Video card for 1280x1024

[T_Yamamoto]

HD content on a non-gpu accelerated computer can be very taxing for your Pentium D processor. Change your viewing habits or upgrade

its not even playing any videos lol

its just loading the tabs. xD

 

[Magic Carpet]

its not even playing any videos lol

its just loading the tabs. xD

wow.. one helluva rocket machine you've got there. Perhaps somebody could trade-in for a lousy Quad or smth ;D

 

[T_Yamamoto]

wow.. one helluva rocket machine you've got there. Perhaps somebody could trade-in for a lousy Quad or smth ;D

smth=smithfield? mine is a smithfield. lol

 

[hectorsm]

1GB is fine, although to get the most out of it he should really be using Opera.

Except his system is probably using integrated graphic which will use a chunck of the system RAM. I am willing to bet that his OS is paging when opening MS Word or maybe even IE.

I suggest adding a AMD 6670 video card for added speed and to free up that RAM. Still 1gb would be cutting it close even with an add on video card.

 

[gmaster456]

Still 1gb would be cutting it close even with an add on video card.

So I'm not crazy for thinking 1gb isn't enough.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Except his system is probably using integrated graphic which will use a chunck of the system RAM. I am willing to bet that his OS is paging when opening MS Word or maybe even IE.

I suggest adding a AMD 6670 video card for added speed and to free up that RAM. Still 1gb would be cutting it close even with an add on video card.

6670 is a good choice. I doubt, his system behaves as badly as he makes it out to be. I have worked with similarly spec'ed computers and they can even be fine with 512mb of RAM. Believe it or not.

Every Windows computer will page to disk, irregardless of system ram amount, unless you disable it.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

im very impatient.

i found out i can make a decent i5 sandy build with 500 dollars

i wont be getting a hdd or win 7 though lol

 

[Magic Carpet]

im very impatient.

i found out i can make a decent i5 sandy build with 500 dollars

i wont be getting a hdd or win 7 though lol

You get the paycheck?

Congrats :biggrin:

 

[Barfo]

i open up like 8 tabs of youtube and my comp crashes.

if you can send me sticks of ddr2 for free, ill be greatful

No.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

You get the paycheck?

Congrats :biggrin:

I have to wait for my grades to get better

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[Magic Carpet]

I have to wait for my grades to get better

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

That won't happen overnight, sadly. Or you can prove us wrong

 

[tynopik]

if you're running stuff like minecraft, you could just try the built-in gpu on your sandy bridge first to see if it's good enough

edit: minecraft on the iGPU

 

[hectorsm]

6670 is a good choice. I doubt, his system behaves as badly as he makes it out to be. I have worked with similarly spec'ed computers and they can even be fine with 512mb of RAM. Believe it or not.

Every Windows computer will page to disk, irregardless of system ram amount, unless you disable it.

I was referering to excesive system paging (virtual memory). With no apps running the Win XP memory usage will be ~700MB. XP will relinquish memory to application when needed but will use more virtual memory. This will lead to larger page memory swaps and sometimes system thrashing. About ayear ago our work PCs were Dell Pentium with 1GB memory. Web browsing was ok but using Word 2003 was a painfull experience due to system thrashing. Adding an extra 1GB to some of the PCs made things a lot better. These systems had Intel chipset graphic.

Depending on what programs or games he run on his PC, he may be ok or may be very lacking on memory.

 

[Magic Carpet]

hectorsm,

Excessive swapping won't happen unless there is memory leak and / or memory hog app. Sure, there are always at least two options:

a) you can either upgrade
b) "fix" your usage

Whichever you prefer more. Choice is yours.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i open word and firefox. it lags so much. it takes a while for it to switch back and forth

 

[hectorsm]

i open word and firefox. it lags so much. it takes a while for it to switch back and forth

Just a thought..check your motherboard drivers. Make sure you have the display drivers install. Plain old VGA would be dog slow.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Just a thought..check your motherboard drivers. Make sure you have the display drivers install. Plain old VGA would be dog slow.

its the cpu and ram, not the display. i open up task manager and that ram is pegged

 

[Magic Carpet]

That's pretty good. Are you running without AV? Because I only have 25 running processes on boot but I'm still well over 200MB. Killing MSE would drop me to 200.

This is one of my boxes.

 

[Magic Carpet]

its the cpu and ram, not the display. i open up task manager and that ram is pegged

Maybe... you're part of somebody's botnet? -

 

[DominionSeraph]

its the cpu and ram, not the display. i open up task manager and that ram is pegged

That's not right. With 1GB you are not going to be able to run 8 youtube tabs, but it should be massive overkill for dozens of normal browser tabs and Word.

Give us a screenshot of your msconfig "startup" tab and Task Manager "processes" tab.

For msconfig, go to Start-->Run, type in msconfig and hit ok.
Task Manager is of course ctrl-alt-delete.

 

[Bman123]

What do you need SB for? A Pentium D should be fine for general computer use and those games. I have a Dimension E521 with an X2 5200+ with a 9600GT and it does me fine.

9600GT/GT240/4670/5670//6570/6670 should all work.

Pentium D is poop plain and simple, I tried to play games with a pentium d and a 8800gt and needless to say it was not a enjoyable experience in any way shape or form. I dont care what video card you get the pentium D is holding you back so bad.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Pentium D is poop plain and simple, I tried to play games with a pentium d and a 8800gt and needless to say it was not a enjoyable experience in any way shape or form. I dont care what video card you get the pentium D is holding you back so bad.

Right now his onboard video is holding him back. For around $35 he can drop in a 9600GT that will compliment his CPU and at least get him to ~30fps in TF2 (CPU bottlenecked). His CPU should be fine for Minecraft.
A 9600GT will also be considerably faster than Sandy Bridge onboard so it won't be a waste when he does upgrade.

 

[kmmatney]

For the new system, wouldn't the onboard SB video be enough for those games? My wife's AMD system can play Oblivion with the IGP at 1440 x 900. It's not great, but playable?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Well do msconfog and stuff when I get home. I'm at school at the moment lol. I'm gonna get a new build soon so it'll be all good. I'll be able to fit a 6770 or something in there

 

[Arachnotronic]

If you're planning on reusing your HDD, then that's a horrible idea for a new build. It'll severely bottleneck whatever faster PC you get. Just get this build:



Athlon II X4 640
ASRock M3A770DE
2x4GB G.Skill Value DDR3-1333
Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU
Thermaltake V3 chasis
Radeon 6670 1GB w/ GDDR5 (NOT DDR3)