Member Avatar for that_stupid_guy

Ok I wanna play this game and its a culmination of a long desire to upgrade my new computer

Called Age of Conan...My budget is about up $500

heres the requirements

Required
OS: Windows Vista/XP
Processor: 3GHz Pentium IV
RAM: 1GB RAM
Video Card: Shader Model 2.0 and 128MB RAM: NVIDIA GeForce 5800 or ATI 9800

Recommended
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz (E6600) or better
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950GX2 or better
RAM: 2GB or more

I have a Dimension 4500 which has like 512mb of ram 80gb hard drive, 1.8ghz, and some old video card (im not that great with computers)

I know enough to be able to put all the stuff in myself so thats not a problem its just... what should i buy to get the best performance for the money.

Been thinking about ebay....idk i need help here lol

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Talonis

Dani AI

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Short, practical plan for moving this PC toward playable performance on a demanding title with roughly a $500 budget.

As said, prioritize a discrete video card and more RAM before chasing CPU clock. Many games are GPU- and memory-bound; you’ll get bigger, immediate gains there. That said, if the machine is from the pre-PCIe/very-old era, putting money into a single component can be wasted—sometimes a used newer system is the smarter buy.

Checklist before spending anything:

  • Identify the motherboard/expansion slot and RAM type (look on the case label or run the Windows System Information tool). Confirm whether the slot is AGP or PCIe and whether the board uses DDR, DDR2, etc.
  • Check the power supply label for total wattage, 12V rail amperage, and whether it has PCIe power connectors. Measure card clearance and cooling space in the case.
  • Decide upgrade path: if you have PCIe and DDR2/DDR3 support, buy a decent used PCIe GPU + RAM. If you’re stuck on AGP or antiquated RAM, look for a used complete system with a newer motherboard/CPU (better long-term value).

Budget and buying tips:

  • Spend most of the budget on the GPU, then RAM, then PSU if needed. On auction sites, prefer tested items, sellers with good feedback, local pickup or returns, and photos showing connectors and part numbers. Ask if the card was used with the same OS you run.

Install and expectation notes:

  • Update BIOS if required, uninstall old video drivers before installing a new card, verify PSU connectors and cooling, and remember that multiple CPU cores do not sum their clock speeds — core count helps multithreaded workloads but single-core performance still matters for some games.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for P0110X

give high priority to video card and memory rather than cpu

Member Avatar for Talonis

Wait. How can the required CPU be 3Ghz and the recommended 2.4Ghz. It is the other way around, right?

Member Avatar for P0110X

because the 3ghz is single core and the 2.4 says dual core, which is really faster than 3ghz single core.

Member Avatar for Talonis

Ah. Forgot to do my research. Hey while we are on the subjects of processors, about what total speed do I get with a 2.2 Ghz Quad-core?

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