Upgrade recommendations...

Alex53

Alex53

Alex53

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Joined
3 Jun 2003
Posts
1,776
Location
Gibraltar
Ok. I haven't gamed for a while so my PC has been allowed to stay behind.

Now I am really into Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) and I can only run it at all the lowest settings (640x480, etc) and although its playable, its jerky at many points and its a pity for it to look so much uglier than this beautiful game is.

Current System
AMD Athlon 64 3200 (2.2Ghz)
Asus K8VSE Deluxe Motherboard
512MB Corsair XMS3200XLPT
ATI Radeon 9800 XT

I have pretty much lost touch with all the advances, and PCI-Express adds to the complications as I'd like to spend little and this would force me to get a new motherboard.

Any suggestions for an upgrade that would run Oblivion at lets say medium settings without it being jerky and that wouldnt break the bank? The obvious one is to get me some more memory, but should I go for 2gb or will 1gb be fine and the difference better spend on graphics card?

I feel old asking these questions :)
 
Assuming your on SKT939 i would go for something like this:

MY-039-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-039-CS) £114.95 £114.95
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£126.95 £126.95
CP-134-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
£89.95 £89.95

Subtotal £331.85
VAT £58.08
Total £389.93

That should run oblivion very well with high settings.
 
He must have an AGP motherboard if he has a 9800 and will probably need a new PSU.


MB-002-AK Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 (Socket 939 & Upgradable to AM2) AGP & PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-002-AK)
£35.95 £35.95
MY-007-CS Corsair 512MB DDR XMS3200C2PT Platinum CAS2 (MY-007-CS)
£34.95 £34.95
GX-049-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-049-CO)
£124.95 £124.95
CA-007-EN Enermax Noisetaker 485W EG495AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-007-EN)
£49.95 £49.95
Subtotal £245.80
VAT £43.02
Total £288.82
 
Thanks for your recommendations. I was hoping all this would cost less.

With a baby coming, I think i'll just get another 512mb RAM to have 1gb and that should stop the PC from paging when running Oblivion at low settings and get rid of some of the jerky moments.

PC is just not my gaming platform anymore, consoles seem much more reasonable for gaming (while having an 'office PC' for other stuff) and their lifespan is longer compared to any mobo+cpu+ram+graphics combination you buy.
 
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