Improving my Hardware
Hi guys,
My computer can't show Monkey Island in decent resolution / quality and that's annoying me. By looking at my computer specs, can you tell me what needs improving?
Computer Specs:
Intel Core 2 6300 @ 1.86ghz
1 gb of ram
ATI Radeon X1300 @ 256mb
My computer can't show Monkey Island in decent resolution / quality and that's annoying me. By looking at my computer specs, can you tell me what needs improving?
Computer Specs:
Intel Core 2 6300 @ 1.86ghz
1 gb of ram
ATI Radeon X1300 @ 256mb
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Comments
Another gb or two of ram would help a bit, and your video card is pretty underpowered too.
What resolution/graphics level would you like to run?
Well my desktop is 1280*1024...And max quality, please
Up the ram, definitely. If you're running Vista you should crank it up to 3gb, XP you should be ok with 2gb, although it wouldn't cost much more for 3. I got a 2gb stick for my partner recently from crucial and it only cost £11.50 including postage.
Your graphics card is the same brand and mb as mine, albeit a different model, and I can run it fine at graphics level 9.
My processor is Intel Core 2 Duo 2.40ghz, not sure how much of a difference that makes.
X1300 is a pretty old card at this point.
What exact model is yours?
It's a good deal above the requirements - we're talking a Core2Duo here. An Ati4670 (ok if you're not into hardcore gaming) or 4770 (much faster, but draws a good deal more power) or similar should solve. Unless the RAM is bottle-necking too - in Vista it might well do, under XP who knows? If you're not into 3d gaming else full stop you can go even cheaper than that - Tales really isn't that heavy a game which should be telling you something about your graphics card.
OK...any recommendations? Haven't upgraded gfx cards in years, will most fit straight to my existing mother board?
Radeon HD 3650
Urgh, I apologise, it's actually 512mb
Which Brand/Model is your Mainboard?
Those are pretty cheap nowadays.
@Realepicurean
Based on that I would recommend to buy a newer model in the similar range such as 4650 or above, depending on how much money you want to spend.
The model is the thing that makes all of the difference. A 256MB or 512MB card means nothing at all - the onboard memory is only as good as the graphics card that uses it. An X1300 is a very low-end card and won't play many 3D games well. On the other hand a 3650 is much more "mid-end" and has significantly better performance.
The video card is the thing most likely to improve performance by quite a long shot. If the game is frequently swapping to disk (ie. loading from the disk during the game) then some more RAM might be necessary, but it actually works pretty well for me with 1.25 GB RAM and a much better video card.
You're making a comparison between two completely different things and expecting similar results. A 7800GS is a high-end enthusiast graphics card. Even though it's a few years old it is still much better than brand new low-end solutions. An X1300 is the cheapest card in its range and simply isn't designed for "serious" game playing.
To the OP: Yes, you could probably do with 2GB or 4GB RAM as well, but the graphics card is a seriously weak link in your system.