Would it make a big difference changing my current ATI Radeon X1950 Pro (0.5gig mem) to a Radeon HD4550 (1Gig mem) for playing STO at higher quality levels? My CPU is a Pentium D 3.2GHz(2CPUs), 2Gig RAM.
I'm asking as I wonder whether CPU or Vid Card is more important. If it makes little difference with my CPU I wont bother buying the Card.
The 4550 is better, but still a little underpowered for this game. your proc can run this game, but it wont be at medium/high levels.
Depending how much cash you are willing to spend, if it's more than say $£100 then save a bit extra and get a new machine. It's not worth wasting the money if youre going to pay more than that on a gpu.
I'm guessing if your machine is a Pentium D based and your graphics is x1950 your upgrade options may be very limited and it may indeed be time to consider a replacement.
The two or three things to look at to decide...
Whats the best processor your current motherboard will run? Write teh model down, head to the manufacturers web site and look. Shop and see what a new processor will run.
Is your power supply big enough for the higher end craphics cards? Like the Nvidia GTX 260 and 275? Or the ATI 5770 or 5850?
How much memory are you running? 3-4GB is enough. Les and you may want to upgrade that.
Balance the above off the price of a new system with wither the top of the line with a fast AMD quad core or an I7 processor. 64 bit OS and ad lest 4-6 GB of ram. This is more than you need for STO but you should be happy with it for a few years.
If all you have is the time/money to mess with one piece... I'd do your video card.
OK thanks for that. Its probably best i put up with what ive got for now...and if i continue any serious gaming in the future ill prob get a new machine.
Thanks again.
Comments
Depending how much cash you are willing to spend, if it's more than say $£100 then save a bit extra and get a new machine. It's not worth wasting the money if youre going to pay more than that on a gpu.
The two or three things to look at to decide...
Whats the best processor your current motherboard will run? Write teh model down, head to the manufacturers web site and look. Shop and see what a new processor will run.
Is your power supply big enough for the higher end craphics cards? Like the Nvidia GTX 260 and 275? Or the ATI 5770 or 5850?
How much memory are you running? 3-4GB is enough. Les and you may want to upgrade that.
Balance the above off the price of a new system with wither the top of the line with a fast AMD quad core or an I7 processor. 64 bit OS and ad lest 4-6 GB of ram. This is more than you need for STO but you should be happy with it for a few years.
If all you have is the time/money to mess with one piece... I'd do your video card.
Thanks again.