[markeyboy9944]

Hi there, i recently bought a new computer and i found out that Portal was laggy on the normal resolution... so i changed it to 640 X 480 at it was still laggy!!

the computer is an HP Pavilion a6218x PC at $599.99 Canadian

here are specs:

• 1.6GHz Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E2140 (1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz Front Side Bus)
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (2x 1GB), expandable to 4GB
• 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• HP Pocket Media Drive bay (drive sold separately)
• SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology 16x DVD±R/RW
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 32MB dedicated graphics memory. Up to 64MB total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista
• Integrated 10/100BaseT network interface
• 56k modem
• High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable (speakers sold separately)
• Ports: Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader – supports SmartMedia, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+, Mini Secure Digital, IBM Microdrive; 6 USB 2.0 (2 front, 4 back); 2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) (1 front, 1 back); Microphone/Headphone/Line-in (front); 2 PS/2; Digital Audio (In & Out); LAN; Rear speaker out/Side speaker out/Center out/Center (subwoofer); Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; VGA - Out (back)
• Includes HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
• Microsoft Windows® Vista Home Premium, Bilingual*

I am looking to upgrade so that it will run source games smoothly, what part should i buy?

Budget: $100 - 300$ i would prefer ATI Radeon b/c that is a recommendation for the hl2 games

for exact page go to:

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

Thanks,

mark

[dice14u]

Well it defiantly is that your graphics card is small lol and your link asks for a Canadian zip code... how can my American self help you with that :-p

[mrdaveyk]

aye you got onboard mate, upgrade that graphics card

you have vista, now i know people are going to perhaps slate me on this but from personal experience...

i had a 7600gt with vista and it was 'ok' i then upgraded to a recommended 8600gt, the 8600 was slurred as being a step down but it was rec. with vista

from using this card which was slated as pants compared to my old i seen a huge difference, very few games (one actually, crysis) that i cant handle on 1400 res on high settings with AA and AF

the geforce 8600gt cost me about £80 from ebuyer.com

i think, not too sure though that ATI have sponsored orange box, hence you get all the ATI signs. so i don't think its a matter of must be ATI as my nvidia has no problemo's

[alex]

Check with the vendor before upgrading the card as it may void your warranty.

If you're not fussed about that then go ahead.

[markeyboy9944]

thanks for all the feedback guys yes i think i am going to upgrade my graphics card.

mark

[markeyboy9944]

Hi me again i am just wondering if this is a fair graphics card and if my computer can take it
Foxconn GeForce 7900GS 256MB PCI-Express Graphics Card Designed for extreme HD gaming, this graphics card features NVIDIA SLI-Ready GeForce 7900 graphics processing units (GPUs) which deliver the most graphics performance, including ultra-realistic gaming experiences and resolutions up to 2560 x 1600. A 256-bit memory interface and fast GDDR3 memory enable blazing graphics performance with maximum quality.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

• PCI-Express based PC with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard.
• 350-Watt Power Supply or Greater (Assumes fully loaded system)
• 512MB System Memory
• CD-ROM Drive (For Installation Software)

Here is my system atm:

• 1.6GHz Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E2140 (1MB L2 Cache, 800MHz Front Side Bus)
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (2x 1GB), expandable to 4GB
• 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• HP Pocket Media Drive bay (drive sold separately)
• SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology 16x DVD±R/RW
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 32MB dedicated graphics memory. Up to 64MB total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista
• Integrated 10/100BaseT network interface
• 56k modem
• High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable (speakers sold separately)
• Ports: Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader – supports SmartMedia, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+, Mini Secure Digital, IBM Microdrive; 6 USB 2.0 (2 front, 4 back); 2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) (1 front, 1 back); Microphone/Headphone/Line-in (front); 2 PS/2; Digital Audio (In & Out); LAN; Rear speaker out/Side speaker out/Center out/Center (subwoofer); Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; VGA - Out (back)
• Includes HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
• Microsoft Windows® Vista Home Premium, Bilingual*

could i run this hardware? and will it get the job done? on source games