New computer upgrades-1gb FAST ram or 256 mb video card?:(

[emenance]

My new config will be a msi neo plat nforce 3 mb. 1 gb ram , 6600 gt video card 128 mb . amd venice 3200 at around 2.4 ghz.

 

NOTE: I do not at this time want to buy a new video card or even an old one with 256 mb memory as suggested as min requirements for black shark.

 

QUESTION: Can I get away with installing some fast ram like ocz rev 2 platinum pc3200 and drastically help myself put off the 256 mb video card and find acceptable performance?

 

At this time i am on some corsair pc3200 and this nforce 2 system plays lock on ok but after seeing the new min requirements for black shark and knowing that ghost recon 3 is probley going to want 256 mb video card I know I have to get there soon but wonder how long I can put it off.

 

PROBLEM : I am willing to spring for very fast pc3200 memory to compliment the venice 3200 cpu and overclock........but I just do not want to also or insted spring the money on a 6800 gt 256 mb card at this time!!!!

 

I just looked and could not find min hardware requirements for flaming cliffs???

I guess I really know the answer to my thoughts about upgrading but maybe this will be entertaining to discuss.

[S77th-GOYA]

The min requirements for LOMAC are a joke. Don't even look for them, they're useless. From what I've heard, the 6600GT does very well with LOMAC. Go with the RAM. Ask on a board that specializes in your mobo and find out which memory does the best with it. You may be better off getting PC3500 RAM or better. It might help with any divider problems you encounter with your overclock. Plus, 2.4Ghz would be a very modest OC for most Venice cpus.

[NEODARK]

I have the same mobo in one of my pc's, I can give you some tips if you are interested, I'll post some good links for you later (almost bed time now)

 

for lock on the most important thing is the CPU clock speed, after thant comes the videocard.

 

I say this because lockon is CPU limited, not videocard (for the most part)

 

if you get a good heatsink you can overclock that venice to probably around 2.6 at least, those are some nice overclocking cores, but as always is luck of the draw with every chip you buy.

 

good luck

[emenance]

I have the same mobo in one of my pc's, I can give you some tips if you are interested, I'll post some good links for you later (almost bed time now)

 

for lock on the most important thing is the CPU clock speed, after thant comes the videocard.

 

I say this because lockon is CPU limited, not videocard (for the most part)

 

if you get a good heatsink you can overclock that venice to probably around 2.6 at least, those are some nice overclocking cores, but as always is luck of the draw with every chip you buy.

 

good luck

 

 

Thanks NEODARK

 

I like to go here http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12 but I cant turn down any tips. I know the cpu is lacking in my current set up and thats another reason for upgrade.

 

So far Goya and you guys say go for fast memory. And I can live with that, I just cant justify buying a 256 mb video card at this time. Would be great to see some posts on experience on the difference between 128 mb video memory and 256 mb video memory with this game.

 

You know I just thought of something. The 64 bit boards handle things very fast with big mem band width so the min requiremnet statement for black shark maybe related to nforce 2 systems , and not necessarily 64 bit systems esp 939 cpus with fast memory. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

thanks

[Guest IguanaKing]

I went from a 64MB card to a 256MB card on the same system. Other than the bigger amount of eye candy I was able to see (due to the bigger card being able to handle instructions that weren't recognized by the smaller/older one), there was virtually no improvement in performance (FPS). However, I saw a HUGE performance increase when I put the 256MB card into my new machine with a 3.4 Gig P4 and 1GB of memory. I saw another noticeable boost when I added another gig of memory later on. The wisest investment for LOMAC is CPU and/or memory. :cool: