Making a gaming machine from this...

[Randomman]

Hi all,

Currently have this

http://www.autdirect.co.uk/acatalog/info_BBC2D24.html

And a cheapo 128 meg graphics card.

Basically I want to spend around £250 on RAM and a Graphics card to turn it into a machine to run some heafty games. (Such as Medieval 2: Total War :yum

A) Can it be done
B) What would you recommend?

 

[Stu DemonD]

Buy an 8800GT - if they ever get stock back in

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1008

and 2GB of this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-GL

You running XP?

 

[Randomman]

Yeah XP.

Thats some good priced Ram there, assume it'll slot straight into the set up I currently have?

Comparitively speaking would that run most modern games comfortably?

Cheers

 

[Stu DemonD]

Yes, the 8800GT is the choice card at the moment, and at a decent price.

I want it BUT I will have issues with it at higher resolutions, so looking at other solutions for my new setup, either an 8800GTX or probably a crossfire setup.

I would say get 4GB of RAM, but in XP it won't all be used.

That RAM is great, look at the timings as well 4-4-4-12 low is good

 

[Randomman]

Coolio. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Some benchmarks here, with Medi:Total War 2 included

What monitor you running?

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...8800gt-512mb-superclocked-edition-review.html

That is for the superoverclocked version though.

 

[Randomman]

At the moment its an old flat screen. 19", big enough but its getting on a bit, might be next on the list to upgrade.

 

[Randomman]

One other thing I meant to ask...

Is the processor a good starting point? Intel Duo E6600, seems to get pretty good reviews.

And how about the motherboard, will I be limited by having only 1 Pci-E slot (thus no SLI compatability)

 

[ChrisUK]

No as long as your only buying 1 graphics card your fine . And as said the 8800GT is a good card for the £££. And yes the Intel Pro Duo's are decent enough processors.

 

[dannygp]

I've got a 7600GT and a gig of Ballistix if any1's interested

 

[Randomman]

Theres a lot of 8800GTs on that page... which one?

Edit: Also would like to send Stu a Thanks for some great advice, but the thumbs up isnt availible in the LL or the other subforums.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Well, they won't be in stock for weeks anyway, nVidia have sold out across the world...

How much do you want to spend on it? I reckon EVGA or BFG.

 

[Randomman]

Happy to spend between 150 and 200.

Dont know what you mean by EVGA or BFG

 

[Stu DemonD]

Dont know what you mean by EVGA or BFG

the card manufacturers on the list... you asked which one to get?

 

[Randomman]

Ah right, can see that now, my dumb.

When it says superclocked is there anything else I need to do/buy with regards to cooling, or is that just the name of it?

I'll probably get:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-039-EA&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008

 

[Stu DemonD]

That one is as per the review above.

It is overclocked at factory, so will be running hotter than normal - how much airflow do you have?

 

[Randomman]

Right I now have 2.5 gig of RAM, that should do. I've left the old 512 chip in there, just moved it to the 3rd RAM slot. Thats better than not having it there right?

As for cooling I haven't any as yet as its never done anything hard so far. I could take out the spare panels at the front, the fan is the one in the package I posted a link to earlier, is that gonna be enough?

Cheers

 

[Stu DemonD]

Not sure about leaving the 3rd RAM slot in - do some benchmarks with it IN and OUT - SANDRA is good for that.

I presume you have also made sure that the matched memory are in the correct slots, paired accordingly.

Let me look at cooling - although you are not OCing, are you?

 

[Munkul]

your mobo should support dual channel, if it does, then only keep matching pairs of ram in the correct slots - they are usually colourcoded if they are dual-channel.

BTW try ebuyer for 8800GT's

 

[Randomman]

There are two pairs of slots, one pair of two colours and then a gap and then another pair of 2 colours (same two colours)

They are labelled DDR-2 Slot 1, DDR-2 Slot 2, etc

How should I have it arranged? Using the pair of slots or using the same colour for my 2 1 gig chips?

Edit: Not not OC'ing at the moment, would want to learn a LOT more about it before attempting it