OT: Upgrade route/advice.

Recently purchased a new computer with the following specs: P4 2.2 256meg DDR Ram GF4 MX420 Graphics Hercules Fortissimo2 Sound Whilst this is a big improvement over the last system, I'm not seeing the performance I was hoping for. I'm assuming that the two bottlenecks are the amount of RAM and the weak graphics card. On a reasonably tight budget, (say �150-�200) what should I upgrade first, and what to? Thanks in advance, Rick.

"Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ai8l85$rb6$[email hidden]... > Recently purchased a new computer with the following specs: > > P4 2.2 > 256meg DDR Ram > GF4 MX420 Graphics > Hercules Fortissimo2 Sound Leadtek Wfast GF4 Ti4200 - �121 inc Vat ( majorpriority - the gfx card you list above is NASTY) Then if you can stretch to it - 256 Meg DDR Ram - �60.90. (expensive at the moment - should drop again soon-ish) All from www.overclockers.co.uk DOug

Rick, Novatech are selling their own brand GF4600 for �200 inc VAT. Glenn

"Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ai8l85$rb6$[email hidden]...

Quoted text (9 lines)

> Recently purchased a new computer with the following specs: > > P4 2.2 > 256meg DDR Ram > GF4 MX420 Graphics > Hercules Fortissimo2 Sound > > Whilst this is a big improvement over the last system, I'm not seeing the > performance I was hoping for. I'm assuming that the two bottlenecks are

the > amount of RAM and the weak graphics card. On a reasonably tight budget,(say > �150-�200) what should I upgrade first, and what to? > > Thanks in advance, > > Rick. > Your video card is like buying a Ferrari and then putting bicycle tires on. You've got a-lot of horsepower in the P4 but no way to use most of it because of the MX. GF4 ti 4200's are lowest price/high performance cards at the moment. You might want to wait just a little while til the new ATI Radeon's come out. That might drive the GF prices down.(might..just a guess) dave henrie

Thanks all - much appreciated. The Ti4200 is on its way as I type, and I'm looking into the 256 of DDR Ram this afternoon - PC World are quoting �54, so for once they may be cheaper. One quickie - I've already got the latest Detonator drivers on the system - should I just switch cards, or delete and reinstall drivers? Thanks again. Rick.

Delete and reinstall. Most likely if you have not upgraded them the current drivers from Dell are old ones. So uninstall and then after installing new card install the latest drivers. MadDAWG

"Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:aib8ea$sr4$[email hidden]... > Thanks all - much appreciated. > > The Ti4200 is on its way as I type, and I'm looking into the 256 of DDRRam > this afternoon - PC World are quoting �54, so for once they may becheaper. > > One quickie - I've already got the latest Detonator drivers on thesystem - > should I just switch cards, or delete and reinstall drivers? > > Thanks again. > > Rick. > Definately UN-install(not delete) the drivers and begin anew. check out guru3d.com for a faq on properly changing drivers. Also before installing the new drivers try this(making sure you have NOT unzipped the newest driver yet. ) find files and look for NV*.* delete them all AFTER you have properly uninstalled them and changed to a plain jane vga driver. Also you may want to try Detonator Destroyer, also available at guru3d.com and run that before getting the newest drivers(version 30.00 last I saw) THEN re-install... have fun...good luck dave henrie