# Is this a good enough upgrade?



## To The Hospital (Feb 15, 2011)

Hi I'm new here :smile:

I'm looking to upgrade my computer to play the Mass Effect trilogy and to play the upcoming Elder Scrolls: 5.

Here are my current specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.20GHz
Clock Speed: 3213 MHz
Physical Memory: 2GB
Display Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 
VRAM (whatever the hell that means): 256 MB

DirectX 9 and Windows XP SP3

I've currently been looking at buying a Sapphire HD5770 1GB GDDR5 for the graphics card upgrade, and get 4GB of ram.

Will this do the job for Mass EFfect gameplay at its best or close to? 

Please feel free to give advice as to what I should do. Only looking to spend under 200 british pounds


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

Can you list the rest of your hardware? Motherboard, Power Suppy, Etc?

Upgrading to a 5770 would certainly be a huge step over the 6600 but your CPU may not be powerful enough for the new video card so you may not see the full benefit.


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## To The Hospital (Feb 15, 2011)

Thank you for the reply! 
See this is where it gets beyond my technical understanding. 

The other specs I can find are:
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS V6.00PG

A friend of mine custom built my PC around 2 years ago. How could I find out the motherboard and CPU type?

Suppose my CPU and motherboard are alright, do my other specs meet the right specs for a modern PC game like mass effect?


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

To find out the rest of your hardware:
HWiNFO32 - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

For the power supply you'll need to open the case and get the specs off the side label.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

there's no way in hell that's going to be good enough. Single core CPUs are a thing of the past. I'm willing to bet that you won't even be able to run the game.

Elder Scrolls 5 is going to require a lot of resources. I used to have a single core 2.6ghz cpu and I tried playing Elder Scrolls 4, but when I started it, it was in super slow motion. I couldn't even get past the first screen.

If you want to play Elder Scrolls 5, you're only option is to get a new computer.


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## To The Hospital (Feb 15, 2011)

tosh9i said:


> there's no way in hell that's going to be good enough. Single core CPUs are a thing of the past. I'm willing to bet that you won't even be able to run the game.
> 
> Elder Scrolls 5 is going to require a lot of resources. I used to have a single core 2.6ghz cpu and I tried playing Elder Scrolls 4, but when I started it, it was in super slow motion. I couldn't even get past the first screen.
> 
> If you want to play Elder Scrolls 5, you're only option is to get a new computer.


Haha no, it's a dual core CPU 3.20 GHz. I may be new to this, but that would be borderline retarded. Did you read carefully?

I'll be opening the case to see the power supply info soon, thanks for all the replies so far :laugh:


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Pentium D's are indeed dual core CPU's, still pretty capable in every thing but gaming though,  try running the game-o-meter here> YouGamers - Games
And see what the System Requirements Lab scan has to say> Systems Requirements Lab, creator of Instant Expert Analysis

Mass Effect 2 is calling for a Core 2 Duo @ 1.8ghz as the minimum, don't confuse the operating speed with how powerful the CPU is, it has an effect but the Core 2 chips push a lot more data per clock cycle then the Pentium/Pentium D's did.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

oops, I guess I missed that.


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## To The Hospital (Feb 15, 2011)

Alright, I just opened up the case and found that the power supply says:

'500W Switching Power Supply' and 'TOTAL OUTPUT: 500W'

ALTHOUGH,
I did a little research on the model (Eagle DR-8500BTX) and apparently it isn't a very good brand. One of the cheapest actually, and is known to have problems. I might buy a better model.

I think ugrading to the HD5770 and 4GB of RAM will be smart. Thanks a bunch to everyone that replied. 

One more thing. I use Windows XP SP3. Would upgrading to Windows 7 really be worth the features of DirectX11?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

You definitely need a PSU upgrade to a good quality 650W minimum. 
7 would be a worthwhile investment for future use.


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