So, this thread has a couple core things, since my main tech consultants post here anyway.
My aging dinosaur of a computer has about had it as far as being able to run the New Hawtness of games. It seems to be the theme to upgrade these days, so I
figure I can duck into the collective wellspring of experience for tips.
My current machine is a Frankengraded Pavilion a706n, with the upgrades being a nVidia 6200
graphics card, a CD/DVD burner drive, and 2 gigs of RAM.
This is, as of 2009, a 5 year old box and just not able to be enhanced anymore without replacing the motherboard entirely. So I need a new machine. I'm
fairly financially limited(my current job's "rather large" paycheck from Christmas madness amounts to $359 and change, and that's gonna be
slacking off now that the Christmas rush is down and they start cutting hours back, and that doesn't even factor in school and a planned move), so used is
pretty much my only option without bankrupting me.
On the plus side, I'm not a tech elitist, so being up to, say, Wire or Terrence's tech standards isn't a big deal. I'd settle for being able to
actually mount PCI-E graphics cards at all.(my current one has multiple PCI cards and an old AGP slot) Also, I just need a tower, really. I've got all the
relevant peripherals covered fairly handly.
On the second hand, I recently scored Mass Effect for the PC(which has yet to arrive in the mail) and a recheck of specifications notes that I'm missing
600 of the necessary GeForces to run it according to the *stated* minimums(nVidia GeForce 6800GT), however my current card supports Pixel Shader 3, which is
apparently the make or break necessary ability, so perhaps I could run it, like CoH, at lower performance settings and still have it operate properly? Or do I
just wait till post-upgrade to install it?
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
My aging dinosaur of a computer has about had it as far as being able to run the New Hawtness of games. It seems to be the theme to upgrade these days, so I
figure I can duck into the collective wellspring of experience for tips.
My current machine is a Frankengraded Pavilion a706n, with the upgrades being a nVidia 6200
graphics card, a CD/DVD burner drive, and 2 gigs of RAM.
This is, as of 2009, a 5 year old box and just not able to be enhanced anymore without replacing the motherboard entirely. So I need a new machine. I'm
fairly financially limited(my current job's "rather large" paycheck from Christmas madness amounts to $359 and change, and that's gonna be
slacking off now that the Christmas rush is down and they start cutting hours back, and that doesn't even factor in school and a planned move), so used is
pretty much my only option without bankrupting me.
On the plus side, I'm not a tech elitist, so being up to, say, Wire or Terrence's tech standards isn't a big deal. I'd settle for being able to
actually mount PCI-E graphics cards at all.(my current one has multiple PCI cards and an old AGP slot) Also, I just need a tower, really. I've got all the
relevant peripherals covered fairly handly.
On the second hand, I recently scored Mass Effect for the PC(which has yet to arrive in the mail) and a recheck of specifications notes that I'm missing
600 of the necessary GeForces to run it according to the *stated* minimums(nVidia GeForce 6800GT), however my current card supports Pixel Shader 3, which is
apparently the make or break necessary ability, so perhaps I could run it, like CoH, at lower performance settings and still have it operate properly? Or do I
just wait till post-upgrade to install it?
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."