# Recommendations for upgrading PC



## hawk5 (Apr 17, 2009)

Hey, i recently bought the Nvidia Geforce GT240 1GB DDR3 Edition. Now, i'm thinking of upgrading the rest of my computer to keep up with the Total War series  That's pretty much what i want to play on the PC (Empire TW, Napoleon TW, Shogun 2 TW). I'm looking to run these games on max graphics without noticeable lag (well maybe not Shogun 2 but if possible then hell yea). I dont want to spend too much money, max 500 Euros. Or would you recommend to wait a while and buy a brand new desktop/alienware M17x? At the moment, i can run Empire Total War on pretty high graphics. Here are my specs:

Acer Aspire 
AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core processor 4400+ 2,3 Ghz
Geforce GT240 1GB DDR3
4GB Ram DDR2 (i think)
Windows 7 32-bit Home Premium
250W PSU

I want to upgrade:
Processor (something from Intel if possible, is the motherboard a problem? something good from AMD).
PSU (500w? something that will support my upgraded computer).
Motherboard?
RAM (6-8GB? DDR3? something fast).

Remember my cost limit is 500 +/- Euros, and everything has to be compatible with each other. Plz guys help a guy in need.
:4-dontkno


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Motherboard will also need to be upgraded to switch to Intel.

The power supply also needs to be replaced. Read more here: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html

4GB is plenty for most users. However, you will likely need new RAM to match your new motherboard.


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## hawk5 (Apr 17, 2009)

Dogg said:


> Motherboard will also need to be upgraded to switch to Intel.
> 
> The power supply also needs to be replaced. Read more here: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html
> 
> 4GB is plenty for most users. However, you will likely need new RAM to match your new motherboard.


i'm not going to switch to intel then. what would be a good AMD processor? Can't i buy new RAM for my current motherboard? DDR3 or something?


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

What is your current motherboard or the full model name/number of your Acer. We need this info before we could even guess what is compatible.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

If you have DDR2 RAM it is highly unlikely you can use DDR3 RAM.
Post the Model Number of the Acer.


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## hawk5 (Apr 17, 2009)

Tyree said:


> If you have DDR2 RAM it is highly unlikely you can use DDR3 RAM.
> Post the Model Number of the Acer.


Acer Aspire M1201 

Processor:

2,30 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Main circuit board (motherboard):

Board: Acer RS740DVF 
Serial Number: 04VD82801311
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. R03-B0 05/07/2008

I was thinking of buying a 500W CoolerMaster PSU that works with my ACER ASPIRE's DEFAULT PSU. Second, the processor that i was thinking of buying is the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, AM3, 2.8GHz/AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition, AM3, 3.2GHz. Price difference is 30 Euros. Will these processors work on my computer/be compatible? How well would lets say Shogun 2 work? Estimates and recommendations are welcome. Remember this is a package computer, i've only changed the OS and Graphics card.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

> Will (Phenom II X6 1055T, Phenom II X6 1090T) processors work on my computer/be compatible?


Not a chance. Your stock motherboard uses the AMD 740G chipset. That gives you support for Athlon64, Phenom, and Sempron. No Athlon II or Phenom II procs are supported.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

DDR2 only.
CoolerMaster PSU's are not good quality. SeaSonic-XFX-Corsair are top quality.
OEM Mobo/Bios are made for the manfacturer. The CPU may be the correct socket but the Bios may not support it.


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## hawk5 (Apr 17, 2009)

ok, which motherboard would you recommend then? something cheap pls. I've got my Graphics card which uses PCI-E (geforce gt240), 4GB DDR2 667mhz RAM, Phenom II x6 T1055 processor. Something compatible and good


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

The better plan would be to dump the DDR2 memory and look for an AM3 board and new DDR3 memory


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## hawk5 (Apr 17, 2009)

This is what i've been looking at, are all of these parts compatible?

Motherboard:
M4A88T-M, AM3, AMD 880G/SB710, DDR3, mATX, 83 Euros

Processor:
Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition, 3.20GHz, 7MB, AM3, 79 Euros

PSU:
Coolermaster 550W GX, ATX-PSU, 80Plus, 66 Euros (is this compatible with my default Acer Aspire M1201 PSU?)

RAM:
2x2GB, DDR3 1333MHz, CL9, 38 Euros

Total:
266 Euros

Will my 2x HDD's work? I'm not going to change the case. Are all of these parts compatible? I own the Nvidia Geforce GT240 1GB GDDR3.


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