 Computer Problems, Those darn computers! |
|
dragonboy3611  |
Posted: 19-Dec-2004, 11:23 AM
|
A Friend to who needs one.
Group: Ireland
Posts: 743
Joined: 01-Nov-2004
Zodiac: Birch
Realm: USA, New York
|
I was wondering if anyone can solve this little problem of mine, I know there is a seperate post topic for this kind of stuff, but I was hopeing it would get answered faster on here.
From what I know, I have a Pentium 2504MHZ.
My HD space is C: 80.598GB, currently. From what I understand, that's a ton of space. Yet my RAM just seemed to suddenly be very low, 504MB, while most games I play/try to load are at least 512MB.
My 3D Accelerator is Intel 845G, My questions are:
How is my RAM so low, and what is the difference between RAM and memory space? I mean, I have a huge amount of memory space...yet so little RAM for my games it seems! How do I change that? Or at least get more RAM?
Also, is the 3D Accelerator I currently have out of date, good, or what? I have no idea, I just saw what it was from a Game Loading. I really hope you can answer my questions, and will really appreciate it!
--------------------
"Men at some time are masters of their fate"
Jul Caesar, Act i, Sc.2
"When sorrow comes, they come not single spies, but in battalions"
Hamlet, Act iv, Sc.5
"All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity"
Hamlet, Act i, Sc.2
|
|
|
| Aaediwen |
Posted: 19-Dec-2004, 01:25 PM
|
Celtic Guardian
Group: Super Moderator
Posts: 3,069
Joined: 09-Oct-2003
Zodiac: Holly
Realm: Kentucky
|
Your ammount of RAM is low to average for today's machines. You shouldn't have much problem with games that would need 512 to run well. If you want more though, you'd need to go buy it, there is no magic cure for getting more RAM. Just make sure nothing else is running when you launch your game and maybe a reboot to be certain. If you do a lot of gaming, and you're running something later than Windows ME (or even another platform) THen go buy another 512 MB stick of RAM and plug it in along side what you'ge already got. That'll bump you up to a GB and should have you set there. Also, that Video card is not one I'd recommend for any real gaming either. It'll be fine for office applications, browsing here, stuff of that sort. Load a game on it and it'll crawl. Get yourself a decent NVidia or ATI card. Most modern games really strain my little old GeForce 4, but they are playable (unless your picky on framerate. Pirates gets choppy on occasion)
As for drive space, 80 GB should serve you fairly well. Next wildcard is CPU speed which sounds like you've got fairly well covered. I'd recommend get yourself another 512 MB of RAM and a decent video card.
Now as far as the differences. Your hard drive, and RAM, are both types of memory. the Hard Drive, however, is a whole lot slower, while RAM gets erased every time you power the machine off. RAM is where the computer stores what it's working on at the time, the Hard Drive is generally for storage. I can go into a lot more detail if you'd like on HDD/RAM/L2 Cache/L1 Cache/Swap space.
--------------------
Poet and seeker of knowledge  |
|
|
| dragonboy3611 |
Posted: 19-Dec-2004, 05:11 PM
|
A Friend to who needs one.
Group: Ireland
Posts: 743
Joined: 01-Nov-2004
Zodiac: Birch
Realm: USA, New York
|
| QUOTE (Aaediwen @ 19-Dec-2004, 02:25 PM) | Your ammount of RAM is low to average for today's machines. You shouldn't have much problem with games that would need 512 to run well. If you want more though, you'd need to go buy it, there is no magic cure for getting more RAM. Just make sure nothing else is running when you launch your game and maybe a reboot to be certain. If you do a lot of gaming, and you're running something later than Windows ME (or even another platform) THen go buy another 512 MB stick of RAM and plug it in along side what you'ge already got. That'll bump you up to a GB and should have you set there. Also, that Video card is not one I'd recommend for any real gaming either. It'll be fine for office applications, browsing here, stuff of that sort. Load a game on it and it'll crawl. Get yourself a decent NVidia or ATI card. Most modern games really strain my little old GeForce 4, but they are playable (unless your picky on framerate. Pirates gets choppy on occasion)
As for drive space, 80 GB should serve you fairly well. Next wildcard is CPU speed which sounds like you've got fairly well covered. I'd recommend get yourself another 512 MB of RAM and a decent video card.
Now as far as the differences. Your hard drive, and RAM, are both types of memory. the Hard Drive, however, is a whole lot slower, while RAM gets erased every time you power the machine off. RAM is where the computer stores what it's working on at the time, the Hard Drive is generally for storage. I can go into a lot more detail if you'd like on HDD/RAM/L2 Cache/L1 Cache/Swap space. |
OK, another question I forgot to ask. If I buy another 512MB of Ram and a decent video card like the one you said, what will that roughly cost?
|
|
|
| Aaediwen |
Posted: 19-Dec-2004, 10:05 PM
|
Celtic Guardian
Group: Super Moderator
Posts: 3,069
Joined: 09-Oct-2003
Zodiac: Holly
Realm: Kentucky
|
As for the RAM, it depends on what your motherboard supports as to what you get, but looks like 512 MB of RAM can be had for $50 - $60
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Ca...gory_memory.asp
On the video card front, how high end do you want to go?
Mine is an old card, I'll pull up various prices for you:
A card like I currently run can be had for $20
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/ca....asp?CatId=1087
Some of the GeForce FX cards can be had for $50, and although they are a better card than the GeForce 4, I hear they really fall short of an ATI card of the same generation. From what I hear, the 6800 is where NVidia is getting back on their feet from screwing up on the FX 5x00 series. The 6800 is top of the line right now, and if you get one, plan on spending in the 4-500 range on the hardware. 
Now, I'm an NVidia fan, but I'm not above acknowledging the competition, and I will admit that ATI has a good product, although I'm not quite as knowledgeable as I should be about their product line. They have required an extra power connector for quite some time, which may be one caviat with them. Might want to make sure you have a power supply that can handle it (soon to be a fact of life in either camp). That said, here's some prices:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/ca....asp?CatId=1088
Total cost, spend $100 on your box and you should be alright  Might not have bragging rights, but you'll be able to keep up without much trouble.
One more thing on the Video cards before I forget. You might check and make sure you do, indeed have an AGP slot avaliable. Some, perticularly MicroATX boards, actually don't have one for some strange reason (My mom's machine doesn't). If by some off chance you don't, you'll need to use the PCI links at the bottom of those pages. You won't find as high end of cards, but you should be able to find some decent ones at least. You probably will have an AGP slot that you can use though.
|
|
|
| dragonboy3611 |
Posted: 21-Dec-2004, 08:34 AM
|
A Friend to who needs one.
Group: Ireland
Posts: 743
Joined: 01-Nov-2004
Zodiac: Birch
Realm: USA, New York
|
Wow I hate to keep asking questions...but I hate to spend $160 on the wrong stuff! So some other questions for anyone that can answer:
Aaediwen, you mentioned about checking the specs on my motherboards chipset to see if it can handle the ram I'm adding. How in the world would I be able to check it?
Also, when I buy the things, how would I find out how to install them? And if I have no idea, would it be safer to hire someone to do it, if than, how much would that also cost!
One more question about my computer. This has happened to me acouple times. After a day of long playing, and after I shutdown my computer and go to bed. The next day I try to turn the computer on, it makes noise like it tries to start up, but than stops! The only thing I can think of is that it goes from extreme hot of my playing so much that day, to extreme could in the Tower because it is on the cold tile kitchen floor. Than sending it into shock or something. The first time this happened, we went on vacation for awhile (about 7 days) when we came back, the computer just started up again like nothing happened! Does anyone know why this happens? Could it also be the fan in the tower? Should I get it checked at an auto repair shop?
Ahh the questions and breakouts of the computer problems!!!! (Thank you everyone who has helped me, it's ment alot!)
P.S. I don't really understand what thing your reffering to in your post Aragorn, the RAM 512MB chip I'm going to put in, or the Video Card.
|
|
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
 Pages: (2) [1] 2
Track this topic
Receive email notification when a reply has been made to this topic and you are not active on the board.
Subscribe to this forum
Receive email notification when a new topic is posted in this forum and you are not active on the board.
Download / Print this Topic
Download this topic in different formats or view a printer friendly version.
|
