What do I need to do?

[the hole youth]

hey, before the day doom 3 came out, i had onboard graphics and a low ram. the day it came out i got the game, and a radeon 9600se, i also bumped up to 512 ram. i have an amd athalon xp 1.03ghz and i realized the game runs shitty online and single player. i beat the game through but i saw it run on a good computer and i want to upgrade and what do you think i should do? money isnt a big issue but it is a factor

thanks-the youth

[Amaster]

Are you asking about what kind of upgrade to get?

Basically you should get whatever it is you can afford. A 9600se, while not the worst card in the world, is pretty lousy. You should be aware that cards with names like "se" or "le" are usually chopped down versions of more powerful cards.

Your processor is a bigger issue however. 1.03ghz doesnt even meet the minimum requirements. if I were you, i'd probably upgrade that before anything else.

[the hole youth]

now that i know what im getting, i need to know if a newer, faster, more powerful prossesor will work with my compaq, or if i need to get a new case and motherboard. is there a way i can tell or do you know or somthing

[kristus]

You should be able to installa a more powerful AMD processor in that computer. Duron and Athlon support the same sockets IIRC, but since you already have an Athlon I'd say the best bet would be to go with a new Athlon. (and I'm not just saying that cause that's what I use. :p )

Athlon XP Barton processors are good and fast (not the fastest but they are pretty cheap as they are a bit old)

Personally I use Athlon XP 2.8+ and a 6600gt (128mb) and 512mb ram. this lets me run Doom3 at Hi detail mode at 1280x1024.

BTW, brand computers like Compaq and Dell are the devil.

[Rom]

the hole youth said:

amd athalon xp 1.03ghz

Odd. I don't think even the slowest Athlon XP was clocked as low as 1.03 GHz. Are you sure your multiplier and/or FSB are set correctly?

How much are you willing to spend on an upgrade?

[kristus]

It's clocked at that, but it's comparable to that of a 1.23 or something pentium.-

[Rom]

kristus said:

It's clocked at that, but it's comparable to that of a 1.23 or something pentium.-

But there are no Athlon XPs clocked at 1.03 GHz.

[kristus]

Ok, I'll take your word for it.