A good enough setup for UT3 and Crysis?

My specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ processor 2.0ghz, though overclockable to 2.8ghz

nVidia 6150 (part of this question)

2gb RAM

Vista (no SP1 yet)

Now, I am replacing the 6150 with either an 8500GT or a 7300GS (possibly a 8600GT), a PCI slot fan, and a 120mm CPU cooler for overclocking.

Question 1: Would an 8500GT, a 7300GS, or possibly (please leave 8600 out, i know how it does.) an 8600GT work best?

Question 2: Is 2.0ghz processor going to massively affect gameplay, which leads to...

Question 3: If not, should I overclock or buy a new processor? and my budget is ~$150.

Oh and if you want a new cpu..And asuming because of your mobo youll have to stick to amd.... Check out the amd 5200+ X2.

Nice cpu and can be clocked up to the same speeds as the 6400+ BE which isnt OCable at all.

I'm not exactly going to get the 8600, because it costs a little too much. I just want to know if the other two will work fine.PaVILiOn_010

The 8500gt will run UT3 aswell. The game's got a great engine that even runs well on lower end systems. But again.. Dont count on crysis with a 8500gt.

Yeah i was if i got it going to set it on Medium graphics probably. I'm really interested in Quake Wars and the 6150 runs it pretty sloppy, so will that do well?

Yeah i was if i got it going to set it on Medium graphics probably. I'm really interested in Quake Wars and the 6150 runs it pretty sloppy, so will that do well?PaVILiOn_010

Havent experimented enough with quake wars to give you a straight answer.

I really recommend you take a look at the 8600 series cards over the 8500.
Huge leap in performance right there and you can get a 8600gt now for like 65 bucks after a MIR.
Cant beat that!

I buy off Newegg exclusively because they are the only ones i wholeheartedly trust.PaVILiOn_010

probably ~$75-$100, then a PCI slot fan and the CPU cooler

probably ~$75-$100, then a PCI slot fan and the CPU cooler

PaVILiOn_010

why a psi slot fan? The 8600 series has built in fans on the cards and unless your going to overclock to the extreme theres no use for another one.

check out this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286

MSI 8600gt AND you get a free copy of Witcher. Awesome RPG.

ill just get the card alone i can play M games but im too young for Witcher.PaVILiOn_010

Its not too violent. Mainly just your everyday awesome rpg injected with some graphic steroids. Check out some trailers on youtube.

If you still decide against it.. check out http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229

XFX is in my opinion the strongest name in Nvidia cards. + this one has a pretty nice overclock on it.

Oh I forgot about the power supply... crap....PaVILiOn_010

whats in your system now? 8600GTs have a very low power requirement.

280WPaVILiOn_010

Hmm. Risky.. Calculate your total system power consumption including the 8600gt. You might actually be alright.

My specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ processor 2.0ghz, though overclockable to 2.8ghz

nVidia 6150 (part of this question)

2gb RAM

Vista (no SP1 yet)

Now, I am replacing the 6150 with either an 8500GT or a 7300GS (possibly a 8600GT), a PCI slot fan, and a 120mm CPU cooler for overclocking.

Question 1: Would an 8500GT, a 7300GS, or possibly (please leave 8600 out, i know how it does.) an 8600GT work best?

Question 2: Is 2.0ghz processor going to massively affect gameplay, which leads to...

Question 3: If not, should I overclock or buy a new processor? and my budget is ~$150.

PaVILiOn_010

I have a friend with a 8500GT and he runs crysis on lowest possible res, lowest possible graphics, and it runs (im not saying well) i would say 8500GT is not good enough for todays standards, i was going to get the 8600GT, but then i changed and got the 512 8800GT, i am very happy with my descision, as i run crysis on high, 1680 X 1050, and only lagging once or twice, i strongly reccommend the 8600GT if your on a budget, it should play most games really well, just don't count on new games, i wouldn't bother buying crysis unless you want it for the gameplay, and its not the best, once you get the graphics card head over to: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest and see what games your comp can run and how well. I don't reccommend overclocking unless you know what your doing. I assume all other recent games can run well, but for the more demanding ones, maybe turn down the res, (assuming you get the 8600GT).

EDIT: i just noticed the power supply, 280W? NO, get more, it depends on how much parts you have and what takes up what, but minimum of 350 and you could go up to 500 (i got), you dont really need more unless you are going for some insane rig, you might want to get around 400, i don't think they are too expensive. Also, i don't know anything about AMD, sorry,

an 8600GT will run UT3 just fine
a 8500GT will be a little sloppy

you need a 8800 or better to run crysis at playable levels

if you have a dell or hp computer you cant overclock or put in a differanct CPU fan