I haven't kept up on the lastest computer hardware in awhile and now that I want to upgrade I'm at a loss at where to start. My current system is an athlon sempron 2700+ with 1 gig of ram and a now ancient geforce4 ti4400 agp graphics card. I built this system about 2 years ago but reused the graphics card from the system I built before this one. Do I even bother upgrading anything or should I just start out with new cpu/mobo/ram and video card or can I get away with just a new video card? How much power do these newer systems need? Will my 450 watt power supply be enough? I'm wanting to upgrade to take advantage of the new DX10 games like Crysis that are coming out soon.
2007-03-11 08:58:21 · 4 answers · asked by arctic_scrap 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
You can get technical with me in your responce. I'm very familiar with computers, just out of the loop with all the new stuff out.
2007-03-11 09:03:41 · update #1
Who makes the best video cards right now?
2007-03-11 09:05:25 · update #2
To utilize the new dx 10, your going to need a new mobo, and windows vista.
DX10 requires that you have a compatible graphics card, which is going to be PCI Express......the newest slots available for graphics cards...
As far as how to upgrade, you can go to tiger direct to find some nice mobo and processor combos for pretty cheap.....Then all you need to do is buy a newer graphics card, "one thats DX 10 compatible", windows vista, and slap it into your current box.....450 watts is plenty, unless your using multiple drives, and SLI graphics card, "dual graphics cards".
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=1599&
Good luck on your new build!
Update: I am an nvidia graphics card user, and swear by them, but radeon is making some impressive graphics cards today.....
2007-03-11 09:12:07 · answer #1 · answered by Vincent 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To play DX10 games you will obviously need Windows Vista. Your PC as it now stands might barely run it...certainly not fast enough for games. Might as well purchase a new PC because between buying a DX10 graphics card, new cpu/motherboard, 2 Gigs of RAM and the Vista itself it will certainly be cheaper buying from a vender. The only good news is that your power supply sounds OK...unless you want to run 2 graphics cards in SLI mode.
2007-03-11 16:08:15 · answer #2 · answered by Tom D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your computer should be fine! It is only two years old! I would definitely recommend a new video card with DX10 support and at least one more GB of RAM! 2- 3 GB of ram is good for gaming! Do this and you should be more than fine for Vista Aero and gaming!
2007-03-11 16:15:12 · answer #3 · answered by ron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
since your upgrading for dx10 game. you need to upgrade your CPU and graphic card. And since all the graphic card are going to pci-e and you need a new cpu, you'll need a new motherboard. Since you need new motherboard get it with ddr2 memory slot. And you might need a new power supply with this new rig.
So just built a new computer instead.
2007-03-11 16:13:30 · answer #4 · answered by J C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋