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View Full Version : Bought a PC for a song - want to upgrade a bit



Klipt
03-30-2010, 05:39 PM
OK, I am not a PC builder by any stretch (the most I've done is replace video cards) - but I bought a PC for peanuts (at a yard sale!) and am hoping to upgrade it just enough to comfortably play non-twitch games, such as Torchlight and scalable MMO's.

Here's the machine I bought:
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/emachines-t5048/1707-3118_7-32081796.html
Intel Pentium 4 524 / 3.06 GHz (pretty sure it's dual core)
DDR SDRAM

I've got 2GB RAM coming for it (G. SKill) and am not sure yet about whether to purchase the REALLY budget 9500 GT video card, or spring for the slightly less budget (but still relatively cheap) 9800 GTX card. I'll figure it out.

MY BIG QUESTION: I have a Vista install available to me (and the machine would support it) - but with a slightly junk machine and only 2GB DDR ram, would Vista actually be an upgrade over XP for me? I know Vista is not the buggy p.o.s. it was when it first released... but I heard you really want 4GB ram to take advantage of Vista... is that true? My machine can only use 2GB.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

RickyTick
04-06-2010, 07:34 PM
I think I would just stay with XP. The 9500GT would probably be fine for the games you listed. You might also consider the 9600GT. It's not much more expensive and would give a nice performance jump.