Is it worth upgrading my graphics card?

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Brian
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I currently have a Core 2 Due E6550 @ 2.33Ghz processor with 4GB and an Nvidia Geforce 8600GT graphics card running Windows 7 32 bit.

Is it worth upgrading my graphics card as I have about £60-£70 to spend for Xmas but don't want to waste it if it isn't going to make a difference? If it is worth upgrading what can I get for the money as I'm wayy out of touch with graphics card as the last one I bought was a Radeon 9600.

I use the pc for photo, video and gaming.

Thanks.
 
How intensive is your gaming? As that's pretty much all you'll notice it with. Do you wish you could play your current games smoother (higher frame rate), and/or have graphics settings set higher? Which games are they?
 
For that amount of money I'd get an "upgrade" to Win 7 64bit. Would allow you to get access to all 4G of memory and allow you to upgrade to more memory in the future.
 
To b ehonest other than Batman Arkham Asylum all my other games run very smoothly (such as COD4, Bioshock, etc).

I hadn't thought about upgrading Windows 7 so will look into it.

Thanks everyone.
 
As you have said (nearly) everything runs very smooth, then I would agree to consider the W7 64bit upgrade. Is your current version a retail version, as I think those come with both 32 and 64 bit disks if I remember correctly, so you might not even need to purchase a new OS.
 
Sorry to resurrect this thread but have deicded to possibly go down the switch from 32 bit to 64 bit windows 7.

However, I can't tell whether my current version is retail or not as the pc was bought second hand. Is it possible for me to tell easily if I have a retail version as I don't have the installation disc either?

For me to upgrade would I need to buy a new windows 7 disc?

I do however have a Dell windows 7 64 bit installation disc which came with my laptop...would I be able to use that?

Thanks again
 
Right you should have a windows product key, if this is on a sticker attached to your PC then it's an OEM copy if it's on the box that the windows disks came in it's retail (the sticker will tell you if it's retail or oem).

If you don't have either you need to contact who ever sold you the PC.

Either OEM or Retail entitles you to use either 32 or 64 bit, so your laptop disk should be fine. However it does have to be the same edition of windows 7, so if the laptop disk is Windows 7 business and your desktop is home premium you can't use it. Also make sure the disk that came with the laptop is a proper windows disk and not a 'recovery disk'.
 
The separately bought OEM disks won't let you change which version you have (you buy either 32 or 64 bit), I'm not sure about the OEM versions you get pre-installed. I would also doubt that your Dell disks will work, unless it's a Dell PC (even then, I'm not sure if it would) as OEM's usually tie the install disks to a particular system configuration, so you can't use it on multiple machines.
 
RCAnderson said:
I would also doubt that your Dell disks will work, unless it's a Dell PC (even then, I'm not sure if it would) as OEM's usually tie the install disks to a particular system configuration, so you can't use it on multiple machines.
Click to expand...

the disks are generic and usable between dell machines at least, never tried on anything else mind.
 
RCAnderson said:
The separately bought OEM disks won't let you change which version you have (you buy either 32 or 64 bit),
Click to expand...

With Vista and 7 the licence lets you use either version even though only one disk is supplied. You just need to obtain a disk, I think MS will sell you one for a nominal amount.

XP on the other hand you can't, your licence will stipulate either 32 or 64bit.
 
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