Upgrading My Rig? Good Enough For Games?

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jh0n9

Limp Gawd
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Studio 540 Tower: Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q8200
RAID 0
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
USB Multimedia Keyboard
Hard Drive Cable
USB Optical two button mouse
350Watt Bestec Power Supply (Dell Stock)
9800GT.

Hi,
Guys, im looking to forward on upgrading my video card and PSU, my budget is around $150...

Do you guys think these are good enough??
GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150394
PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170017

And i dont know if this new PSU will fit in my case.. does anybody wanna tell me how i can find out if it will?
 
Most Dell PCs made within the last 3 years or so do support standard ATX PSUs.

However the PSU you chose is pure shit. It isn't any better than the included PSU inside your system. I recommend this significantly better quality PSU:
$60 - SeaSonic SS-500ET 500W PSU

The GPU you chose however is a good choice.
 
Good video card, absolute shit PSU. There's no way that you'll be able to find a quality PSU to go along with that video card and have both come in at under $150. You'll have to either raise your budget or go with a less expensive video card like a 4850 or 4770.
 
But i cant spend more than 30 dollars on a PSU..
I dont have enough money right now..
Any other suggestions?
 
Zero82z said:
Good video card, absolute shit PSU. There's no way that you'll be able to find a quality PSU to go along with that video card and have both come in at under $150. You'll have to either raise your budget or go with a less expensive video card like a 4850 or 4770.
Click to expand...

Just a note: the HD4850 and HD 4770 wouldn't be that much of a substantial jump in performance over the 9800GT to justify the costs IMO.

jh0n9 said:
But i cant spend more than 30 dollars on a PSU..
I dont have enough money right now..
Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Find a way to up your budget. As Zero82z said, you're not gonna find a QUALITY or even decent enough PSU capable of powering a HD4870 1GB and your setup for $30.

Or better yet, wait until you can save up more money. It is not worth it to get a good GPU like HD4870 1GB (the lowest GPU you can get for performance increase justifiable enough for the costs) and pairing with a shitty PSU that's capable of killing your system.
 
hmm maybe $45 ? but free shipping? can anybody find me oneeeee? im tryna find one, but i dont have a clue about PSUs.
 
jh0n9 said:
hmm maybe $45 ? but free shipping? can anybody find me oneeeee? im tryna find one, but i dont have a clue about PSUs.
Click to expand...

Again dude, your system needs a bit power. There are quality $45 PSUs out there with free shipping BUT they are not powerful enough to power a HD4870 1GB and Q8200 within safe parameters.
 
so whats the minimum i have to spend to get everything working?
 
jh0n9 said:
so whats the minimum i have to spend to get everything working?
Click to expand...

$200 minimum as Zero82z showed: $150 for the XFX HD4870 1GB and $50 for the Antec EA430 430W PSU. Though I'd recommend spending the extra $15 for the Seasonic PSU I recommended above for some headroom and safety parameters.
 
jh0n9 said:
maybe 1280x800 and Up??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709014
is this good enough? i surfed around google and i found a post saying this is enough for a 4870
Click to expand...
"maybe" 1280 and up? you dont know what res your monitor has?? if you are only at 1280x800 then there is really no need to upgrade that 9800gt. your cpu at just 2.33 and with its lower cache will not even fully push a 4870 at that low res. games that use all four cores will be okay but most games dont use more than two.
 
jh0n9 said:
oohhh my monitor is a 1920x1050
Click to expand...
do you mean 1920x1080? yeah the 4870 will be a nice little improvement over the 9800gt at that res. it still will be slightly held back in some games by your cpu but nothing too bad.
 
You yourself admit you know nothing about PSUs. Cheap PSUs are cheap for a reason -- they're generally trash. $50 is not much to pay for a quality PSU; I've personally spent more than $200 for a high end SLI capable PSU, and didn't feel cheated in the least. Save up a little more cash and don't cut corners here.
 
yer anyone with access to 1920 res's should be looking for 4870's / gtx260s, you could use a 9800 but i doubt your AA and AF levels are going to be high and 1920 will just enhance the crappiness of edges
 
jh0n9 said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709014
is this good enough? i surfed around google and i found a post saying this is enough for a 4870
Click to expand...
No, that is not a good quality PSU and will not be suitable for your PC. Either the PSU I recommended or the one that Danny suggested will be sufficient. Anything cheaper is a low-quality PSU that will not do the job. As for PCI-E connectors, you might have to use a molex to PCI-E adapter if you get a PSU that doesn't have two, but that doesn't pose any problems.
 
jh0n9 said:
will this be enoughh??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015

which one should i get?? is it worth it to get the higher Watts? or just stay with the 430 because it is already enoughh?
Click to expand...
that 430watt Antec is more than enough. you likely will not be upgrading to a more power hungry card ever and if you did there is still plenty of room for anything realistic. really anything much faster or power hungry than 4870 would have your cpu bottlenecking it anyway.
 
jh0n9 said:
If i dont have any PCI-E connectors.. will my hd4870 still workk?
Click to expand...
The 4870 will not work without both power connectors plugged in.
jh0n9 said:
will this be enoughh??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371015

which one should i get?? is it worth it to get the higher Watts? or just stay with the 430 because it is already enoughh?
Click to expand...
The 430W will be plenty. The 500W model would be ideal for some extra headroom, but if you really need to save cash the 430W will be fine.
 
yea the 430 is enough, but it seems that it doesnt have two PCI-E connectors..
 
Hmmm i see i have to use a molex to pci-e adapter..

hmm does the 430 have to 4 pin molexes? cuz i found an adapter than needs two 4 pin molexes to convert to pci-e
 
jh0n9 said:
Hmmm i see i have to use a molex to pci-e adapter..

hmm does the 430 have to 4 pin molexes? cuz i found an adapter than needs two 4 pin molexes to convert to pci-e
Click to expand...
According to Newegg it has 6 molex connectors. Should be more than enough for your needs.
 
jh0n9 said:
Well okay,
i have another question...
is it ever possible for my PSU And GPU to burn out ? like die?

and i found this other GPU thats cost a lil cheaper?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?EdpNo=4898173&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

good enough?
Click to expand...

That's a PSU, not a GPU. And no it isn't enough. BFG's GS line of PSUs are of pretty low quality compared to the Antec Earthwatts series. We understand that money is a problem but it does not mean you should cheap out on the most important part of a PC: the PSU. Either get a new quality PSU like the $50 Antec Earthwatts EA430 or don't bother upgrading at all. It is that simple. Anything less in terms of price and quality is simply not worth it. You'll risk your hardware by being cheap.

And yes it is possible that a PSU and GPU to burn out or die. Just like with any part of the PC. It's not inevitable but it is possible. The chances of that happening however depends on a variety of factors such as heat, quality, air flow, ratio of defective to good units, etc. Generally however, you don't have to worry about your PSU or GPU dying as long you get a good quality PSU and keep the GPU relatively cool.
 
jh0n9 said:
will this get me a lil more in the safer side??

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3973826&CatId=106
Click to expand...

No. As cannondale06 pointed out, that Coolmax PSU is actually more expensive than the Antec PSU. Not to mention that Coolmax PSUs are shit to begin to with. So that PSU is not a good choice at all. Avoid any Coolmax PSUs in the future unless you love to waste money on shitty products.

The Antec EA430 is the bare minimum in quality and power necessary for your system.
 
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