looking to upgrade need help

[DarkXAngel55]

okay so i have this Acer Aspire M3202 sys for a few years now and ohtho it isn't a gaming comp it works for my liking, but the time has come where i feel i want alittle bit more out of my computer for gaming, now im not looking for a beast of a gaming computer, i just what a small boost in running some games in better graphics not like ultra settings but mid to high, keep in mind that i have not done and upgrades to my computer to this date and i can not overclock my computer in anyway duo to it being factory built and acer has block it from me overclocking anything in the bios. here's a link to my computer http://support.acer.com/us/en/acerpa...eM3202nv.shtml, also if anyone could help me on what type of ram i should be getting to max out the computers ram pls let me know and hope someone could give me a link to a very cheap price. p.s i live in canada. side info cpu is Phenom II x4 810 and running OS vista 64-bit home

[gathor]

If you would like to upgrade the video card you need to keep in mind that the PSU is 250W only. I had HP desktop for a upgrade and it had the same power supply. I recommended some low power card like 6670 and I can say the same to you. It will be better than your current 3200. RAM is 4GB I assume? Keep it at that, don't think it is worth upgrading to 8GB. CPU is ok as well.
So yeah, get some cheap ATI PCI-Express card without extra power requirements and you should be good. Not much else that you can do with these pre-built PCs I'm afraid unless you want to replace half the components.

[Jetster]

With a 250w power supply and DDR2 being expensive there is not a lot you can do for cheap. You would have to buy a $40 PSU + $120 GPU (7770) just for Med graphics. I dont know how much ram your have but with XP your fine with 2 Gb

[DarkXAngel55]

Originally Posted by gathor

If you would like to upgrade the video card you need to keep in mind that the PSU is 250W only. I had HP desktop for a upgrade and it had the same power supply. I recommended some low power card like 6670 and I can say the same to you. It will be better than your current 3200. RAM is 4GB I assume? Keep it at that, don't think it is worth upgrading to 8GB. CPU is ok as well.
So yeah, get some cheap ATI PCI-Express card without extra power requirements and you should be good. Not much else that you can do with these pre-built PCs I'm afraid unless you want to replace half the components.

i open up the case and took alook at the power it says 300W not much better but alittle i guess and i am running 4gb want to get it up to 8 tho, i don't understand why my ram is not cheap what i wouldn't mind is getting a card that i can run Euro Truck Simulator 2 on mid to high i can run the game now at low and i mean low lol, i don't understand why they would give you a low end powersupply and give you a PCI-E x16 2.0 slot don't the relies that if someone goes out and buys a new i highend card and puts it in it can do damage? confusing on that part.

[DarkXAngel55]

Originally Posted by Jetster

With a 250w power supply and DDR2 being expensive there is not a lot you can do for cheap. You would have to buy a $40 PSU + $120 GPU (7770) just for Med graphics. I dont know how much ram your have but with XP your fine with 2 Gb

some on that info from that link is wrong im guessing there was alot of different ones with different specs/OS mine had vista 64bit home with it not xp

[Jetster]

Well how much ram do you have? And how many slots? What speed is the ram you have in there?

[DarkXAngel55]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Well how much ram do you have? And how many slots? What speed is the ram you have in there?

PC Wizard is saying its DDR2-SDRAM-PC2-6400 (399MHz) - DDR2-799

supported frequencies is 333MHz, 399MHz

and its 2x 2gb sticks

4slots

[Jetster]

So to add two more sticks your looking at $50 Then the PSU and GPU your over $200 So given that I would sujest just putting the $ into a new rig if you want to game. You will be much happier with the results

Maybe used DDR2 and Used 6670. But your talking barely playing any new game on the lowest of settings (painful)

[DarkXAngel55]

Originally Posted by Jetster

So to add two more sticks your looking at $50 Then the PSU and GPU your over $200 So given that I would sujest just putting the $ into a new rig if you want to game. You will be much happier with the results

Maybe used DDR2 and Used 6670. But your talking barely playing any new game on the lowest of settings (painful)

Thank you for the help and info, I did come a cross I nice card with alot of ppl saying good things about it and also saying you don't need a big power supply, here's the link tell me what you think. http://m.tigerdirect.ca/applications...883&CatId=3669

[Jetster]

It will work but its not a gaming card. Typicly the recomendation for gaming at any playable level is 5750 and up, 6750 and up or 7750 and up. These are considered "Low end" cards. Even the 5670, 6670, 7670 are not in the ball park but some may argue this point

Nvidia's cards would be 240, 440, 540, 640 and up. So a Nvidia 630 is a newest generation card for HTPC not gaming.

I have a 6670 in my HTPC and have played games like Mindcraft and it plays, but you can see the card drawing the background as you walk. It struggles