Advice on upgrading

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   i had my system scene the end of 06 and i was thinking it was time to upgrade it.
i was thinking about a new graphic card and mabe more ram but would like some advice on what i should do first before i decide on doing it. my budget will probably be around 600-to-800 i also need to replace the dvd-rom/cd-rom drive as it wont open any more. as for what i do with the pc is i do a lot of graphic design and i do play games on it to so just in case some one asked. thies are my specs on it

Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (With Side Window) (Black Aluminum Edition) 
Power Supply: CoolMax 550W - (it blow up back in july of 09 theres a dynex 400W in there now)   
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4200+ (Dual Core) (1 MB Cache) w/HyperTransport Technology (AM2)
Motherboard: Asus M2N-E (Chipset: nForce 570) (AM2 Socket)
Memory: 2GB DDR2 Super Talent at 800MHz (Dual Channel) (Lifetime Warr.) (High-Performance)
Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition)
Hard Drive 1: Western Digital 320GB (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA II)
Hard Drive 2: Western Digital 320GB (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA II)
Raid Option: Setup my two hard drives in a Raid 0 Stripe (Read and Write Performance Boost)
Optical Drive 1: Sony DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x) (Includes Power DVD) - (^ this is the one the wont open and needs to be fixed ^ )
Optical Drive 2: Sony DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 16x / CD-Writer 48x) (Includes Nero)
Connectivity: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Modem: Creative Labs V.92 Modem Blaster
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel)
Physics Card: - No Thanks
Cooling: Air Cooling (Blizzard Extreme Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 2 Cooling)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Green Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Cabling: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Black Edition)
User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork / Benchmarks / CDs / Manuals)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Restore DVD Recovery Kit
Protection: McAfee Internet Security 2005 V7.0
Office: - No Thanks
LCD Display: Acer 17 inch (1706B) (Contrast 500:1) (Response Time 8 ms) (Black Edition)
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: Altec Lansing 2.1 System (Black Edition) (Model VS2221) (Includes Subwoofer)
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Desktop 2.0 (Multimedia Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse)
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Parts & Labor Warranty   

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Nightmare-R59 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Quote Reply Topic: Advice on upgrading Posted: 22 Feb 2010 at 6:46pm
	i had my system scene the end of 06 and i was thinking it was time to upgrade it. i was thinking about a new graphic card and mabe more ram but would like some advice on what i should do first before i decide on doing it. my budget will probably be around 600-to-800 i also need to replace the dvd-rom/cd-rom drive as it wont open any more. as for what i do with the pc is i do a lot of graphic design and i do play games on it to so just in case some one asked. thies are my specs on it Case: Digital Storm Twister PRO (With Side Window) (Black Aluminum Edition) Power Supply: CoolMax 550W - (it blow up back in july of 09 theres a dynex 400W in there now) Processor: AMD Athlon X2 4200+ (Dual Core) (1 MB Cache) w/HyperTransport Technology (AM2) Motherboard: Asus M2N-E (Chipset: nForce 570) (AM2 Socket) Memory: 2GB DDR2 Super Talent at 800MHz (Dual Channel) (Lifetime Warr.) (High-Performance) Floppy / Media: Sony 1.44MB Floppy (Black Edition) Hard Drive 1: Western Digital 320GB (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA II) Hard Drive 2: Western Digital 320GB (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA II) Raid Option: Setup my two hard drives in a Raid 0 Stripe (Read and Write Performance Boost) Optical Drive 1: Sony DVD-ROM/CD-ROM (DVD Reader 16x / CD Reader 40x) (Includes Power DVD) - (^ this is the one the wont open and needs to be fixed ^ ) Optical Drive 2: Sony DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 16x / CD-Writer 48x) (Includes Nero) Connectivity: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Modem: Creative Labs V.92 Modem Blaster Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB (By: eVGA) (PCI-Express) TV Tuner: - No Thanks Sound Card: Motherboard Multi-Channel High Definition Audio (7.1 Channel) Physics Card: - No Thanks Cooling: Air Cooling (Blizzard Extreme Heat-sink and Fan (Stage 2 Cooling) Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Green Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes) Cabling: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Black Edition) User Manual: FREE! Personalized Elite Digital Storm Binder (Paperwork / Benchmarks / CDs / Manuals) Windows OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2 Restore Kit: FREE! Digital Storm Restore DVD Recovery Kit Protection: McAfee Internet Security 2005 V7.0 Office: - No Thanks LCD Display: Acer 17 inch (1706B) (Contrast 500:1) (Response Time 8 ms) (Black Edition) Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: Altec Lansing 2.1 System (Black Edition) (Model VS2221) (Includes Subwoofer) Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Desktop 2.0 (Multimedia Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse) Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse Warranty: 2 Year Platinum Care Parts & Labor Warranty


DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 22 Feb 2010 at 7:17pm
	if the 2GB of ram is enough for you now then you don't need it tho IMO 4GB would be good, problem here is that xp will see only 3GB of it. this is a problem with all 32bit windows. tho many of us still have 4GB in our system even tho we have a 32 bit xp. upgrade the gpu IMO and maybe 2GB of ram if you feel like it or see that you need more ram. get yourself a 5770 and I think that is more then enough, what res you gaming at? dvd drives are dirt cheap also, I don't even think with media drives, ram and a 5770 you will get anywhere near $600.
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Nightmare-R59 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Feb 2010 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Quote Reply Posted: 22 Feb 2010 at 7:27pm
	im at 1024x768 i normally get around 70-130 fps with everything on witch this is the 1 game that i play with this pc (NR2k3) how ever i cant play any newer games because of the graphic card at 256 also when i do my graphic stuff it is where it starts to bog down with photoshop cs3 Edited by Nightmare-R59 - 22 Feb 2010 at 7:31pm


DST4ME Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 36758	Quote Reply Posted: 23 Feb 2010 at 2:20pm
	ok the cs3 is bugging down due to lack of ram, so you do want 2 more GB of ram. if you are getting that much fps from your current card then the 5770 should do you just fine, tho if you are getting those fps, then you don't need a gpu upgrade do you? what would be the point?
	Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers

Advice on upgrading

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