DescentBB

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This one would do well, this one nicely.

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Time to upgrade. I don't think that P4 2.8 GHz would be good enough to run a game like Prey. Maybe you should consider building a new system.

I always start feeling guilty when my secondary PC is better then others primarys...

Immortal Lobster wrote:I always start feeling guilty when my secondary PC is better then others primarys...

You get over it by the time your "run in the basement server" is better then someones main PC.

Does an A-XP 2400+ with an FX5700 in it count? lol

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er hem, didnt mean any personal attacks,burleyman recommended a system upgrade, which is most likely needed, unfortunatly, you mentioned your running a PCI video card, which, makes me assume that you lack an AGP slot, even a PCIe slot. that being the case, a new system would be best, becuase your not going to get any more performance out of PCI outside of the FX5500, thats the end of the PCI line.

only solution to that, new mobo, which means most likely a new CPU, which means a new type of ram....see where that line travels.

There is no way to easily answer your question either, as to whom gives the most comprehensive performance. ATi and nVidia are the two companies that offer a product worth purchasing, and theyre both really on the same edge anymore, it levels on price/performance, atm, ATi delivers the better high end cards, whereas nVidia delivers the extremist cards, and the low to midrange cards, those are their strong suits.

As to Differnt socket types
PCI - Dead, ancient, slowly being phased out, best video card your going to find in that interface, is like I mentioned previoulsy, the FX 5500 from nVidia

AGP - Also dead, well, its being slowly killed off, best video card youll find for this interface is the 7800GS from nVidia, but it caries a huge price tag.

PCIe - This is the new standard, currently the fastes card is nVidias 7950 series, the fastest reasonably priced card is the ATi 1900 series, even the 1800 series, the best midrange card, the 7600GT, the 7900GT is priced for high end, bt doesnt hold much of a candle to the 1800 series, nor does the 7900GTX hold up well to the 1900 series from ATi.

Low end, 7300 is a solid performer.

IF you lack anything outside of PCI, just upgrade to a PCIe based board, otherwise youll winf up in the same hole I believe you are in now, a very dead end.

Hope that was more...helpful for you

and I only upgrade yearly, minor upgrades maybe 4-6months apart, I dont buy a new PC on a more frequesnt basis then 2-3 years

my last PC, i bought an opty becuase it was cheaper then buting an X2, overclocked it to 2.5ghz which landed it right between at the time, the two most expensive chips that AMD offered, the X2 4800+, and the FX60, one being 850USD, the other 1100, i payed 315 for my opty, so I dont blow a lot of money either, my next CPU upgrade wont occur for another 2-3 years, about the time I ask the same question your asking.

His MB has an AGP 8x slot. Also a P4 2.8C/E will run Prey just fine w/ one of the cards I listed (I'd suggest 512MB more memory tho.) A 7300 is actually a pretty bad performer, I'd go for a 7600 at least if you want some decent 3D images at a resonable speed..

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Grendel wrote:His MB has an AGP 8x slot. Also a P4 2.8C/E will run Prey just fine w/ one of the cards I listed (I'd suggest 512MB more memory tho.) A 7300 is actually a pretty bad performer, I'd go for a 7600 at least if you want some decent 3D images at a resonable speed..

ok, if he has an AGP slot hes not that badly screwed, I agree, the 2.8ghz P4 should hold up still with most new games, but hes not gonna have too many options enabled.

When I said the 7300 was a solid performer, I meant in the low end arena, 7600GT is in mi-range arena. but both own their respective arenas

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that makes this easy, buy a cheap 7600GS

evga is a good brand, its warranty is the best in the business, as long as you dont intentionally break the card, theyll replace it.