Posts by loneraven15

I've tracked down a few options, but I'm having a hard time settling on which one to pull the trigger on:

- regarding this specific card, I'm feeling a bit stuck because my brother mentioned that this SDDR3 might not even be compatible with my rig?! :O

I am well aware that you all have already pointed out the necessity of checking for PCI versus AGP, ensuring the slot is 16x, and verifying that the power supply is sufficient, but does the distinction between SDDR, GDDR, and similar memory types actually matter in any meaningful way?

No one bothered to mention what I actually need to look out for when picking up a GPU. Specifically, does any graphics card just work with any motherboard? And is it the same deal with the CPU? Any advice on where to hunt for used parts would be appreciated. I’m looking to pick up something decent for about $300-$133. To be honest, I'm a bit of a cheapskate—I never play on maxed-out settings. For me, raw performance matters way more than visual fidelity, if you catch my drift. 🙂
So, please suggest a good GPU within the $133 range and maybe a reliable shop to buy from.

Upgrading this ancient rig... here's the situation: about two years ago, I was getting a solid 250 FPS lock in Call of Duty 2 and a 125 FPS lock in Call of Duty 4, but now both games are crawling at a pathetic 50-60 FPS.
-My current setup includes an NVIDIA Radeon HD 3450 PCI-e card, 1 GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM😢, an Intel Celeron E3300 2.5 GHz dual-core on a LGA 775 socket, a 65W power supply (assuming 65W TDP is accurate), and an ASrock G31M-GS motherboard.
-By the way, I’m running everything at 1024x768 resolution.
-I'm prepared to shell out up to $167
. -I don't really care which retailer I use; I don't follow market prices closely and I'm honestly clueless about which stores offer the best deals.
-Right now, I'm considering picking up 2 GB of RAM; I already found some on eBay for $47 http://www.ebay.com/itm/ram-memory/...listing-10451171
. -I also need a new graphics card, though I'm wary of buying from eBay because there's always a risk of receiving something burnt out or just plain junk. That said, I'm a bit lost when it comes to motherboard and processor compatibility. It would be helpful if someone could recommend a card priced around $350-$133 that can actually handle Call of Duty 4, Far Cry 3, and GTA 4 without constant, unbearable lag or dropping to 50 FPS.
Thanks.