What a difference a new video card makes.....

[Airwolf]

Just had a built in ( in board?) video card but I never had a problem running stuff, like say, Fighter Ace (may peace be upon FA)........But in AH, frame rates plummeted to as low as 10-15fps.....My system is a 2 gigahertz, dual core, 1gb of ram...I realized that I had to upgrade the video card, so I ended up buying a Radeon Sapphire HD 5760 512mb...I also threw in extra ram, which now stands at 2.5 gb.........
And, as they say, WOW!......I`ve turned up the screen resolution to 2048, and turned on all the graphics (shadows, terrain,  water stuff, details up, range to 4 miles etc)...Also set the vid card to "high performance"....

Now, my frames rates are 80-90, and several times in a GV, I was getting 130-150 frames power second........I certainly did expect better results, but this has exceeded my wildest expectations.....

My muse is with me, and there is calm in the world....(I can also see targets better, so now I`m getting more kills...Kill!, Kill!..pant, wheeze).....I feel much now, doctor.........

[Masherbrum]

One thing.   If you have 2.5G just between RAM sticks, make sure you are running in "Dual-Channel" and not "Single Channel". 

[zack1234]

hurrah! for Ati

[Airwolf]

Should be a Sapphire HD 5670 512mb....

[Airwolf]

One thing.   If you have 2.5G just between RAM sticks, make sure you are running in "Dual-Channel" and not "Single Channel". 

Being computer illiterate, I have no idea what that means....But it`s working very well.....

[Kazaa]

What's the screen resolution of your monitor, just out of curiosity.

[1701E]

Being computer illiterate, I have no idea what that means....But it`s working very well.....

To run in dual channel you'll have two sticks of RAM both being the same speed (800/1066/1600MHz) and both being the same size (512MB/1GB/2GB) running in the correct slots.  So to run in Dual channel you'd have this (4 slots):

*Yellow colored slot* 1GB DDR2-800MHz    *Red slot* EMPTY     *Yellow* 1GB DDR2-800MHz        *Red* EMPTY
   Colors will vary per board.

You can also do this with the RED slots, and they don't have to match the yellow ones in size, but in speed they do (although typically best to use all same size/brand/speed for best results).
I'm not exactly "great" with the whole RAM thing, but those are the basics that I'm sure someone will correct if wrong.

[Airwolf]

What's the screen resolution of your monitor, just out of curiosity.

I don`t know...Huh, how about that...

[Airwolf]

To run in dual channel you'll have two sticks of RAM both being the same speed (800/1066/1600MHz) and both being the same size (512MB/1GB/2GB) running in the correct slots.  So to run in Dual channel you'd have this (4 slots):

*Yellow colored slot* 1GB DDR2-800MHz    *Red slot* EMPTY     *Yellow* 1GB DDR2-800MHz        *Red* EMPTY
(Image removed from quote.)   Colors will vary per board.
My system has only two slots for ram sticks.....One slot has 2gb strip and the other has a 512mb strip.......

You can also do this with the RED slots, and they don't have to match the yellow ones in size, but in speed they do (although typically best to use all same size/brand/speed for best results).
I'm not exactly "great" with the whole RAM thing, but those are the basics that I'm sure someone will correct if wrong.

[1701E]

My system has only two slots for ram sticks.....One slot has 2gb strip and the other has a 512mb strip.......

Two is common mostly in Micro-ATX (small form factor motherboards) but it operates the same, but in stead of Red AND Yellow it's just red (colors vary).  I only have two as well (prefer Micro boards).
Since it operates the same, you'll want the same size/speed RAM in both slots (example: 2x 2GB DDR2-800) for best results.  If you can afford it, try to get the same 2GB you bought before and replace that 512MB.

[Airwolf]

Two is common mostly in Micro-ATX (small form factor motherboards) but it operates the same, but in stead of Red AND Yellow it's just red (colors vary).  I only have two as well (prefer Micro boards).
Since it operates the same, you'll want the same size/speed RAM in both slots (example: 2x 2GB DDR2-800) for best results.  If you can afford it, try to get the same 2GB you bought before and replace that 512MB.

The 2gb of ram only cost me about$60 CDN...But i don`t know red and yellow slots...The video card went into a black slot, and ram went into beige slots....Anyhoo, it works and it`s fast...Fat and happy...

[Tigger29]

I recently upgraded from an Nvidia 9800GTX+ to an ATI 5830 video card.  It may be the low end of the 58XX series, but I like it.  It does outperform the 9800GTX+...  maybe not by a huge amount but noticeable.  With the 9800GTX+ I could run full settings maxed out but no shadows and only one 'notch' of AA.  With the 5830 I can do the same, except with full AA and 2048 Shadow textures (but not other planes' shadows).

I wasn't really planning on upgrading, but the G/F needed an upgrade for her Sims3 so I gave her my 9800GTX+ and got me the 5830.  (BTW Sim3 had a recent update which finally fixed all of her random crashes for those of you whose 'wives' play that game).