I am debating on upgrading my pc or just holding out for a new one. My current is a Compaq SR1920 NX AMD 64 3500 2.2 ghz XP SP3 2 gb DDR (512 originally) Nvidia 6150 256 mb 200 gb hard drive Now I know I need a better graphics card. But will that be enough? I have asked a few people about upgrading the card to like an 8600 or a 9600. Half said that I have to check my power supply to see what I can handle. The other half said that since it has a PCI Express slot I can put whatever card I want in it and not to worry about the power supply. I've tried looking up what my power is but the specs dont show it. Getting a new one even a mid level pc or having one built is out of the question for now. So should I go ahead and upgrade the card? If so how good of one can I get? Or should I just hold out for a new one?
My advice is to buy a Nvidia 9600gt, very good price and performs very good, even with 2010 games, but be sure you have a pci expansion slot on your motherboard and a power supply of at least 550-600w (not the expensive ones), a no-name 600w power supply will be enough for sure. You will be able to run SC2 on 1280x1024 on high at least, if not ultra.
don't bother buying anything until the game actually comes out. the game won't be out for a few months at least, and prices will be lower. your rig is ok, i'd recommend another gig of ram if you have the slots for it, and a video card upgrade.
You do know that 3 gigs of RAM is a bit of a stupid suggestion, right? If you want to expand 2 gigs, then put in another 2. As for my opinion on upgrading or buying a new pc: I'd go for a new one. Because now you kinda have a very limited amount of memory, both RAM and HDD. If you upgrade your videocard, you most likely also need a new power supply, etc. It's so many upgrades that you might as well start over. And getting Windows 7 would also be a good idea, by the way. Gotta have the latest DirectX if you really want to enjoy what newer videocards have to offer. ^^
