Im trying to remember if its a memory problem.

Taxman · 16 May 2011 at 02:07

Hello there, I am hoping that someone can give me some advice to how I proceed with a small upgrade - and more importantly what the problem is with my PC.

As you can see from my sig, its not exactly a rocket fueled PC - but if im honest its not as imprtant to me as it once was.

Im trying to play Crysis 2 (lol is that the problem?) but for all the beauty of the graphics, everthing grinds to a halt as soon theres any action - infact prior to typing this I just spent an hour in bullet time and I only fired three shots.

So do I need a better GPX card or more RAM?

I seem to remember that the GPX card only has 256MB onboard - and borrows the other 756 from the PC - but I cant find anything to confirm that.

Im also only running on 2GB of OCZ 6400 - potentially less if the GPX card is borrowing almost half.

I have been looking at the Twin Corsair and also the Kingston 8500, tho one is twice the price of the other, why? Also would running 4 GB (ie two pairs) work in the same way? At the price they are I'd only consider buying two pairs of the kingston, so IF the solution is to buy a new card, what would be a good choice?

Many thanks for you time, hopefully ive not left any important information out, but if I have let me know and I'll add it in ASAP.

Oooh heres a linky...http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=817

AshenShugar1873 · 17 May 2011 at 13:05

You have the bare minimum according to the system specs of the game. What resolution and detail settings are you running the game at (wanting to run the game at)?

Overclocking the Q6600 would be an option, may need a new cooler.
The Kingston 8500 would be fine and give you some room if overclocking the Q6600.
The graphics is the main problem, you are going to have to spend a minimum of £100 for something like a HD 4870 (from Crysis 2 recommended hardware), but £150 for something like the HD 6850 would be more like it.

Plec · 17 May 2011 at 13:43

As above - you would benefit from 4Gb of memory, clocking your legendary chip (is it g0?) and a new gfx card to get Crysis ticking over nicely.

I would sell your 2Gb sticks and get the 4GB of Kingston 8500 - running just 2 sticks will make clocking your Q6600 easier.

Then, as already, mentioned i would clock the CPU - 3.6GHz is the ideal balance but anything over 3GHz would be a bonus. You could get a modest clock with your stock cooler but if you want anything substantial you'll need to buy a decent 3rd party cooler - the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is only £20.

Then a new gfx card - i've just noticed you can get a GTX 560 for £145 or if you're on a tighter budget then a GTX 460 at £100 would still do a great job.

For argument sake if you updated to 4Gb, clocked your CPU to above 3GHz and stuck in a new gfx card (within your budget) - for an approx minimum outlay of £170 (if you bought 460 and sold memory) you would have yourself a very respectable spec for almost any game.

Taxman · 18 May 2011 at 13:27

Smashing! Thanks.

If I bought 8GB, considering that then 756 is then used for the current Graphics card, would that work?

Im not opposed to getting the 560, it looks like a decent card for the money, just in my mind I need to think that this will probably be the last upgrade I do for this PC til I overhaul and start from scratch again... probably not for another year.

Plec · 18 May 2011 at 13:43

Taxman said:
Smashing! Thanks.
If I bought 8GB, considering that then 756 is then used for the current Graphics card, would that work?

No, you don't need 8Gb of memory - and at DDR2 prices even if you did most would advise you to consider a new spec altogether.

The 560 was just a suggestion for comparison - Crysis will run quite happily on a 460 or a 5850 for ~£100 combined with the new amount of memory (remember you can always carry the gfx card over to a new build in the future).

Your best bet is installing 4GB (all you need), clocking your present CPU, and updating your gfx card to one that fits your budget. And as already stated - you will then have a very tidy spec for a relatively small outlay.

EDIT: Or consider selling up - the Q6600 has a good 2nd hand value as does DDR2.

A sandybridge setup can be had for approx ~£400 (CPU, memory, MB and gfx) - then offset what you could sell your existing components for - say £100 - £120. Potentially a new system for £280...