Disgrace

[StonedRaider]

Originally Posted by Sutts

Yes, I do get regular CTD after 20-40 mins which is a bit limiting to say the least.

Thanks for the advice. I am looking forward to upgrading. So....

Which OS - Win 7 64 Professional or Win 7 64 Ultimate - any benefit for gaming?

Is 6GB RAM enough do you think?

In terms of cards, I'm waiting for the next gen cards to come online and hope for some decent bargains. I guess 2GB+ is best?

Cheers

OS: Is your preferance, just stay away from Vista at any cost! Win 7 and Win ultimate will have exact same performace in games and dont matter 1 single bit. Just make sure it is a 64 bit system otherwise you wont be able to have more than 4 GB RAM.

RAM: 6 or 8 or more will all be fine. It highly depends on what frequency they are running. I got a deal on 12GB DDR3 RAM running at 1600mhz for 40 quid (GBP its UK monies). 6 or 8 GB would be ideal unless you plan to do some very heavy computing like capturing or folding. Generally games will not exceed 4GB ram use, leaving you plenty for other things to run. Win7 Reserves 1GB to itself. So i would say get 8 or more to future proof yourselves a little. Again RAM modules come in different sizes you can get a module (stick) in different varieties like 1,2,4,6,8 GB. So its up to you. Just make sure they are DDR3 and have a good frequency 1600mhz or more!

Cards: The new generation has been released recently. Nvidia literally released their new card a week ago its the GTX680. And ATI about 2 months ago its the ATI 7970. These are Flagship cards and they come at a cost! You are looking at 400 quid (GBP) at the very least for one of them! If you do have the cash to spend on them then expect to be future proofed for 3-4 years! Otherwise get a generation below, like the GTX580 or ATI 6970, although a generation old they are still very powerful and for me the ATI6970 runs everything i play at full settings. Unfortinantley not CoD though. I still believe the optimization the developers will make will eventually take effect and fix this problem. These cards are also made to run at high resolutions and the Vram you refered to comes really into play only at high res. If you are not going above the 1600 resolutions then 2GB will do the trick just fine. Above that you would want 3GB.

Remember that you would also need to upgrade you PSU (Power Supply Unit). This bit i would not cheap out on, and get a quality unit! 750 Watts should be plenty and give you a little head room for later. Some of the good manufactures of PSU's are Corsair, Cooler Master and Antec.

You can always go to Steam Forums into hardware and OS section and ask for some advice. I've seen many people there asking for advice on what parts they need for their usage. Just dont forget to mention your budget! otherwise people go mental and tell you to buy the most expensive stuff!