is this a decent graphics card upgrade?

im going from...

NVIDIA geforce fx 5200- 128MB

to...

ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/51 Radeon HD 4350 Video Card - 512MB DDR2, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFire, Dual-Link DVI, VGA, HDMI

im not a big computer wiz.. i just wanna play games like battlefield 2 and black and white 2 with no problems with atleast medium-high graphics..

should i also consider upgrading my RAM memory too? i only have 512MB, my friend told me that i need ALOT more but im sorta on a budget..

any suggestions??

thanks

i have to wonder what the rest of your components are based on what you tell us, and i'm going to guess a pentium 4 and a slow ass hard drive. anyways, to answer your question, that would be a slight upgrade for the two games mentioned, and you'll want to jump up to at least one gig of ram - preferably 2 gigs. but if you want the option of playing newer games i'd say a whole new build is necessary. maybe look for a better video card, because according to newegg reviews that one gets 30 fps on low on bf2.

I was in your situation around 2003 - I went from a geforce 4 MX card to a 5200 thinking I was getting an upgrade, but it wasn't until I replaced the 5200 with an ati all-in-wonder 9800 pro that I realized what an upgrade really was. I was running BF2 at 1280x1024 on high with the 9800 - but that was after I upgraded from 1GB to 1.5 GB of ram. So honestly, I would recommend you upgrade to 2GB of ram to get the most out of Battlefield 2 - it will smooth out some stuttering and decrease your waiting time for the game to load. As far as a video card upgrade, something like an ati x800 or an nvidia 6800 card would be just great for those 2 games. If possible, you should look for a 7800 or 7900 nvidia card and bf2 would fly.

Edit: At the time I switched from the 5200 to the 9800 pro, I had 1 GB of system ram and an athlon XP 3000+ cpu - very similar to a pentium 4 at 3.06 GHz, and when I added the other 512MB of memory, I was able to run the game at 1280x1024 on High settings.

This is for Battlefield 2142, but it uses the same game engine as BF2 (it's almost like a game mod):

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS RECOMMENDED
In order to play the game at the recommended resolution, detail and performance levels, your computer should match or exceed the following specifications:

Operating system: Windows XP with latest service pack installed DirectX 9.0c February 2006 edition (included)
CPU: Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon 3.0 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 1.5GB
Video Card: 256MB DirectX compliant video card, Pixel shader 2.0 and above. (AGP and PCIe only)
Sound card: Sound Blaster X-Fi series from Creative Labs
Hard Drive space: 2.2GB of space is required to install the game
Internet connection: 512Kbit Cable/DSL connection

The idea with PC games is to at least meet the recommended settings (or go higher if possible). But, when it says 256 MB video memory, it's the actual power of the card that's the most important - not just meeting the amount of memory.

Speed of the HD never seemed to make difference, not unless it's ancient or the motherboard is ancient. I'm talking like 15 years and beyond.

its a fairly beefy upgrade but i could think of bigger ones.. like a whole new system rotflmao.

If you wanted to see a decent improvement i would seriously recommend a new computer. That sounds ancient.

As these guys don't seem to get, you will get the most bang-for-the-buck upgrading your memory to 2GB and replacing your 5200 with something like an nvidia 7900 video card. Much cheaper than a whole new system, and will play the game you want without any problems at all. Why build a whole new system if you can just increase memory and upgrade the video, getting more life out of your current computer? The only reason for a whole new system would be if you wanted to play something like GTA IV or Crysis, not Battlefield 2.Stinger78

because the fx5200 came in pci.. ya know just a thought.

thats a slow carddd :| i hadd thatt in 2004 lol:lol:

thats a slow carddd :| i hadd thatt in 2004 lol:lol:

enriK233

Same here ..

Ull not regret ugrading ur system i remember having this card for like 2 years and its fells like torture if i think bout it now.

To get a decent upgrade u need to upgrde ur mobo since i remember the 5200 being an agp 8x Get a 9600gt its the best value card thatl fit ur budget and itl almost run current games on high with resolutions on the lower end

because the fx5200 came in pci.. ya know just a thought.aura_enchanted

You must have missed where the card he mentioned in his first post was PCI Express 2.0 - so I had to assume he has PCI-Express - and the 5200 card I had in 2002/2003 was AGP (128 MB).

alright now check this..

my parents dont trust me with anything electronics for some reason so im looking to learn how to upgrade my own computer without ruining it

and im just a high school student with only like $100 to spend right now.

i know my computer sounds ancient, i think its a 2003-2004 dell tower or something? im just looking for some help cause i want to get into PC gaming but i have no clue where to begin..

so is there a way to findout what i have under my hood? like a website or something? i have no idea what is compatable with my motherboard yet alone i dont even know what kind of motherboard i have lol right?

Download CPU-Z from www.cpuid.com - it will tell you cpu speed and type, motherboard model, along with ram amount, speed, and type. The motherboard model should tell you what to look for to find out the slots, including if you have PCI-Express, which is required for nay modern video card that is worth upgrading to.

What cpu-z will not tell you is your Power Supply rating - you will have to open up the side of the case to see that.

Edit: There is a difference between PCI, AGP and PCI-Express, even though all 3 were, or still are, used for video card installation. CPU-Z probably will not tell you what type of connector your current 5200 is using.