# Upgrading My Battlestation need advice.



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

ZohoViewer - Jincks's Battlestation.doc
Right there is a nice little summary of my current setup. (its also attached)
But for those sketchy open opening links or dling files i threw together this:



Jincks's BattleStation



Proccessor:
Intel® Core™ i3-540 Processor (4M Cache, 3.06 Ghz)
Intel® Core

Graphics Card:
Radeon™ HD 4650 1 GB DDR2 (HD-465X-ZDFR) 
Graphic Cards - ATI Radeon HD 4000 - ATI Radeon
Click "compare" at the bottom to view full specs.
MotherBoard:
EVGA P55
Intel P55 Chipset
Supports Intel Socket 1156 Processors
Dual Channel DDR3
133MHz+ QPI
EVGA | Products 
Ram:
DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) 1600MHz PATRIOT PSD34G1600KH 
Patriot Memory 
Operating System:
Windows XP x32 SP3
System requirements for Windows XP operating systems 


What's Changing / Being Added!:
More Ram!: 
Patriot Memory 
Im Adding that to my 4 gigs which will bring me up to 12 gigs of ram.
Upgrading to Windows 7:
Windows 7 system requirements - Microsoft Windows 

Now, I Would just like you to comment / post if you think what im changing is good or bad and why. I also would like to know if you think it will improve my desktop lag.


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

What is primary use of this computer? 

If gaming, another 8 gig of memory will not gain you any performance. Put your money toward a higher end graphics card.


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I think you will see a big difference with Windows 7 vs XP and at least double the ram and I agree your weakest link is the video card.


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

gcavan said:


> What is primary use of this computer?
> 
> If gaming, another 8 gig of memory will not gain you any performance. Put your money toward a higher end graphics card.


Yes its gaming 
Rift
and a few steam games


EDIT:




Rich-M said:


> I think you will see a big difference with Windows 7 vs XP and at least double the ram.


4 gigs wont be enough to efficiently run win7?


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

There are very few applications, and no games which will utilize more than 2-3 GB of memory. You would only need more if you consistently use the computer for heavy audio/video editing.


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

gcavan said:


> There are very few applications, and no games which will utilize more than 2-3 GB of memory. You would only need more if you consistently use the computer for heavy audio/video editing.


My General programs open are: Mumble/Ventrilo, Rift, Chrome, Steam, and VLC media player oh and rainmeter also. And those max out my ram.


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Your 32 bit OS cannot address the full 4 GB you have. Adding memory may give you a small boost, but your graphics card is holding you back the most.


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

> 4 gigs wont be enough to efficiently run win7?


Of course 4 gb is enough, but the question was would you see the difference and that answer is yes.


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

gcavan said:


> Your 32 bit OS cannot address the full 4 GB you have. Adding memory may give you a small boost, but your graphics card is holding you back the most.


Why do you assume he is using 32 bit, I don't see that written anywhere.


----------



## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

4GB is more than sufficient no matter what OS is being used. Put the money into a better GPU to enhance your gaming experience.
Brand & Model of the Mobo & PSU?


----------



## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

Jincks said:


> Operating System:
> Windows XP x32 SP3
> System requirements for Windows XP operating systems


Pretty sure he means x86, which would be the 32bit OS.

Either way, 4 GB of RAM is sufficient, but you're not going to be able to utilize even every bit of RAM you have now (and none of any additional RAM you were to purchase) unless you switch over to a 64bit OS.

GPU is the next upgrade for you, so long as your PSU is capable of supporting it. Please provide the brand / model of your PSU and we'll be able to further advise.


----------



## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

> Pretty sure he means x86, which would be the 32bit OS.


Yes he did but thread is about upgrading to Windows 7:
"Im Adding that to my 4 gigs which will bring me up to 12 gigs of ram.
Upgrading to Windows 7:
Windows 7 system requirements - Microsoft Windows "


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

With the input ive gotten from you guys and people from other forums i am now leaning towards just getting a new gfxcard and maybe a new monitor or instead of a monitor a sound card and a nice sound system. Opinions?

Edit: Yes i am running x32bit i also enabled or disabled something in my bios (i forget what) but it gave me access to another gig of my ram so im good now.


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

Jincks said:


> With the input ive gotten from you guys and people from other forums i am now leaning towards just getting a new gfxcard and maybe a new monitor or instead of a monitor a sound card and a nice sound system. Opinions?
> 
> Edit: Yes i am running x32bit i also enabled or disabled something in my bios (i forget what) but it gave me access to another gig of my ram so im good now.


Edit: I think im going to go with the following: 
Speakers
Sound Card
GFX Card
its a little over budget but i think ill be ok


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

FYI: Your motherboard's integrated audio coupled with its bundled software will probably match or even exceed the features of a discrete sound card. I'ld give it a try first before springing for the discrete card.


----------



## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

Just out of intrest what server do you play RIFT on ?

And yes i agree with whats been said, adding more RAM with gaming you wont see a performance gain atall, more RAM is only usefull if your rendering or doing some heavy editing.

TBH with your current graphics card and the one you selected you wont be seeing much of a difference.

new card vs. current:

650 MHz GPU vs. 600 MHz
288 Processing Cores vs. 320 Processors


And yes take gcavans advise dont go with a sound card when its not needed.


----------



## Super.Bright (Mar 27, 2011)

Your GFX is wats holding you back , you get a new card and youl see a difference in your gaming experience , I wouldnt even bother getting a sound card onboard sound these days is ussually pretty sufficient. An maybe soon consider a new psu if you upgrade your GFX . Also as the other guys said no more than 4GB of RAM is neaded for gaming , But other than those things you have a great rig !


----------



## Dblanchard1278 (Jun 18, 2009)

What psu do you have now in the rig? I would definitly get windows 7 64 bit so you can use all 4 gigs of ram rather than usin only 3 and a half gigs and if you don't have a qaulity psu I would get one to avoid the "Help my pc won't turn on." situation cause of a low qaulity psu being pushed to far and going out and taking something else with it.


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

gcavan said:


> FYI: Your motherboard's integrated audio coupled with its bundled software will probably match or even exceed the features of a discrete sound card. I'ld give it a try first before springing for the discrete card.


Where abouts do i get this bundled software?


A1tecice said:


> Just out of intrest what server do you play RIFT on ?


Briarcliff Guardian Jinxx


Dblanchard1278 said:


> What psu do you have now in the rig? I would definitly get windows 7 64 bit so you can use all 4 gigs of ram rather than usin only 3 and a half gigs and if you don't have a qaulity psu I would get one to avoid the "Help my pc won't turn on." situation cause of a low qaulity psu being pushed to far and going out and taking something else with it.


Windows 7 is out of my budget with getting a new GFX Card cause im also getting a new headset.


Edit: if you guys can find me a nice new GFX card and a nice headset for under 150$ total thats what ill do

Edit: Looked and i cant find the damn audio drivers for that MOBO.


----------



## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

> Where abouts do i get this bundled software?


Check the driver disk which came with your motherboard.


----------



## Jincks (Apr 13, 2011)

gcavan said:


> Check the driver disk which came with your motherboard.


Found it
But...
no disk drive lmao my old disk drive isnt compatible with my mobo.
Edit found the driver online dled it and installed it but nothing changed?


----------

