What do I need to make my games run better?

Question

I want to upgrade my computer so that it can play the latest games without being really slow. (Such as sims 2 and black and white 2)

The problem is, I'm useless with computers and I don't know what I need. Do I need a new graphics card or more RAM?

I currently have an AMD athlon xp2400+ 2.0Ghz and 512Mb RAM

I have a GeForce FX 5200 (128Mb) graphics card.

What do I need to upgrade so I can play these games?

Answer 1

used to have an FX5200 card, that will be AGP i presume.
bigger cards can be bought for AGP but there was a point where the voltage was changed so this would need to be checked.
PCI cards are also still around and cheaper but slower.
your pc is basically getting to the point where newer games will struggle even on low res settings.
for example, i am currently running an AMD 64 3,2 with 1 gig ram and 2X 6600 128 meg PCI-E cards in SLI combo and i am pretty clost to needing to upgrade, luckily i am not a total games freak so i can get away with it for longer.
to be honest, i would recommend a total upgrade.
your old tower will most likely have something like a 250-300 watt power supply, for newer systems you really need to look at nothing smaller than 450 watt.
apart from this, the extra memory would help, find out which motherboard you have, it might take a bigger cpu and that would be cheaper than a newer one.
lower the res of your games, they wont look as good but should play at a better speed.
also games normally have options for 'extras' like more sky detail, longer draw distance, etc to make it look better, disable these in the options.

Answer 2

The Sims game usually needs a graphics card with 64Mb on board memory so you're well in your processor is also well in you need 1.5Ghz as for main memory you can never have enough get another 512Mb fitted that'll improve the performance of you computer

Answer 3

i would advise more RAM and a better graphics card.

first choice definitely RAM, it's a little less expensive
crucial.com is the best to look for RAM and graphics cards, it can scan your computer and all to tell you exactly what you need and the prices are good

a better processor would never hurt, but that would be expensive, however if you happen to come across one....

Answer 4

When my PC started to run slow, my son put in a good graphics card, a good sound card, and more memory, i think he said that it was the memory that i needed more than anything to get the games running better, as i had used up all my memory.
Also you might need to defragment your PC as it can cause it to run slower.

Answer 5

FX5200 is not very fast. See the following. You will need to know whether replacement is for an AGP socket or the later PCI-E. If you buy one of the higher end cards your PC might need a new power supply and additional cooling fans.

http://www.digital-daily.com/video/vga-roundup/
http://www.digital-daily.com/video/vgapcie_roundup_q306/

Answer 6

Using registry cleaner can fix your computer and then make your computer fast enough to play those games,Why?the reason is that there are some regsitry errors in your computer to cause "computer slow".
Everytime you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the computer registry.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make it fast.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically.It even can speed up your computer by 300% or more!
There are some comparisons and reviews of TOP 5 registry cleaners.

http://www.registry-Cleaners.info

You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 7

a better graphic card and a bigger ram upto 1 gb.

Answer 8

you need a good graphics card, a good sound card, and more memory a lot more memory

Answer 9

you need to clean the CD