RAM and Graphics Card Question?

Question

First off I'll give you the computer specs

emachines W3502
3.20 gigahertz Intel Celeron D
Board: Intel Corporation D101GGC AAD54032-300
Video ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series
Memory 512 MB DDR SDRAM

Hope that's enough... All right I have two questions. First I would like to know how much of a performance gain can I get by going to 1G? 2G? I know the computer isn't the best, but buying another isn't really "doable".

Second - I recently saw a dual monitor setup for a computer and would like to do the same for mine. I have done some reading and the only problem I seem to have currently (I think) is that I don't have a secondary port for the extra monitor. If I get a new graphics card for the computer will I be able to run the second monitor? Can the computer handle it? (Sorry I lied...more than two questions) If it will work where can I find one that will work for my computer? I would prefer to buy from a local store so how do I know which one will work? THANKS!

Answer 1

if price is limited your better off doing something like this. for 1 shop online, its much cheaper. i would look at newegg.com, very trusted computer site and very good prices.
you will notice a big performance gain upgrading your ram. 1gb will be good with xp, 2 is even better if you can find a good price.
get a better processor/motherboard, celerons are garbage. since you have a low budget go with amd, you can get a very cheap deal on newegg, just look for a processor that has a combo deal on a motherboard/processor.
get 1-2gb ram, id look for a motherboard that runs ddr2, you would get an even better performance gain.
you can get a graphics card for around $100.

i would look at something like this
this board can run dual monitors without adding a graphics card. it has a normal vga port and a dvi port, you would just need a dvi to vga adaptor to connect 2 normal monitors. it also has ati radeon x1250 built in graphics, which is very good for built in.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131172

1 of these processors will be a very big improvement. they run a lower speed than the celeron, but are dual core and will out perform the celeron very easily.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103774
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103741

if you want to run the built in graphics, go with 2gb ram. heres a good set, 2 1gb sticks, less than $100, and a very good brand
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146118

thats a much better processor/mb and 4x's the ram your running. also, its ddr2, which runs much faster than your current ddr. all for less than $250.
i would run this if thats all you can budget right now, then later you can upgrade to a nice graphics card. if you have extra money to spend i would go with something like this for graphics
depending on how much you have to spend

256mb 8600gt, $100 after $15 main in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085

256mb 8600gts $130 after $20 mail in
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127284

512mb 8600gts $200 after $10 mial in
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130286

329mb 8800gts $250 after $30 mail in.

i myself would save up for a higher end graphics card(and odds are you will need a bigger power supply then too)

Answer 2

There will be a significant gain going to 1GB. Going to 2GB will help even more, but the improvement won't be as dramatic.

For dual monitors, simply get a video card with dual outputs- even a $50 card like a Geforce 7300GT does the trick (some have 1 VGA and one DVI, others dual DVI) It doesn't really matter since you use a $5 adapter if you monitor requires the other connector type.

For most machines with integrated video, the motherboard video connector is automatically disabled whenever the system detects a card in the dedicated video slot (either PCI-E or AGP). So buying a card with 1 video connector wouldn't allow you to to use dual monitors, because your current port won't work any more.

Answer 3

Any machine running windows xp is capable of running a dual monitor configuration.

Some cards (nVidia for example) have special software for doing it which can include mirroring a display or rotating it etc...

But windows xp supports up to 64 monitors assuming you have the video cards..

You need to know what type of expansion slots you have available...

You should be able to buy any PCI video card and plug a second monitor into it and after it is installed (drivers etc)
right click on your desktop then go to properties then the settings tab and your screen should look a little different it should show 2 monitors now and then click on number 2 and extend your desktop onto this monitor you should be able to figure it out from there...


As far as the ram goes upgrading your ram will not make you computer any faster it will just keep it from getting slower while loading things......

Answer 4

There would be a tremendous performance benefit going to 1GB, and a slightly lesser gain going to 2GB but it would be worth it if you work with graphics or play games or do other tasks with large files. RAM is pretty cheap, and this is usually the best investment to bring an older computer up to speed.

The reason extra RAM WILL speed up your computer is because when there is less memory than the OS and programs need, they will use the hard drive to temporary store files (known as virtual memory) and hard drives are WAY slower than RAM chips.

Your computer will handle a new graphics card. You just need to buy the right type of card (PCI Express). Not only will your computer handle it, but you'll see an improvement in performance. The reason is not just because the video card will likely be faster than what is built in, but also because of the fact that the integrated Radeon Xpress graphics you have now will actually rob some of your system's RAM to use as video memory. In other words, your machine is really only getting 384MB of usable RAM!

Go for it, and if you are unsure, pay a technician $50 to install it for you.

Answer 5

Depends on what apps you are using.

If your a gamer, you would probally get a bigger boost by buying av video card.

But you would still need more ram, 500 mb is close to the bare min for windows XP.

Your mother board has a PCI 16 express slot, you you can add a video card and disable your onboard video.

You can buy video cards with dual dvi connectors for two monitors.

I provided a link for a reasonable priced card below.

secomd link is a good card you can buy at walmart, if there are no computer stores near you.

Answer 6

Yuor computer configuration is good but a small problem with your system it is 3.2 Ghz pro. celeron D. will not support all type softwares 3.2 is speed of your system is good but celeron d will not support latest graphics and softwares.