I need to upgrade - advice appreciated :)

Hi everyone

I'm a first time Major Geeker and tried looking under the search options, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so hope you can help!

I am an RPer and when NWN2 came out a couple of days ago, I bought it immediately. The minimum sytem requirements however are (I have minimum system requirements for all things except these two so I am only going to talk about those):

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz or AMD Athlon XP 2000 or equivelent (Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 or equivelent or higher)

Video:128 MB Pixel Shader 2.0 (ATI 9700 Pro or nVidia 6600 or better; 256 MB Pixel Shader Model 3.0 (ATI x1600 or nVidia 6800 GT/GS or better.


Currently I have the KM4M-V motherboard, specs are here:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=KM4M-V
I was hoping we wouldn't have to upgrade the motherboard because we are going to have a baby in a couple of months and this is the most expensive component I think.

I have an AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.5GHz processor and the nVidia GeForce FX 5200 video card.

OK, I hope this is the info you need to help me, here is my list of questions:

1. At that website about the motherboard, it says it only supports AMD processors, does this mean it absolutely will not support Intel Pentiums? Or are they just basically the same thing by another name?

2. Which processor do you suggest, from your experience, I should get - keeping in mind it has to fit the motherboard but also the system requirements of the game?

3. According to that website, the motherboard has something called an AGP slot for the video card. My GeForce FX5200 fits into this. However, I went to a department store and bought a GeForce 7300GS to upgrade it and the slots were different and I had to take it back. Is AGP slot what I should be looking for on the boxes of the video cards I look at, or is the slot called something different?

4. Which video card do you suggest, from your experience, I should get - keeping in mind it has to fit the motherboard slot but also the system requirements of the game?

5. And finally, does anyone know of any good, reliable, honest, fairly-priced online stores to buy computer parts (not whole computers). We live in Alaska and don't have access to computer stores here like you would down south.


Thank you so much for your help! I look forward to hearing your suggestions

Have a great day!
Twistie

 

Well the motherboard does not give many choices. You can buy an AMD Athlon 3000+ and maybe try overclocking it. However there is still the problem with the video card. Most modern GPUs are connected to the motherboard through PCI or PCI-E ports. I am afraid you will have to change the M/B as well. Here is my suggestion: new M/B Asus M2N-E (less than 100$), AMD Athlon 3200+ (about 80$) and the GPU you once bought 7300GS (about 100$). The whole upgrade is going to cost near 280$ maybe less.

 

a 7300GT smokes the GS for not much more. Also, you can find good mobo/cpu combos at www.tigerdirect.com

 

Welcome to the board.

1. At that website about the motherboard, it says it only supports AMD processors, does this mean it absolutely will not support Intel Pentiums? Or are they just basically the same thing by another name?

No. Intel & AMD chips aren't interchargeable. Your mobo supports only socket-A/462 AMD cpu.

2. Which processor do you suggest, from your experience, I should get - keeping in mind it has to fit the motherboard but also the system requirements of the game?

Same as above, socket-A Athlon 3000+ used or new. The fastest of socket-A.

3. According to that website, the motherboard has something called an AGP slot for the video card. My GeForce FX5200 fits into this. However, I went to a department store and bought a GeForce 7300GS to upgrade it and the slots were different and I had to take it back. Is AGP slot what I should be looking for on the boxes of the video cards I look at, or is the slot called something different?

New cards are most likely PCI-E. Your mobo supports only AGP 4/8x.

4. Which video card do you suggest, from your experience, I should get - keeping in mind it has to fit the motherboard slot but also the system requirements of the game?

I don't know your budget. The fastest AGP 8x would be X850XTPE. Should be around $150-200 new. However, it's SM2.0 (Shader Model). Old. SM3.0 would be better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145139

7300gt agp ain't bad. Def. a step-up from your fx5200.

5. And finally, does anyone know of any good, reliable, honest, fairly-priced online stores to buy computer parts (not whole computers). We live in Alaska and don't have access to computer stores here like you would down south.

http://www.newegg.com

 

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I will try to find those components and see how I go. Otherwise, any ideas on a good motherboard/processor combo - we don't have a lot of spare cash lying about, but if I'm going to upgrade, I don't want to have to upgrade again next time a new game comes out so something that will hopefully last a bit of distance (my current computer I've had for two years without needing to upgrade) ;D

Have a great day!!

 

It's best that you list your current setup.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

install & export a report to file & attach here. What's your budget? What parts are you keeping? Will you buy the video, cpu & mobo around the same time? If so, you're best off with PCI-E. AGP is old.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131035
$53

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537
$68

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052
$70

total $191

For example, this is a basic socket 939 setup.

 

$15 more and u get almost 3x the memory speed and a higher core clock, gddr3 memory, and a 128-bit memory interface: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122008

here are some more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122008

IMO a card with a 128-bit memory interface cant make use of more than 256mb of video RAM; the 512mb versions are a complete waste of money

 

Agreed. Get the gddr3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122008

Personally, I'd hold off on a upgrade if I were having a baby.

 

Another thing about the memory of yhe video card. If you see a 100$ card having 512MB of memory don't be impressed. It is likely TurboCache memory. This means that the GPU uses the systems existing memory and this will lead only to you getting mad.

 

I was thinking the same thing, its only a matter of a few weeks and then I probably won't have a lot of time to play NWN2 anyways.

But I still will benefit from this information because I know so little about the best components and there will come a time when I will upgrade, probably in a few months.

Thank you all so much for your help!