I'm gonna upgrade my PC, so I can Play UT3 and other new games, but I don't have loads of money.

Current Spec:
Nvidia GeForce 5500 FX (256mb)
1 Gig Ram
1.6Ghz AMD sempron Processor.

What do you guys reckon wants upgrading, and got any part recommendations?

How much are you ready to spend?

I would reccomend GTX8600 and one of the upgraded ones if you can.

How much should he be ready to spend?

CPU and Graphics card are the big ones you need to upgrade.

He shouldn't be ready to spend any number specifically. We just need a number and suggest to him an upgrade solution that is below the max.

Alright, well I suggest getting at least a Dual core, I don't know prices. If you wanna go cheaper without losing significant power with a video card get a Ati X1600 pro, It works fine for me on the newer games. I don't know the processor price but I know that the x1600 can be gotten for 200$, I got mine for 100$ on christmas special

If he is Richie Rich I would recommend:

processor: Any Core 2 quad 3.02Ghz or higher
Video: Geforce 8800 Ultra 768MB or Radeon 2900 1GB
Memory: 4GB DDR2 RAM

Any Falcon NorthWest will do.

If he wants a better price for performance I would recommend:

processor: Any Core 2 Duo or AMD Althlon 64 X2 2.6Ghz or higher
Video: Geforce 8800GTS 320MB or Radeon 1900 or higher
Memory: 2GB DDR2 RAM

If hes a money stressed cheapster like myself I would recommend:

processor: Any Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 1.8Ghz or higher
Video: GeForce 8600 256MB
Memory: 1GB DDR2 RAM

For future awareness keep an eye out for the Geforce 8900 and 8950 coming this november. People say the GeForce 9 series are coming out then also but I have heard no news of this in the PC tech magazines.

Intel will be releasing their WolfDale and Yorkshire processors soon, this time they are true quad core, not two dual cores glued together.

AMD is doing the same with their Phenom processors that come with true triple or quad cores

DDR3 RAM is on its way

[edit] oops! I just looked at your current PC specs again, unfortunately to use all this you need a brand new PC altogether.

But you might get away with an AGP version of the GeForce 7900 or Radeon 1900 and a single core AMD Athlon

I second Echo's motion on getting a dual core processor, the slowest Core 2 Duo beat the fastest Pentium 4 extreme edition in the benchmarks. but if you dont like Core 2 Duos there are also mock dual core versions of older processors, they are the Pentium D's and AMD athlon X2's

I have an Intel Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz which mimics dual core with Hyper threading. It gets the job done

We don't recommend crap to the help seekers, Echo.

Thankssss, sorry we cant all be rich like you I wasn't really recommending it to him I was just saying that I get by alright with it.

Pentium 4 would be crap if it were free. My point is that Core 2 Duo or a64 X2 is the way to go, depending on the budget. Pentium 4 is cheaper than those for a reason; it won't last.

im gonna have to buy a whole new setup to run ut3...damned tech advances, best of luck with the upgrades jerry

Well a middle class family, both parents working and 4 children to support couldn't afford a Dual core in the beginning of this year. All I way saying is that at the time my P4 was a good investment. Its a helluva lot better than my old AMD 1.8 GHz processor thats for sure.

But yes a Dual Core is more affordable now so if your going to buy or build a completely new PC get one.

Hmmmm, probably got about £250 to spend.

I can get at least a 2Ghz processor, and I was staring blankly at a Nvidia 8600 as it was £170.

What about this for the GPU though:
AMAZON UK
OR
AMAZON UK


Processor:
AMAZON (AGAIN)

Worried if my motherboard will be compatible though, anyone know how to check?
EDIT: Forgot Board: WinFast K7S 741MG-6L

The Inno3D is the better one of the GPUs, but XFX is a more respected manufacturer as far as I know. So whatever floats your boat; brand or speed.

A great choice of processor there, too.

If you don't have a Core 2 Duo now, then the motherboard most certainly does not have the socket C2D uses.

I personally doubt you will get much for £250. If your motherboard is older than 5 years, there is little chance that any good GPU or CPU will be compatible. However, I'd say dual core CPU is a must for UT3. Can't wait until it is 64-bit compatible.

You mean UT3 right?

Think I'm gonna need a new motherboard then

I'll save some moneys and try and go to £350.


Damn the un-mod-ability? of UT3 on consoles.

It is a consideration. If consoles could always use a keyboard/mouse and mod, I would just get a 360 and settle with a $260 (US dollars) pre-built desktop on Woot for my non-gaming PC needs.

Supposedly the PS3 handles UT3 mods like any other computer, download---> install.

Since when does the PS3 have an OS?

eh... I didn't mean it like that, Im just saying that it handles mods well supposedly.

Im pretty sure I read somewhere that the PS3 came with a variation of Linux. With that, you should be able to place PC mods onto a disk and upload them into your PS3.

I do not garuntee if that is true.

And how did a dual core processor become a must for UT04? An old Willamette Pentium 4 will do.

My guess is UT04 in Tyster's post is a typo. Even a medium-speed P4 is enough to run UT2004 on max settings without lag.

not with bw god this mod lags i have my settings at the lowest and the only real thing that lags me is the bots spaming toxic granades

or a certain map

I think the PS3 is a variation of linux........ (it can also run also run linux as a computer)
but you can download mods straight from the net.

What do you mean? Linux is an OS, not a console. The PS3 would have a variation of Linux installed.

I KNOW.
My wording is a bit off today.....

You got that right.