Pump it up

Sooooo, finally got my job at Maplins Electronics and can afford to upgrade my computer (finally) and can also use staff discount.

So, my 2GB of RAM is really not holding up well with Arma II and running FSX has just gone over the hill and far away, so I was seeing if you guys could recommend me which of my choices is best.

I have 2 slots available for RAM and I'm on DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400.

Overclockers UK: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) - £75 - Would probably only use 1 stick for now as Windows Vista x32 only recognizes 4GB.
or
Maplins: Vitesta 2GB (1x2GB) - £50 - Web only, no staff discount 
or
Maplins: 512MB memory module (1x512mb) - £20 - Staff discount of about £5, could buy 2 to make 1GB.

or

4GB Vitesta (2x2GB) - £99 - Staff discount of £19 

Hopefully later on I'll be upgrading my Graphics card to something with 1GB dedicated memory but I'll wait until the newer Nvidia cards get cheaper.

Thanks, Fozzer!
Been there for 2 weeks and not a single computer part related question has come my way. 

It's always Audio or Aerials which I have no clue about making me look bad, wheres some flight sim enthusiasts when you need them? 

Thanks, NNNG, yeah I'll get those ones and just use the two sticks instead of using my original 2 x 1GBs and wasting a slot.

Shame these have jumped in price, they used to be about £50. 

Crussell wrote on Jul 8^th, 2010 at 7:11pm:


I haven't tested this but my understanding is generally Nvidia outperforms ATi in FSX. However that didn't stop me from purchasing a Radeon 5770 1gb because it runs other applications extremely well (Dirt 2 maxed out 1920*1080, Bad Company 2 maxed out 1920*1080). However the transition from 8800GT 512mb (slightly faster than 9600GT) to 5770 in FSX was not huge. Since my processor is well over twice as fast as yours, I seriously doubt going from 9600GT to 5770 (or 4870) will make much of a difference on your system because FSX is CPU limited.

Pretty much the only graphics cards that I look into are those which are upper midrange and higher so the only cards I can really recommend are the Radeon 4870 which is often really cheap at the moment (uses lots of power, check if your power supply can run it), the Radeon 5770 (as fast as 4870 but uses much less power, is direct x 11, but more expensive), GTS 250 (slower than 4870, but cheaper), Radeib 5750 (same as GTS 250) and GTX 260 (same speed as 4870 / 5770). All should be huge steps up from the 9600GT in most applications but again, I doubt it would make a huge difference in FSX. In my opinion get GTX 260 as it's Nvidia followed by 5770 / 4870 then GTS 250 / 5750, but of course that all depends on availability and price. Radeon 5850 is great but I think that's overkill for your processor.

IMO the biggest upgrade you can make for fsx is a significantly faster processor, then think about getting a new Nvidia card when those come out (the GTX 460 and its variants), which are anticipated to be the next 8800GT (really good card in its heyday). If you want to upgrade for other games then a new videocard is a good idea, like the ones I mentioned above, but in many applications going to need a faster processor to take full advantage of it. Bad Company 2, for example, LOVES quad cores. If your motherboard is AM2+ then you can probably take advantage of a cheap quad core, or a fast dual.

Also DDR2 is expensive because it's being phased out. Sometimes old technologies up in price.... I wanted more RAM a while ago so I just bought it second hand for less than half price.... 2 gigabytes of high-end DDR2-800 for 28 pounds which I just added to what was then my current RAM so now I have total of 4gb...

basically: new processor mainly for fsx, new videocard mainly for everything else.

Quote:

You don't have to format, you only need to reinstall drivers. I think on some older operating systems (Windows XP) it can be a good idea, however. All you need to do is remove the drivers, run driver sweeper, then add new card and install new drivers. Doesn't take too long. I've done it a few times this week when I had to test my old 8800GT to make sure it is still working before I sell it.

A new system would be nice. Or you could try a new videocard and then decide?

I went from 2gb to 4gb and honestly I didn't notice much of a difference.

replacing processor isn't risky, it's pretty easy. Just make you research on how to do it, on another forum someone killed their processor because they inserted it incorrectly. And by incorrectly I mean jamming it in sideways which bent all the contacts.




Strange power supply. How many 6 pin PCI-E connectors does it have?

try asking alienware?

http://www.techaddicts.net/reviews/tpower750/tp750w_2pcie.jpg

tell the seller it was DOA and request your money back.

Yeah, I checked before buying by using that Crucial Scanner and I liked the yellow look of the Ballistix. 

I've contacted Crucial and apparently, by a stroke of good luck, these modules have lifetime warranty no matter how they are bought so hopefully I can get a repair or replacement. 

Will be more cautious in the future, luckily the seller was really helpful and gave me several tips to try and get it to work. We tried swapping slots over and over, motherboard BIOS updates and even blowing on them, but to no avail.

Thanks for the help everyone, hope this ends up with a replacement or partial refund.