Overachieving PC?

Hey guys, I'm wondering if my PC is overachieving. I'm just curious, because I wanna know if I should spend money on hardware upgrades, or save that money on my graduation trip (My buddies and I are going to Central Europe for the summer, since we graduate from highschool this year).



Here are my specs:

Ati X1950 Pro 256GB

Intel P4 3.00 Ghz

3GB of DDR 1 Ram



I can run any game I've attempted (No, I haven't tried Crysis), but I'm running Medieval 2 Total war on Max settings, and getting NO lag on even with like 8,000 units on screen).

I'm playing Fallout 3 on Highest

I'm playing Witcher on Highest

I'm playing Dead Space ( I haven't actually checked the settings on it, yet)

I'm playing Brothers in Arms on highest.



Now, by highest, I mean all the settings that have on option for ''low-medium-high-highest''. I turn AA and AF off. And the resolution I play on is 1400x900 if available, if not then I go next step down.



The REAL reason I want to know is... I have every GOOD console (not Wii), so the only game I'm gonna really be playing in the near future for the PC is going to be Empires: Total War, Diablo III, and possibly Starcraft 2. Other games I'll be picking up for consoles.



One thing I'm worried about, though, is my computer gets REALLY loud when gaming, lol. It sounds like a cow slaughter house filled with buzz saws, and my computer desk almost shakes. I can sometimes see my monitor wiggling, and I can feel vibrations. I think my GPU is decent for now, so the thing I'd have to upgrade is Motherboard and CPU (since my Mobo is old, and doesn't support dual core stuff like the e6___).



I'm just wondering if my computer is overachieving, because my friend just bought the Ati 4870 or something, and he lags like a **** in M2:TW, and he has a similar setup to me. His processor is 2.8Ghz, and is also 3GB of RAM. He also can't run other games as high as me.



Is it just cause I'm Polish?



Should I spend for new hardware, or just wait out and see? Will my computer randomly explode on me? HELP!Overachieving PC?
It's because you don't enable AA, and AF. Plus, your resolution is a little on the low side. On my 4870 setup I play Medieval Total War 2 @ 1680x1050 with 16x AF and 4x AA and it runs great. Overachieving PC?
[QUOTE=''GodLovesDead'']It's because you don't enable AA, and AF. Plus, your resolution is a little on the low side. On my 4870 setup I play Medieval Total War 2 @ 1680x1050 with 16x AF and 4x AA and it runs great. [/QUOTE]



So, should I upgrade, or just keep going like this?
[QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa''][QUOTE=''GodLovesDead'']It's because you don't enable AA, and AF. Plus, your resolution is a little on the low side. On my 4870 setup I play Medieval Total War 2 @ 1680x1050 with 16x AF and 4x AA and it runs great. [/QUOTE] So, should I upgrade, or just keep going like this?[/QUOTE] Personally I can't stand a game without AA and AF. I'd upgrade. It doesn't cost much to get a great rig - especially if you re-used your monitor. You could get a 4870, E7200 (and overclock) it, and 2Gb of RAM and it'd only cost around $600. I think it's worth it but it's all up to you.
most games rly dont need AF especially at high resolutions. i played fc2 at 4x AA but i turned it off.. and i rly cant tell a diff most of the time.. of course you can when you zoom a sniper in on an object 6 inches away from you.. but how often do you do that?
[QUOTE=''nimatoad2000'']most games rly dont need AF especially at high resolutions. i played fc2 at 4x AA but i turned it off.. and i rly cant tell a diff most of the time.. of course you can when you zoom a sniper in on an object 6 inches away from you.. but how often do you do that?[/QUOTE] High resolutions is especially when you need AF. AA, not as much, but it always helps. I prefer everything being smooth.
[QUOTE=''GodLovesDead''][QUOTE=''nimatoad2000''] most games rly dont need AF especially at high resolutions. i played fc2 at 4x AA but i turned it off.. and i rly cant tell a diff most of the time.. of course you can when you zoom a sniper in on an object 6 inches away from you.. but how often do you do that?[/QUOTE] High resolutions is especially when you need AF. AA, not as much, but it always helps. I prefer everything being smooth. [/QUOTE] oh im sorry i typod, AA is what i meant.
[QUOTE=''nimatoad2000''][QUOTE=''GodLovesDead''][QUOTE=''nimatoad2000''] most games rly dont need AF especially at high resolutions. i played fc2 at 4x AA but i turned it off.. and i rly cant tell a diff most of the time.. of course you can when you zoom a sniper in on an object 6 inches away from you.. but how often do you do that?[/QUOTE] High resolutions is especially when you need AF. AA, not as much, but it always helps. I prefer everything being smooth. [/QUOTE] oh im sorry i typod, AA is what i meant.[/QUOTE] It comes down to preference. I have aboslutely no problem pointing out jaggies at 1680x1050. 4x AA would be optimal at all times.
Well, by the time you would return from Europe, the upgrades that you would have purchased would then be obsolete. Go see the world!
you don't think it could have something to do with your 256 GIGABYTE Ati X1950 Pro, do you? :P
[QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa''] so the only game I'm gonna really be playing in the near future for the PC is going to be Empires: Total War, Diablo III, and possibly Starcraft 2.[/QUOTE]Personally id save the money, for those games your computer will be fine unless you just want your games to look better dont bother and save money for your trip to europeYou only live once, see the world have fun
[QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa'']Here are my specs: Ati X1950 Pro 256GBGIEF!Btw... save them. It's not like you *must* run all games maxed out, right? Maybe... maybe not...:roll:
[QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa''][QUOTE=''GodLovesDead'']It's because you don't enable AA, and AF. Plus, your resolution is a little on the low side. On my 4870 setup I play Medieval Total War 2 @ 1680x1050 with 16x AF and 4x AA and it runs great. [/QUOTE] So, should I upgrade, or just keep going like this?[/QUOTE]dont upgrade until you really feel the pinch of running games at low resolutions with low settings (this may happen when you try crysis), as i am having to do with my 8600gt in farcry 2. cant wait til the 4850 arrives. if you are not playing any graphically excellent and punishing games, then it is pointless to upgrade, as prices are only going to go down. i delayed my upgrade by months because i had so many older games to finish. dont upgrade unless you can really really see it!
[QUOTE=''SaintJimmmy''][QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa''] so the only game I'm gonna really be playing in the near future for the PC is going to be Empires: Total War, Diablo III, and possibly Starcraft 2.[/QUOTE]Personally id save the money, for those games your computer will be fine unless you just want your games to look better dont bother and save money for your trip to europeYou only live once, see the world have fun [/QUOTE] What he said.
[QUOTE=''jpph''][QUOTE=''Mikka_kippa''][QUOTE=''GodLovesDead'']It's because you don't enable AA, and AF. Plus, your resolution is a little on the low side. On my 4870 setup I play Medieval Total War 2 @ 1680x1050 with 16x AF and 4x AA and it runs great. [/QUOTE] So, should I upgrade, or just keep going like this?[/QUOTE]dont upgrade until you really feel the pinch of running games at low resolutions with low settings (this may happen when you try crysis), as i am having to do with my 8600gt in farcry 2. cant wait til the 4850 arrives. if you are not playing any graphically excellent and punishing games, then it is pointless to upgrade, as prices are only going to go down. i delayed my upgrade by months because i had so many older games to finish. dont upgrade unless you can really really see it![/QUOTE] ^^^^Agreed with this. I mainly play the lower end games and my PC can run them all at the res and fps I like. As much as I would love to upgrade, because I just want a faster/better computer I'd still be playing the same games for the most part, and not benefit from the upgrade.So, my advice, is to only upgrade according to the games your playing, if you want more frames or visuals, but cant acheive either on your pc, then yeah, upgrade. If not, I bet spending more money on that trip for now will be much funner. =>
Thank for the responses, guys!