Hey,
I am going to upgrade my computer settings (idk how to say it anyway, english is not my native language as you may know already)
I was thinking about buying this stuff:
- NVIDIA GTX 460 768MB
- AMD CPU Athlon II X2 250 3.0 GHz
My computer has 2GB RAM, should I upgrade it too?
Please tell me what you think of each, a good review and opinion PLEASE its a really important buy I'm about to do.
Thanks!

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 8 2010, 11:47 pm by Lethoth.

Download and install CPU-z on whatever computer you want to upgrade, then take a screenshot of each of the tabs. Post the tabs up here. This will allow us to see what your computer hardware currently looks like, so we can see what is compatible with your current setup.

That will work for medium, though get a better graphics card (4770 >> 4650).

If you want high, buy a 5770. Anything more will bottleneck the CPU.

You can also get an E8400, as those are still beasts of CPUs, as well as something a little more major, like a GTX 460. While you're at it, you can drop $100 on some 4-4-4-15 DDR2-800, but that's not all that necessary. 2 GB should be enough.

What about a GTX 460 with the E3300?

Your CPU will just bottleneck it to all hell. Bad idea. A good balance would be picking up a used HD 4850 1GB for like 90$ if you don't mind power consumption. Otherwise get the HD 5770. Either way dropping in a heavier CPU is going to help a lot too.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 8 2010, 2:09 am by Excalibur.

What is "bottleneck it"?

to bottleneck - to slow something down so it it's not running at full capacity.

Basically that means the GTX 460 will be bored when playing games while your CPU is working like crazy.
Not necessarily a bad thing though, since you can upgrade the CPU later and in the meantime you still benefit from its power for PhysX games and you can set certain graphics settings that don't affect your CPU to full.

So what is enough... a E5400 2.7 or a E6500 2.93? (both are dual core) I can fully afford the GTX 460 (768mb) and the E5400 (2.7), for the E6500 (2.93) I would need to get a little more of money --doesn't matter anyway-- please just tell me what will be OK

EDIT: cool my PC name is COLOSSUS, like that overpowered protoss unit It's a cool name, I owned 2 computers with around 20 stalkers, 30 inmortals and 8 collosus...
sorry well returning to the main theme, I got the CPU-Z thing and here it is: please say also if the graphics card and processor "fit" in my computer


Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 8 2010, 10:02 pm by Lethoth.

You were going to try and put Intel CPUs in your PC when you have an AMD CPU and mobo right now?

HANDS I told you both to write AMD not Intel!
What about AMD CPU Athlon II X2 250 3.0 GHz? cheaper and it's better than that E6500

I'm not up on AMD CPUs right now, but that should at least be compatible with your mobo, provided you get the AM3 BIOS upgrade.

"provided you get the AM3 BIOS upgrade" what?? what did you mean with that?

Lethoth, a simple google search would be answering a lot of the questions you've been asking. Quite frankly, if you can't do your own homework, not only are we not going to do it for you, but you wouldn't have a prayer of replacing any PC component without proper research. Start using your brain if you want to actually get any of this done, because being lazy is just going to lead to you breaking something.

And there is a big difference between asking for advice and being lazy. Cent and CAFG at least did their homework before asking for advice, which is why I was more than happy to help them.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 9 2010, 10:07 pm by Excalibur.

"provided you get the AM3 BIOS upgrade"

Sound it out in your head. Google anything you don't understand.

AM3 BIOS upgrade. An upgrade to your BIOS so you can use AM3.

Well guess what. You can't. Just get a new computer. Save up $400-600. I suppose you can get a brisbane 5400 and experience a pretty big performance boost. It's not really worth the money though, as it will still be somewhat slow on sc2.

I don't know if BIOS support has anything to do with AM3 specifically. It is probably more about CPU support in general, like supporting the number of cores, the voltages, multiplier, etc.

Anyway, to get a hint on that, see what the date is for the latest BIOS for your motherboard on the manufacturer's web site. If it is old, you probably aren't going to be able to use any new CPU.

I know my AM2 board can't use anything worthwhile upgrading. The DFI people refuse to release any support for newer CPUs.

DFI is a good company, even Gigabyte and ASUS have had BIOS update issues, Giga especially actually.

And I'm not sure if you heard but DFI had canceled the entire Lanparty line. I have no idea what brand my next board is going to be, but I am not happy.

http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9143
This is my problem with DFI. Not to say they're a bad company, but it seems they really don't care about phased out products at all. I'm very impressed with the quality of my hardware, and especially the POST error LCD (lets me know exactly what's wrong). However, the Asus crosshair (which was a major contender for my $200 motherboard choice) has full support of most am2+ processors with virtually the same components.
What are the problems associated with their bios updates?

I suppose the only way I'm going to find out if it works is to buy one myself, but it's a little late now, since buying am3 (which definitely won't work) is the way to go.

My next motherboard will be any sort of Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, DFI, Asrock, or Biostar, in that order of preference. From what I hear, asrock is just asus with a different name, and I was extremely impressed with a biostar motherboard I got (and their website too). Gigabyte seems like it simply has excellent quality, and I've gotten at least 2 boards from them that I don't expect to ever die on me.

I don't like Giga's colors, layout, or just the way their boards shape up to be. They seem kind of thin when you compare them to say a DFI board. I'd like an ASUS if its done correctly and with good coloring, (See the new ASUS Sabertooth X58) and if not, Biostar has been impressing me, especially with their AMD boards. I got a bum X58 from ASRock so I don't think I'm going near them for awhile, and I've had tons of problems with MSI products as well.

As a man who hates blue LEDs with a passion equivalent to that of OSU fans hating Michigan fans, I think how a board looks should not matter at all, but rather it should function well. Blue LEDs' sole purpose is to look cool. There really is no other reason they exist on computer components. They are more of a handicap as they blind every single normal person unless you put some tape over it.

I've bought 2 of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397 for HTPCs I made for my brother and parents. I suppose I should really take a look at the boards the next chance I get, but they seemed very sturdy, and have this whole pimped out "ultra durable" advertisement posted everywhere on the box. IMO, the only thing that would make this board better is side mounted SATA and a red color, rather than a blue (as blue is my least favorite color due to a number of reasons), and both of those are aesthetics.

My DFI board was designed to have a black light put inside the case, and have a clear side panel. I haven't tried it yet, but I don't think that way. I bought the board pretty much on a whim, when someone on tom's hardware said "get this board: it's the best am2 board on the market right now". It just goes to show you how much I've learned since then.