Ram

[sgt.collins]

you know why thats so, battlefield 2 likes to have 1-1.5, and windows xp takes up .5 so right now it only has about 512 megabytes of RAM for battlefield 2. minus all the other apps you probably have running, down to 400. since it only has that much, it uses pagefile which is really slow

[dannyboy0492]

you know why thats so, battlefield 2 likes to have 1-1.5, and windows xp takes up .5 so right now it only has about 512 megabytes of RAM for battlefield 2. minus all the other apps you probably have running, down to 400. since it only has that much, it uses pagefile which is really slow

This is true .. if i post my dxdiag on here will you tell me if my comp is running fine? it just seems weird to me.

[lt_dillweed]

Dell Dimension C521
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+(2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 1982MB RAM
Page File: 2057MB used, 2125MB availible
Direct X: Direct X10


So....say i buy that stick of ram and that video card...would it help much for games? and what kind of professional would i want to install those items

BTW, my graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

[reynolddog]

i have that same integrated card as you. it blows to say the least. i think the 8400 will be a upgrade FOR YOU. I'm getting a 8800GT and 2 gig more (vista) and a bigger psu.also i think you could install the stuff yourself.

[bladecx321]

no you dont need to hire a pro to install RAM and a new graphics card. open up your computer and you need to match the connectors on the card/ram to the connectors on your motherboard. pretty simple. make sure everything is connected, screwed in, and close up ur PC. install your new hardware and then you should be ready to go.

and ya, you're gonna need a better card than that if you want med/high gfx.

[-DeD-]

It should show you how to do it in your Motherboard handbook. If you don't have it, you can download it from their website.

[jdrou]

Memory: 1982MB RAM

So....say i buy that stick of ram and that video card...would it help much for games? and what kind of professional would i want to install those items

BTW, my graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE

You've already got 2 GB; going up from there will still help (especially with Vista) but not as much as going from 1 to 2. That video card is pretty bad though and it's probably stealing some of your RAM too. Any new card with dedicated RAM will be an improvement.

[lt_dillweed]

no you dont need to hire a pro to install RAM and a new graphics card. open up your computer and you need to match the connectors on the card/ram to the connectors on your motherboard. pretty simple. make sure everything is connected, screwed in, and close up ur PC. install your new hardware and then you should be ready to go.

and ya, you're gonna need a better card than that if you want med/high gfx.

well im fine with all med graphics for most games as i have been with BF2 if you guys think another gig and that video card will help me run on medium graphics with low lag so i can actually enjoy the game then thanks. but if you can find a better video card but still one that i wont need to get a better power source for then that would be good too :)

[bladecx321]

maybe this can help you chose a card: http://www.nvidia.com/HelpMeChoose/index.aspx?qid=1

yes another gig of ram will help

how many watts does your current power supply produce?

[wtrtwnguy]

c'mon guys. getting another gig of ram will obviously NOT help in this case. He has 2GB. That's plenty for BF2. His video card is of abysmal performance on the other hand.

Upgrading the video card is really the only sensible thing to do here. As discussed in another post, the 8400 low profile would help. we already discussed that issue to exhaustion in another post. he has a low profile system, so 8800, 8600 & such are out of the question. On the other hand, no need to worry about the power supply with an 8400.

upgrading 2GB of ram to 3GB is nothing but a waste of money. And that configuration cannot be done on his DELL in the first place. He'd have to throw out the 2GB he has and get 2x2GB sticks for a total of 4GB as there should be only two memory slots available, both of which would already have memory installed.

[jesus]

c'mon guys. getting another gig of ram will obviously NOT help in this case. He has 2GB. That's plenty for BF2. His video card is of abysmal performance on the other hand.

Upgrading the video card is really the only sensible thing to do here. As discussed in another post, the 8400 low profile would help. we already discussed that issue to exhaustion in another post. he has a low profile system, so 8800, 8600 & such are out of the question. On the other hand, no need to worry about the power supply with an 8400.

upgrading 2GB of ram to 3GB is nothing but a waste of money. And that configuration cannot be done on his DELL in the first place. He'd have to throw out the 2GB he has and get 2x2GB sticks for a total of 4GB as there should be only two memory slots available, both of which would already have memory installed.

actually, the Dimension E521 has 4 ram slots, so he could easily have 3GB. And, since it's a Dell, I'm assuming it has a 300W power supply (my inspiron 531 does, so I think it's the same). If that's the case, then he could definately put an 8600 in there.

[wtrtwnguy]

The problem is he has the Dimension C521 not E521. Big difference. C521 is a small form factor machine. So unless you can find a 8600 in half height, it is a no go.

It may or may not have 4 banks of ram. Ours at work have only two banks. The other two banks are present on the motherboard, but are lacking the actual slots. Either way, 3GB of ram will not help in any way with playing BF2 on his current machine. Having 4 instead of 2 memory sticks installed might actually slow down the system a wee bit.

[jesus]

The problem is he has the Dimension C521 not E521. Big difference. C521 is a small form factor machine. So unless you can find a 8600 in half height, it is a no go.

It may or may not have 4 banks of ram. Ours at work have only two banks. The other two banks are present on the motherboard, but are lacking the actual slots. Either way, 3GB of ram will not help in any way with playing BF2 on his current machine. Having 4 instead of 2 memory sticks installed might actually slow down the system a wee bit.

oh I didn't notice he had the C version. So yeah I don't know if the 8600 will fit or not in that one, but 300W would be enough if it did fit. and for the ram... yes when I first got my computer it only had 2x512 and I couldn't play on all high settings without lag. once I put another gig in, I could play at high settings and get 50+FPS. I bought a third gig just because it was cheap ($19) and it helps other games and just in general :) The third gig made no real affect to BF2, though

[lt_dillweed]

Darn...will the 8400 card i wanted still fit in my machine? and this is not just for battlefield 2, it could help me in counter strike even though i hardly lag in that game and also im thinking of getting command & conquer 3 which requires alot of graphic thingummyjiggers to not get lag when big battles happen

[wtrtwnguy]

as long as you get a "half height" or "low profile" PCIEx16 card, you should be fine. I am pretty sure the 8400 is the fastest low profile card out there. Note that not every 8400 is a low profile card, you would have to make sure you are actually getting the low profile version. I wish they made the 8600 in low profile, but I have never seen one.