The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.
The most noticeable improvement I should imagine would be the graphics card, so I reckon you'll get smoother framerates and should now be able to max those games you could only hit medium on before.
So did you get an overclocked Gateway computer or something?
Also, it's true that you should go 64-bits if you want to take advantage of your RAM.
You should see some difference in games, but not a huge one by any means. You've jumped up a single generation of video card. Did you pay much for all of that?
"Old specs:8800GTS 512E4400 @ 3 GHz2GB PC6400New Specs:9800GTX+E5200 @ (I've been told) 4 GHz4GB PC6400Both using Vista 32bit, running at 1440x900Is it gonna be a huge improvement?"
Yeah that is a HUGE improvement. Your new computer will be a lot faster because it has double the ram.
I was reading about that and the 32 bit recognizes like 3.5 GB, right? Personally, I'll take the loss of RAM over any compatibility issues the 64 bit OS may have.
It has to do with limitations of 32-bit OSs. Windows uses memory address space for Windows functions, so while 32-bit can address 4GB worth of RAM, WIndows will not allow 500MB-2GB of 4GB to be addressed. Depending on your Windows setup, a 32-bit Vista or XP may only allow you to use 2GB of RAM, no matter how much you have installed above that.
"I was reading about that and the 32 bit recognizes like 3.5 GB, right? Personally, I'll take the loss of RAM over any compatibility issues the 64 bit OS may have."
Can read up to 3.5, its normally closer to 2.3 or so.
2GB of RAM is the sweet spot for a 32bit OS. So, you're 4GB is kinda pointless. As for the overall setup, you'll see an increase in performance, but it's not gonna be mind blowingly huge.
Actually, win XP SP3 can see about 3.25 GB ram. 4 is fine to have.
Seeing these specs, it's really not a huge improvement. You should keep all your old stuff for a while longer then buy something better. Or if you really want to upgrade, keep most of your current setup and spend all your money on a new motherboard and CPU (core 2 duo or core i7) then later on upgrade the rest things like GPU and what not when you really need to and once again can afford something that will make more of a difference.
"I was reading about that and the 32 bit recognizes like 3.5 GB, right? Personally, I'll take the loss of RAM over any compatibility issues the 64 bit OS may have."
Windows 32bit includes your graphics card memory in its maximum ram figure. So if you have a card with one gig of ram on it, you will only be able to see and utilise less than 3gb of ram. I've been using vista 64 now for over a month and haven't encountered a single difficulty or incompatibility issue.
It should make a difference, the 9800gtx is a good overclocker too. I don't know much about the e5200 but if you want to overclock it to 4ghz you will need a good CPU cooler stock intel one won't do the job for that kind of overclocking.
"The most noticeable improvement I should imagine would be the graphics card, so I reckon you'll get smoother framerates and should now be able to max those games you could only hit medium on before."
What he said, and that supposed 4ghz won't hurt either. Oh and a lot of games are now utilizing more than 2gs of RAM, so in short, good, in long....not sure
9800 GTX is just an overclocked 8800 GTS 512, and you could have done that yourself. I mean the cards are only 6 months apart in terms of release. You won't see as much of a gain as you think you will.
Same goes for your processors, E5200 is an overclocked E4400 (by 500 mhz, which is easily obtained through overclocking). Overclocking your processor wouldn't result in higher framerates at your native res anyways.
Which bring us to the extra RAM: it's useless unless you plan on running two games at the same time. And RAM requirements are only going to go down once Windows 7 comes out (I have been using the beta for several months now).
Enjoy not having $700 thanks to not researching BEFORE you bought the damned thing.
I sold my old PC to my brother for $350, new one works fine. I realize it's a very slight upgrade but it does run better and, most importantly, my brother can stop playing Minesweeper and join in some modern gaming with me. I gotta ask, what else could I have gotten for $700? Hell, if I can get a C2Q and a fancy graphics card for under $750 I'd return this 'worthless hunk of metal' in a heartbeat. Breaking $1000 wasn't an option, there are plenty of cool things I could buy for $300.
"I sold my old PC to my brother for $350, new one works fine.I realize it's a very slight upgrade but it does run better and, most importantly, my brother can stop playing Minesweeper and join in some modern gaming with me. I gotta ask, what else could I have gotten for $700? Hell, if I can get a C2Q and a fancy graphics card for under $750 I'd return this 'worthless hunk of metal' in a heartbeat. Breaking $1000 wasn't an option, there are plenty of cool things I could buy for $300."
Thanks for telling me all of the other details, I hope you and your brother have fun!
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