bit of an overstatement, the CX400 is discontinued and replaced by the CX430. OP's budget allows for that and a second hand GTX260 or such.
