Yesterday, I chatted with a friend of mine through Skype while playing Sims 3. I wondered how long it takes for him to load a save game. It takes him 3-10 seconds, which is divine since for most people it takes 2-4 minutes - I'm between that range. So he managed to get himself a ~2000$ computer as a DISCOUNT from a private seller. He claims that he has one of the best computers ever, and says that his computer is only SLIGHTLY above gaming preferences average. I told him about how Sims 3 gets some minor delays, so I let him check my specs. He loudly did the *tsk tsk tsk* kind of sounds which got me quite furious. Then he said "I don't mean to insult you, but your computer is horrible" I'm feel ashamed because of that. And 1000-2000 dollars is very expensive - I can't think of how much I need to work to get it (I'm only a teen).
I run Crysis 2 quite decently, Diablo 3 with 30 FPS (less when I get to watery areas, which have strong graphical influence), World of Warcraft with 60 FPS...
Technically, this post is not for seeking upgrading suggestions. It's about the whole concept of upgrading to the max, yet a few months later finding out that your computer is no longer the best. I could have put this post in Loungin', but since computer pros like you guys understand the structures more thoroughly than an easy-minded person who goes for the best specs because it's the "best"...
I hope my concern is clear
Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)
Jul 05, 12 at 11:32am
VeGiTAX2
Depending on the demographic as well there's always the issue of workers in a store trying to upsell you and use in-store credit as a bailout to bypass budget issues. Sadly the focus is on who can churn the most sales instead of who can guide you to the best purchase for your setup.
iceguy2003 has it right though, most older performance cards still beat up on mid-range offerings of the present generation. In this case you probably want to go with something DX11 based still so you don't have to worry about future concerns.
Also, it's not a good idea to ask workers in a computer store for hardware advice in my experience. You may find an educated person willing to give honest advice, but more than likely, you are going to find an uneducated person trying to make a good sale.
^this, so much. i cannot stress it enough.
Jul 05, 12 at 10:32am
Iceguy2003
This guy sounds like maybe a douche, but at the same time, your computer is crap for gaming. You need more RAM and a better GPU and that would probably satisfy you.
Even my super old 8800GTS 320MB will run circles around a GT430. I do not believe you run Crysis at enjoyable frame rates and settings for one minute. I'd say you are getting a lot of stuttering with only 2GB RAM. Then when it is smooth, you are getting crappy frames per second because of the GT430. If you primarily play the Sims 3, then that video card will suffice, but you will still need more RAM to stop freezing/stuttering.
Also, it's not a good idea to ask workers in a computer store for hardware advice in my experience. You may find an educated person willing to give honest advice, but more than likely, you are going to find an uneducated person trying to make a good sale.
Jul 05, 12 at 10:04am
VeGiTAX2
There are actually quite a few Neo users running the 640 for gaming purposes, it's not a horrible cpu and it should be fine to carry you through right now. It's quick and mainly takes the hit from a lack of L3 available (If you have a newer southbridge chipset you could always try to unlock the cpu in the bios).
Your biggest hits come from 3 areas though if your goal is quick loading and higher resolution gaming.
Video - The 430 was never a heavy gaming card, fortunately you can always invest around the corner of new technology and get cards for cheap as everyone flushes inventory. A $199 card might drop as low at 99 for the sake of getting it out the door. Usually this happens just before a new series is launched and it's pretty easy to monitor the waves, you'll get visual improvements and bump those speeds closer to the 60fps range.
Memory - 2GB as noted is enough to run the OS, but once you exceed the allowance you're going into paged file gaming, the problem there is it builds the page file on the same drive you're operating the game off of and bringing excess stress to the drive trying to load and cache the files. As you can imagine this slows things down considerably when it hits.
Hard Drive - If you want loading times as fast as he pulls you can find previous generation SSD's for cheap you don't always need to be on the burning cusp of technology if you just want the general benefits of the hardware. Others may feel differently but you can save quite a bit not going to the absolute latest on the market.
If you work on any of those your experience should start improving significantly, if you do it right you'll drop a fraction of the money on your system and get rewards that deliver fast and quality gaming.
Jul 05, 12 at 9:44am
ashantiqua
"He claims that he has one of the best computers ever, and says that his computer is only SLIGHTLY above gaming preferences average."
one of the best computers ever or only slightly above average? those two are rather different
if you can, please post your friends computer specs... itd be fun to read about 'one of the best computers ever'.
your computer isnt so bad though... well it kinda is.
*your CPU isnt exactly the ideal for gaming, but nonetheless it is good. for the great bulk of current games, if you play at a high enough resolution (1920 x 1080 +), your CPU is fine. if you play closer to 1024 x 768, your CPU might struggle a little at times. good thing about having an AMD CPU - which you have - is that AMD doesnt change socket types a lot; what this means is newer, more powerful AMD CPUs will likely fit and work fine using your current motherboard.
*your amount of RAM is decent too. most of the time you can get away with using only 2GB for gaming, but 4GB is the better option. RAM is cheap, so if you can afford it, do it, but focus on the GPU first
*your current GPU does suck a considerable amount of ass however with regard to gaming performance. if you spent ~$150 - $200 on a new GPU, youd see a dramatic increase in gaming performance.
Jul 05, 12 at 8:32am
hiigaran
hey, dont worry about it
just keep in mind that most people will try to sell you a CPU that is more powerful than you will actually need. as a gamer, focus on getting a better video card before anything else.
Jul 05, 12 at 5:31am
cheatdude
I know you guys know allot about computers, it's just that it's also a store I may buy from which is nearby. I don't live in America, and It's much comfortable for me to speak my primary language. Sorry if I accidentally insulted you guys, I had no purpose for that.
As for the computer parts, I think it's too complicated for me. ><
I'll go this afternoon to the nearby shop to check things out, and reply with what I've found.
Thanks allot!
Jul 05, 12 at 5:15am
hiigaran
quote
Today I'll go to a nearby computer store to consult about my computer specs to know what I really need (it's easier to consult that way than the internet for me).
i dunno, thats one of the reasons for this forum...we are all pretty good at giving you the right information in a short amoutn of time, and if you live in america, i can give you a list of parts, so you dont have to do the thinking.
quote
But there's something else that's bothering me about the complication of the whole upgrading: If I use a better video card for instance, I need a better power supporter to run it, and my motherboard also needs upgrading and etc etc etc. It seems like every part of the computer is dependent on each other. Can you or someone else clear this up for me?
partially true. if you want to upgrade your video card, youll need to take a look at your PSU first...it might be strong enough already. on the side of the PSU is a sticker with a bunch of values. look for the amp rating of your 12 volts. it should usually be labelled 12V, but sometimes there are units with 12V1, 12V2 etc. generally speaking, if you multiply the amp rating by the voltage (12), you will get the maximum power supported, which you can then use to see what video cards you can use. again, generally speaking, you can do a quick calculation of how much power your computer uses by adding the video card and cpu maximum power together, then adding another 100.
so sometimes you will need to upgrade your PSU if you want a new video card. sometimes you dont. if you want to upgrade your CPU, you only have to upgrade your motherboard if the CPU uses a different socket (otherwise it wont fit). same goes for the RAM, but in most cases, thats not the case. hard drives, DVD drives, and video cards can work with any motherboard (before anyone else mentions AGP or IDE, no one buys those anymore).
Jul 05, 12 at 4:57am
cheatdude
Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it! Yeah, his computer does sound like an alienware! xD
I don't mind building a computer. In fact, I like building! Today I'll go to a nearby computer store to consult about my computer specs to know what I really need (it's easier to consult that way than the internet for me).
Also, I still have XP (as can be seen in the picture I uploaded). I'm not concerned about games that will not run on XP in the future. All the games I play still support XP. And Windows 8 is coming so I'll probably wait for it..
But there's something else that's bothering me about the complication of the whole upgrading: If I use a better video card for instance, I need a better power supporter to run it, and my motherboard also needs upgrading and etc etc etc. It seems like every part of the computer is dependent on each other. Can you or someone else clear this up for me?
Thanks!
Jul 05, 12 at 4:40am
hiigaran
trust me, whatever he got for $2000 and a 'discount' can be built for half that price. hes probably bought himself some alienware computer. youll be able to run crysis 2 with ease on a ~1000 dollar budget if you ever want to build a computer (which is easy, mind you). then you will be the one laughing!
honestly, i dont concern myself that much over the constant upgrade thing. buy good parts now, and you wont have to worry about it for another 5 years. if you can overclock, that will help as well.
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