Will this work

[YoungSteve]

I currently have a E2180 Intel 2.0 GHZ processor and a BFG 9800GT OC 1gb running together with 3GB of ram. I have noticed that when playing Empire total war that the game is still a tad bit slow but not laggy and not what i had hoped it to be. I know my card is a capable card and should be able to play it smoothly. I think the problem is my processor.

I have decided to build a new PC and use this AMD processor and gigabyte MOBO along with my new 9800GT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376W

That should be able to play games pretty well right ?

Any input is appreciated,
Thank You

 

[WR2]

What monitor resolution are you using?
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ is a good gaming CPU - but its probably not a good upgrade from where you already are right now.

Do a test. Set the game up to run in 1024x768 screen resolution and run in a window (windowed mode). If the game is substantially faster it's the graphics card holding you back. If it's about the same speed as before it's the CPU holding back your performance.

Is there some reason you can't overclock the E2180?

 

[jay2tall]

Yeah id try and OC your e2180 first. it's free! and they usually have a bit of headroom.

 

[WR2]

I think I "smell a dell". The E2180 and 3GB RAM is a bit of a hint.

It might be a better idea to just upgrade the CPU with E5400 or E7500.
Although Im not sure it will give you the kind of boost in gaming performance you're hoping for.

 

[jay2tall]

a 9800Gt should be fine at that res... I always run at my monitors resolution and turn off AA and AF if needed. I rather have a crisp pixel to pixel image

You could drop in a getter CPU. Those Pentiums kinda stink. i have one in my work PC and it still chugs... and its a dell haha

 

[YoungSteve]

gateway GM5626

cheers for u twos input

 

[WR2]

Looks to be a standard micro-ATX system.
You could drop in a micro-ATX P3x or P4x motherboard and OC the 2180. E7400/E7500 and the new motherboard would be the best performance upgrade.

Are you thinking of a completely new system build?

 

[YoungSteve]

Yes i am.
The micro ATX gets pretty hot with the new PSU i had to put in and the heat of the 9800GT
I was thinking of getting a new Hard drive and and install vista HP 64Bit, use my optical drive get a 600WPSU then buy these parts

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147113

I think i can use my ram that i have with the new mobo, it is compatible according to the specs of both.

 

[WR2]

Exactly what gets hots? And how hot does it get?
You don't need a 600W PSU for a 9800GT. What are you using now?
Why are you looking at the older AMD CPUs?

 

[UNICOMPLEX]

Hardware requirements for that game are as follows.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows XP 32(service pack 2), Windows Vista 32 OS.
Processor: 2.4 GHz Single Core Intel or AMD equivalent processor.
System Memory: 1GB RAM (XP) 2GB RAM (Vista).
Graphics Card: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (shader 2.0 or higher).
Sound Card: Directx9.0c compatible sound card.
Windows compatible mouse & keyboard.
15 GB free uncompressed hard drive space
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So there may be an issue with the CPU because even though you have a E2180 with 2 cores x 2.0ghz this game may only use 1 core which leaves you 0.5ghz short of the system requirments, this may sound weird but most games are still only using 1 core rendering the second core pointless.

WR2 is right why are you looking at an old CPU to replace the one you have, dont get me wrong the AMD 6000+ is not a bad CPU if your on a budget but you could go a bit more future proof like a Phenom II 940 !

 

[YoungSteve]

Yes i understand but like you said and i already knew, games only use one core so to me a quad would be useless and a waste when i don't really need it.
The 3.0 GHZ would be plenty for me correct ?

 

[WR2]

games only use one core

How do you know that? It's not true now and it certainly won't be true in the future.

So why did you choose the older AMD CPU?