Want to tweak my setup for gaming

[djohn3853]

OK friends, I still refer to it as my "new" computer, but I started buy the components 18

months ago and built it a year ago. The reason I built was because I bought a game and it

wouldn't play. I've forgotten if it was Far Cry 2 or maybe Crysis. Anyway I got mad and

said thats it, I'm building a new one. The most demanding thing I do is gaming. I play MW2

a lot, but not much else. I recently got Bad company 2 but have only just begun the single

player mode. Other than that, just general web surfing In MW2, basically I stink. Now

there could be a lot of reasons for that. One, i'm 58 yrs old, so maybe I can't keep up with

the yoots. Maybe its my setup. I have a cable internet connection. Anyway, maybe I could

get a little edge with some tweaks or upgrades. With that in mind, what could I do to bring

my system up a little. My philosophy on computer building is that I never buy the latest &

greatest. I'm too cheap, so please don't suggest I buy xyz vid card for $500. You can tell

by what I bought 12-18 months ago. I probably spent $1100.00 on that build. I'd love some

suggestions. I'm willing to spend a little, obviously. Maybe $300 tops. I haven't oc'd

although I had planned on it. I recently dl'd Easytune. I do oc my older computer so I'm a

little familiar with it.

E8400 cpu
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Radeon HD4870
4G Gskill DDR2-1000 PC2-8000
Acer 23", H233H
Vista 64 bit
Corsair 650TX
Xigmatek cooler

 

[mfenn]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen someone double-space their OP before. :awe:

Anyway, what you have now is pretty good. I don't think you're going to improve performance much for $300. The most I could see you doing would be buying a GTX 460 or 5850. For BC2, you might consider getting a DDR2 AMD motherboard and a Phenom II X4 955, but that's about it.

 

[djohn3853]

I just cut and pasted from Notepad, its not doublespaced there. Not sure why it came out that way.

 

[DaveSimmons]

That's what I use for gaming (E8400 / 4870 / 4 GB RAM) and it's been fine for all of the games I've thrown at it.

I suspect what you need in terms of tweaks are mouse sensitivity, graphics settings (some people change them to make other players stand out more), and practice. Try going to some MW2 forums and looking for tutorial and tips threads.

You may also find that you just can't keep up with 14 year olds who can practice 6 hours a day.

 

[james1701]

The most I would do is add a second 4870, that can be found somewhat cheap now.

The only thing that is going to help is trigger time. That will solve all other deficiencies, and every game is different.

 

[MisterDonut]

You likely don't need an upgrade, but you can find a Phenom II 955 combo with mobo @ Fry's for about $170, and then pick up a used or find a good deal on the 5770 for about $140. Your current setup should be fine though. Maybe a bump up in the GPU a little further down the road.