graphics card and hard drive question.

is the 64 bit graphics card better to use for this game
and what would the best upgrade be for the hard drive.
i hope im asking at the right place.
thank you.

Give your PC specs, as completely as possible, plz. Without that it is very difficult to give meaningfull advice.

sorry bout that,

so far all i know is that its 250mbs, its a very basic comp it needs a full make over thats why im getting the 64 bit graphics card, as i use my partners one at present, but i want to use mine,
i hope that helps?

Probably the most recommended card is the NVidia 6600, or the 6600GT, both of which have a 128 Bit wide memory bus. I suspect what you are talking about is the amount of video ram required; The recommended quantity is 256MB, but 128MB will do.

I also suspect that your PC has an AGP, as opposed to a PCIe Video Card slot, but the 6600/6600GT may be had in both flavours, albeit the AGP is becoming more expensive.

Why are you considering a Hard Disk Upgrade? Upgrade benefits that apply to SL occur in the following priority order:

System Ram - 1GB is considered a practical minimum

Faster CPU - Pentium 4/AMD Sempron is in my opnion, minimums

Faster Video card - Allthough it will work with older cards, many people, including myself, have had good results with the 6600 family, and I believe the newer 7600 family from NVidia will also yield good value results.

Any NVidia Card in the 7800 and 7900 family would be fine, but they are expensive (Read: Well over $250, the 6600 starts at about $100)

So, without hard specs related to your particular PC, it becomes difficult to give you more specific advice.

Download this Utility, Called PC Wizard, it will enable you to determine the specs needed:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3846.html

I think the OP got his terms mixed as no graphics cards are labelled as 32 or 64 bit. They need to display 32 bit colour but that's different and ALL graphics cards these days will do so including ones not compatable with SL.

The 64 bit normally seen related to the processor (CPU) which is different to a graphics card. There is some performance benefit with a 64 bit processor but not much. On the graphics side which is probably where you WILL reap most benefits the 6600 series is a good starting point.

I however find, despite the inferior frame rate, that ATI work nicer and have less issues so also look at the X850, X1600, X1800 and X1900 graphics cards.

Your success with ATI cards I find interesting, since I have had mostly bad luck with them in terms of SL use. Nvidia seems to be overwhelmingly favoured.

What are your System & Driver specs?

X2 3800+ X2, 2gig Ram X1800XT
X2 3500+@2.6ghz, 1gig Ram X800GTO2 unlocked and running as an X850
X2 3800+ X2, 2gig Ram X800GTO2 - running stock
Toshiba P30 Laptop (intel 2.4Ghz HT CPU and ATI 9800 graphics)

running XP Pro, XP home or Windows 2000, usually Cat 6.2 or 6.3 drivers (not sure what the lappy has)

All extremly stable and none of the issues Nv has.

Never seen a X2 3500+, how long have they been out? And how much do they cost?

I would not try using a 64 bit or i think what youre trying to say is a 64 mb gpu on SL very graphical tears and lag.

i use a 64mb card and it works ok but graphics arnt very good, heres a general rule when updating hardware. never ever just buy one step up crap like going from 32mb to 64mb, if your gonna buy a graphics card make it one that will last you a couple years. there are some cheap very good cards out there from about 100-250$. that will last you a few years. and it sounds like you need more ram. 1gig is perfect. and judging by whats on your computer right now, im guessing the ghz isnt very fast either, im guessing around 1.8? to tell you the truth, inless this is going to be the only game yoru going to play for awhile then just get graphics upgrade and ram, if not. your better off buying a whole new computer...

I'm curious about your x2 3500, never seen that one for sale anywhere . . . . Is it a Mobile or DTR type?

Also, what are your Motherboard choices?