How outdated is my computer hardware?

Hey Ashtray

Hey guys, I have an old PC that I built in 2005, and it all still works except the video card. What I'm wondering is if I put in a modern PCI express graphics card, if the rest of the specs will still hold up for today's games.

It's a P4 Prescott, 3.0 Ghz Hyperthreading processor, and an Asus P5AD2-E motherboard. I'll be upgrading from 1GB of DDR2 600(? might be 500 something) to 2 or even 4GB depending on how cheap it is.

Is that processor going to be a bottleneck or is it still able to kick some ass in tandem with a great graphics card? Also, what are we up to these days in terms of card specs? Last I saw, the cutting edge was combining two 512MB PCI express cards.

Thanks for the advice, and if there are any INSANE deals going on right now for cards, post a link!

Oh, and do new games run on XP, or is Windows 7 a must?

Red Raevyn

You should be fine. The processor won't be the issue, if there is one. I'd definitely go for 4 GB of ram. Needlessly high-end video cards are getting pretty insane these days (4GB...), but a single quality 512MB-1GB video card will run things.

I think games run on XP, but Windows 7 is fantastic and worthwhile.

tinwhiskers

what are "todays" games. Dual core is really becoming much more of a need than a want. Bad Compay 2 was even making decent use my quad core. If you aren't playing shooters you're in a much better spot.

Remember you need to upgrade to a x64 OS to really make use of your 4 GB of ram and 1GB of VRAM. Also For Direct X 10 you need at least Vista. So Win 7 Home x64 is pretty much your go to.

Syrdon

I actually have a computer that about matches those stats and it runs markedly less well than my machine with a quad core on the same games (I've swapped the graphics card between them, it really is a substantial difference). That said, the upgrade from its original graphics card to a new card gave it a fairly solid new lease on life. It also needs a memory upgrade, but its not worthwhile compared to replacing it in a year. Although, on the ram front, a quick scan indicates you're looking around $70 for 4 gigs, which isn't shabby.

If you're going to keep the computer for a while (several more years), a new machine is likely the better bet. If you're going to keep it for a bit, get a video card you don't mind having in the new one (looks like you have PCI-E support, so you're good there). About $100-150 will get you a pretty good 5000 series card, a bit more should put you into the 6800 set for ATI cards. Not sure on the Nvidia side, but I suspect the same price range is going to be pretty good.

Basically, you can get away with it for a little while longer, but the chip is going to become a big bottle neck for gaming in the next few years. In your place, I would really think about buying a $100 card and doing the ram (figure $200 total) and then replacing the machine the next time anything needs replaced in it (figure another 18-24 months tops).

Hey Ashtray

Cool! Just reading about PCI E, looks like I have x16 version 1 haha, they're up to something like version 3? I guess I will be limited to certain graphics cards by the version of my PCI E port, is that correct?

What is bringing this on is a desire to be able to play Diablo 3 when it comes out. Blizzard games are notoriously easy to run, so I don't imagine I should be worried but I keep seeing these pretty great pre-built PCs for like 600 bucks with modern ports and processors. Makes me wonder if spending 200 bucks on my machine is worth it, or should I spring for a cheap prebuilt PC that maybe isn't top of the line but will run for a while. How upgradable are these out of the box computers, say like this one: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229255&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-83-229-255-_-Product

Thoughts on that? You guys have raised more questions haha.

Hahnsoo1

If you upgrade the RAM to 2 GB and get a new video card, you'll run nearly every current generation game fine at 1024x768. It's when you hit 1900x1200 resolutions that you'll start to chug pretty bad. What monitor/resolution do you plan on playing games?

A lot of games that say "Dual Core" min req do not actually require a Dual Core processor (many times, they don't even take advantage of multiple cores). Unfortunately, this is really dependent on the game engine in question. For example, Fallout New Vegas says that it requires a 2.0 Ghz Dual Core processor, but it will run handily on the same specs as Fallout 3 (which didn't require Dual Core).

Also note that most new video cards now are "dual slot", which means they use one PCI-E slot on the motherboard but are fat enough to take up the space of two of the metal slots in the back. You'll have to make sure that your case, power supply, and your motherboard can accommodate a dual slot card. If not, there are a handful of single slot cards out there that you might be able to use. I learned about this because I have a bizarre motherboard and case configuration that prevents the installation of any dual slot motherboards, but I was able to find a decent single slot nvidia GTS 450, which runs all the bells and whistles on my dual 1280x1024 monitor configuration on most games.

The current state of budget video cards changes on almost a monthly basis. Your best bet is to set a budget and just find a decent card within that budget. I typically head on over to Tom's Hardware here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2964.html

Syrdon

Hey Ashtray wrote: »

Cool! Just reading about PCI E, looks like I have x16 version 1 haha, they're up to something like version 3? I guess I will be limited to certain graphics cards by the version of my PCI E port, is that correct?

PCI E is actually backwards compatible, both card and slot (so a PCI E 2.1 card will work in a 1.0 slot, and a 1.0 card works in a 2.0 slot, and so on). So good news there.

What is bringing this on is a desire to be able to play Diablo 3 when it comes out. Blizzard games are notoriously easy to run, so I don't imagine I should be worried but I keep seeing these pretty great pre-built PCs for like 600 bucks with modern ports and processors. Makes me wonder if spending 200 bucks on my machine is worth it, or should I spring for a cheap prebuilt PC that maybe isn't top of the line but will run for a while. How upgradable are these out of the box computers, say like this one: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229255&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-83-229-255-_-Product

Thoughts on that? You guys have raised more questions haha.

I would bet on something like diablo 3 needing a beefier processor than the P4, but there's not guarantee there. As far as the machine you linked goes ... its not bad (its impressively cheap right now), but I think you can build your own and get more for what you pay. That said, apparently $400 buys you a non-shabby machine these days?! Your best bet for advice on building a computer is the computer build thread over in G&T.

edit: url and quote are different tags...

Turkey

Since you want the new rig primarily for Diablo 3, it might be best to just save up and buy a new computer.

Gaslight

Turkey wrote: »

Since you want the new rig primarily for Diablo 3, it might be best to just save up and buy a new computer.

I will second this. By now you've well gotten your money's worth out of a system built in 2005. Saving for a little while and building a new system is a much better investment than trying to wring a little more life out of a rig that originally had a P4.

Elimination

That processor will be a serious bottleneck in any higher end game, no matter what video card you have in there.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Figure out a budget, and what parts may be re-usable (case, HDD etc), then swing by the computer build thread in Moe's Technology Tavern and ask the guys in there. Alecthar in particular is some sort of system building robot...

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

You may need to worry about PSU as well. Power reqs for cards have gone up a lot in the last five or six years.

I personally think that if your current machine is 4-5 years old, you're much better off to just buy a contemporary cheap system than to try and bootstrap your current one into playing modern games. Even if the processor isn't a bottleneck right now, it'll rapidly become one.

TychoCelchuuu

DDR2 RAM prices are going to be a little painful since nobody uses DDR2 anymore. You'll want to think about whether it's worth throwing the RAM money down the hole, or putting it towards a new upgrade. I can't say with 100% certainty that your CPU won't cut it, but you're a few generations behind and for some games, actually having two cores is starting to make a difference. I don't think Hypethreading is enough to make up for the fact that you're running just one core.

Donovan Puppyfucker

I upgraded my old computer from 1GB of DDR2 to 4 gigs for about $65 last year. Prices have nearly doubled since then.

Consider then, that 8GB of DDR3 costs $60 at the moment...

Hey Ashtray

Cool everyone! Really helpful advice. It's way more exciting to build another computer anyway, once I have some ample cash I'll just save the harddrives and case from my old computer, maybe PSU if it's still enough juice for modern stuff, and build a not quite cutting edge computer for super cheap.