Hey i wanted to know what i could upgrade to my computer to be able to run games like battle for middle-earth. battlefield 2 and cs:s on at least medium settings.
specs:
Emachine T2625
VIA KM 266
512 RAM
GeForce FX 5500 PCI
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Processor 2.13 ghz
(btw does my motherboard have a open agp slot)
thxs in advance

The video card must be upgraded, period. BF2 won't even run on an FX5500.

Next, you need to make a decision about your budget. Best thing would be upgrade the entire motherboard, CPU, Fan, but at that point, it's virtually a complete system rebuild, as you will need new memory most likely, as well as a better power supply than what Emachines provided you. In that situation Athlon 64 would be the way to go, and you might as well go PCI-e on the video card and motherboard. You're looking at roughly...

Nforce 4 Ultra Mobo = $125
Athlon 64 Venice 3000 socket 939 CPU = $130
1GB PC3200 (2x512M) Memory = $80 (might as well get a gig these days)
Thermaltake 480W power supply = $55
Nvidia 6600GT PCI-e video card = $160

However, if you are on a budget, I would opt for an NForce2 Ultra 400 motherboard for the improved memory controller for $60, while reusing your memory. In either case, the motherboard should be replaced at the very least, as KM266 chipsets perform horribly compared to modern chipsets such as Nforce2. Whether or not your mobo has AGP slot or not is irrelevant. That mobo sucks in performance.

Nforce2 mobo = $60
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro AGP video card = $80

"Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and G. Gordon Liddy don't like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man."

Your Emachine T2625 uses the FIC AM37 motherboard and you do have an AGP 4X slot, so you really don't have to upgrade the entire PC, besides BF2's requirement is a 32 MB DX 8.1 card which supports Transform & Lighting and of course a better card equals smoother gameplay.

My concern is with your propietary PSU not being up to snuff if you decide to splurge on a higher end AGP card, BTW it'll also be nice to know your budget.

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

"besides BF2's requirement is a 32 MB DX 8.1 card"

"Minimum Specification:
CPU: 1.7 Ghz
RAM: 512 Mb
Video Card: NVidia GeForce FX 5700, ATI Radeon 8500 or ATI Radeon 9500
with 128 Mb of RAM"

http://dlx.gamespot.com/pc/battlefield2/moreinfo_6127244.html?tag=boxcar_all_download_headline

Asus P4P800
P4 2.4c @ 3000 Mhz Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu HSF
ATI Radeon 9800 pro
1 GB OCZ pc 3500 ram
Sound Blaster audigy LS

Well at the very least my budget is around $200.
Would it be hard to install the psu. Cuz I just dled the BF2 demo and my comp ran it on low.

Also could u point me to some links of the items that i should get. But what should i really buy first as i only have a budget of 200.
Also what psu do i have for the T2625?

You really need to decide what your end goal is here. Reason I say this is you may be forced to do this in one purchase because of the interdependencies of the hardware.

For example, if you go new motherboard, CPU, and fan route, not much sense in buying RAM yet. Don't buy the video card because if you should buy a PCI-e graphics card for that motherboard, and that card is incompatible with your current motherboard without a doubt. Your current RAM is most likely not PC3200, so no point in getting the new motherboard, CPU, and fan until you can get the RAM. Guess you could get a power supply provided it fits in your case, but that's not gonna do you any good right now, and I'd honestly would consider just getting a new case when you rebuild your computer.

On the other hand, if you just upgrade the motherboard and reuse your CPU and RAM, you could go ahead and get an AGP graphics card for now and get the motherboard later provided your current mobo has AGP on it.

Bottom line - define your budget and time frame, and that will determine what you should buy and when. Don't spend $200 now and $200 later because you're gonna end up making compromises in order to do that (AGP graphics card, NForce3 motherboard, etc. instead of PCI-e and NForce4 Ultra). Either your budget is $200 now or $400 later.

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

Ok I understand what you are saying but what I really just want a certain amount of stuff just so I can play recent titles. I'm not really asking for a huge upgrade, at least not for now. All I want is a decent system thats able to play recent games.

Then just replace the motherboard, and video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127185

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125169

Is it hard to install the motherboard like does it require anything other than just replacing the old m-board wit the new? sry dont know much abuot installing parts. Btw dont I need a more powerful PSU for the Radeon 9600 Pro?
sry for asking so many questions :-D

"besides BF2's requirement is a 32 MB DX 8.1 card"

"Minimum Specification:
CPU: 1.7 Ghz
RAM: 512 Mb
Video Card: NVidia GeForce FX 5700, ATI Radeon 8500 or ATI Radeon 9500
with 128 Mb of RAM"

http://dlx.gamespot.com/pc/battlefield2/moreinfo_6127244.html?tag=boxcar_all_download_headline

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/info/Requirements, BTW hero I do agree that the requirement I posted earlier may not be for acceptable decent gameplay.

Skatan2323,

Upgrading just the card with that budget ($200) leaves you with more options but I don't think none of them will ever come close to this deal, and you even get free shipping, if you need a performance review check out the benchmarks yourself.

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

I still think you have a decent configuration @ the moment and there is no reason to upgrade anything other than the video card, anyhow most newer games are getting GPU dependent and you will not see a significant marginal difference in your gameplay with a total overhaul as opposed to just the video card upgrade.

The truth is, with computers; technological advances remain dynamic and performance difference does not automatically imply beneficial gains.

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

Thxs Guys i really appreciate the advice.
But earlier you mentioned that my PSU may not handle the AGP cards? should I just cash in on one?

I would get the card first, since that deal may not last. If your PSU buckles then invest in a beefier PSU @ that point.

BTW if you pop the case, you should see a sticker on the PSU, it should have the wattage printed on there. I would speculate you most likely have a 300W-350W in there, since it is an OEM somputer.

That is not where it stops though, there is also a breakdown of the amp distribution for the different rails, the most important is the +12V rail. How many amps does your PSU have for that rail ?

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

"anyhow most newer games are getting GPU dependent and you will not see a significant marginal difference in your gameplay with a total overhaul as opposed to just the video card upgrade."

Dude, you don't understand how HORRIBLE older chipsets were with memory controllers.

The KM266 is roughly equivalent to the Kt266 in performance (actually a slight bit worse). Look at this article showing what happens when you take the same CPU, Memory, and video card, and simply put them on different motherboards!

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030303/amd_athlon-03.html

We're talking performance jumps of 30-35% in older games with older cards! That's WAY better than even upgrading just the CPU on the current motherboard. If the motherboard chipsets like the KM266 were holding those older video cards back, imagine how much it's gonna bottleneck new cards!

Also, if what you're saying is true, why is the Athlon 64 beating Intel CPU's in games often by very significant amounts with the same graphics card, memory configuration, etc., even when Intels have faster DDR2 memory? The integrated memory controller on the Athlon 64!

I would say if you're spending let's say $200, you'd be better off buying a $60 Nforce 2 Ultra 400 motherboard and a Radeon 9800 Pro or plain 6600 Nvidia card than spending $200 on a plain 6800 video card without a new motherboard in his case.

"Is it hard to install the motherboard like does it require anything other than just replacing the old m-board wit the new?"

First off I would seek out a friend who has mounted a heatsink on an Athlon XP before if you've never done that. Very easy to damage if you don't know what you're doing.

Secondly, expect to have to reload your operating system. You may not have to, but you should plan as if you're going to need to. Back up your data, have your Windows CD ready, etc.

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

"I don't think none of them will ever come close to this deal"

Dude, that's a 9800 XT. A 6600GT meets or beats that in performance in everything but Half Life 2 for less money. For the same price, a plain 6800 beats it in everything. Not to mention in his case, even a 6600GT is going to be bottlenecked even with replacing the motherboard should he choose that. If you're an ATI loyalist, and X800 beats the XT for the same money. I wouldn't recommend that card to anyone.

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

When I bought my E-Machine it came with a restore disc and not a Windows XP disc, i was also reading somewhere, dont remember where but it told me that I couldnt use the restore disc if i changed the m-board. I have a whole bunch of stuff on here that i cant lose and i share this computer as well.

1. Back your stuff up before the upgrade if you do replace the motherboard.
2. Use someone else's XP CD as long as you have your certificate of authenticity key, and it's the same version (home or pro), you are fine and legit.

But it doesn't sound like you're gonna be able to do this. I guess just replace the gfx card and call it a day. To be honest, I would probably just get a 9600 Pro on that machine. Without upgrading at the very least the motherboard, I don't see how any better of a gfx card is gonna do you much if any good.

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

Ok thxs for all your help

I do understand your argument but my take is there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to upgrade the system as a whole just to be able to play a couple of games better. I'd understand if he is a professional gamer and gets paid to play games all day, and agreed he may not need a $200 card, if it is within his budget, I don't see why not.

If you're not a hardcore gamer, that performance gain is not worth the money spent on it, and like I said earlier technological advances remain dynamic and performance difference does not automatically imply rational beneficial gains.

I had the 9700Pro up until about a month ago and I was able to play most newer games smoothly, and there is no task my current spec can't handle that only an Athlon 64 rig can, most game unrelated upgrades are done because users want to and not because they NEED to.

Now can we pls agree to disagree.....lol

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

I didn't say necessarily to upgrade the whole rig. I was defending my point that $60 to speed your entire computer up by 35% is money well spent provided you could install it yourself! Honestly, even if you didn't need it, would you speed your computer up by 35% for $60? I'd do it right now in a heartbeat!

The reason I brought up upgrading the whole motherboard, CPU, and fan is eventually he's gonna have to make the jump to PCI-e, new motherboard, etc. So the question becomes when. I hate sinking any money into an upgrade that brick walls your upgrade path. Let's be honest - he's going to be facing a major overhaul with his current CPU in a year or so if he continues to playing the latest games. Nforce4 Ultra boards already support dual core, so now isn't a bad time to upgrade to a new motherboard, especially since he's going to be buying a gfx card one way or another. Could be an opportune time to switch to PCI-e with a new motherboard.

This is why I recently upgraded to Athlon 64. I found my old parts (Athlon XP 2500 Mobile, Volcano 12, 9800 Pro) still had value to sell to someone. When my motherboard died, I had a choice very similar to this...spend $60 on a replacement NForce2 motherboard, or $380 on an Athlon 64 3000 Socket 939, Nforce4 Ultra motherboard, 6600GT PCI-e - $180 for my old parts? I chose new motherboard route mainly because I actually got an upgrade in performance out of it, and I have a good CPU upgrade path. Had I not, I would be basically building a whole new system probably next year. Instead, next year I'll probably pop on a dual core CPU, and still won't have to replace my RAM, which I bought almost two years ago. :-)

"most game unrelated upgrades are done because users want to and not because they NEED to."

Agreed. I see your game unrelated upgrades and raise you game related upgrades as well. How about the one dude with the 6600GT who thinks he should upgrade to a 6800Ultra in another thread? :-)

"Pat Buchanan, Bob Novak, and G. Gordon Liddy don't like Mark Felt. Mark Felt is truly a great man."

Hero,

Why we are on the upgrade topic, you know AMD plans to start phasing out the 939 platform second quarter of 2006, for the new Socket M2. Obviously the only thing constant here is change and our collective propensity not pass up an affordable upgrade.

List of Lists.

Report Offensive Follow Up For Removal

One more question, If I were to buy a PSU which one do u guys recommend because mine has 150W and i thnk 4V rail i dont remember. Also when i played HL2 it would always for some reason restart the computer. Could this be a PSU problem or something?

Keeping it cheap, here's a great PSU for the money. Good ampage, and very reliable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153006

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."

Do you think this PSU will fit inside my computer?

Check the physical dimensions.

"President Bush is doing everything he can to lower gas prices, including...making the oil companies so rich that maybe they'll get sick of money."