[helloimtim]

Hello. I have been messing with computers for about 5 years. By far the most confusing of it all is the video card. My system is about a year old. I have a 2.6 processor with 512 of ram and 7200 80gig hard drive. Buddy of mine has a gig of ram and his seems no faster. Seems like with video cards finding the right information is hard. Everyone seems to only agree to disagree when video cards are involved. The video card I have is Power Color ATI Radeon 9250 With 256mb and 128 bit. Seems to run doom 3 fine. Question is Should I replace it soon? It has a pci interface. I am unable to use agp?? I Think its called agp anyway. To go with agp I would either have to replace the motherboard (My system is about a year old). I'm not real sure agp is that much better. If I can get 3 years out of my card that would be cool. I can just replace my whole system (maybe) I want to jump up my hard drive to a 10000 rpm. Doubling my ram seems to be a waste. Not even sure about the 10000 hard drive making that big of difference. Seen a I believe 1.6?? Processor and 512 ram and its not that much slower than mine. Upgrading my be overrated?? Still getting all the information I can before deciding. I am a average gamer. Dint play on line with others. Sorry this is so darn wordy just wanted to give all the information I can So I can get the best advice. Thank you so much........peace........im out.....running xp home with service pack 1. Jury is still out on service pack 2 in my humble oppinions

.......should I overclock it and is it safe for this card??...Sorry I will shut up now

 

[zokus]

WELCOME TO OC.net!! All your questions are welcome and will be answered ASAP

 

[gibant1]

Well here goes. A gig ram does make a big difference when you play some of the newer games including Doom 3. Your graphics card is the fastest PCI I've seen but it isn't up to the latest games really. While it can bench Doom 3 @ 30fps (800x600) it only averages 14fps. It can handle a lot of games though so unless your going to upgrade the lot you'd better stick with what you've got.

On the 10000rpm drives. while I think they are brilliant they are a luxury with the limited capacity & high price.

 

[zokus]

That video card is kind of old, and if you just bought it recently than you probably won't get 3 yrs out of it. They up game requirements all the time and you may find the need to upgrade. But if it works for you then leave be. AGP is better, and PCI-E is better than that, but you shouldn't have to upgrade your whole system, is quite a few yrs old also. But that depends on what your mobo is. RAM doesn't make your computer faster generally, it allows for more things to run at once, thereby games will run better at higher graphics settings with more RAM ect. 512 is usually lots tho if your not hardcore. it's the RAM speed thats important for things like overclocking. For you I'd say that the 10000RPM HDD is a waste, but thats just IMO. If your fine then don't upgrade, but when you start to encounter problems with your system and games, thats when you want to start upping your RAM and CPU/mobo/video card. Overclocking your card should produce some performance benefits, it's usually worth it. Also remember to get the best/latest drivers for it.

 

[gibant1]

Reading your post again, did you mean Am I unable to use AGP rather than "I am unable to use AGP" as posted?

 

[ShawnMcGrail]

I say upgrade your motherboard. PCI is a horrible graphic interface. AGP is much faster, and when you get an AGP card you'll notice a very large difference in graphic quality, even buying that same card in AGP form. Memory you can do fine with the 512mb, when if you get into programs like autocad, that gig of ram will really help out.

 

[kickassclone]

pci is ancient. agp is going to be ancient and if you are going to upgrade just get a pci-e mobo and graphics card.

Agp will be around for quite sometime but if I was upgrading from your point I wouldn't go agp at all.

The more ram the better your system runs because it has more resources to use but there comes a point,right now, where adding more gives no more performance increase. A gaming rig should have a gig of ram standard.

 

[helloimtim]

Thank you all for your responce. Thats cool. Ok What is a pci mobo?? 2nd Will overclocking mess my card up?? I did hear that game cards were getting ready to make a change. Maybey they were refering to the pci mobo?? As far as overclocking is there a program that would be safe to use on this card?? Will it do it automatically? Sorry about all the questions. Just trying to learn is all. You good people are great!! Id love to wait a couple of years to buy a new computer because I understand ram is getting ready to change to ddr-2?? In my humble oppinion seems like if you are hardcore gammer xbox is the way to go. Gonna get to cashy and change so much just to play pc version. Thank you all so very very much. I really apreciate all the information..peace im out............