video card ugrade suggestions needed

Z

zanthia

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Jan 17, 2004
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I am currently looking to upgrade my video card. I realize I have a low end system and I am on a budget but I would like to get the best I can for under $200. My current card is the ATI x1950 pro 256mb and I have a 22 inch monitor thus ideally I would like to game at 1680 x 1050 resolution with as many graphic options on as possible and still get a decent frame rate. I don't expect to be able to do Crysis with my low CPU but I am hopeful for most other games. From some of the reading I have done a lot these new cards are very large and my case is not all that large. I am not intersted in doing SLI on this PC. Some examples of unplayed games I would like to play well - I play mostly single player rpgs ( the witcher, mass effect, fallout 3, oblivion) but also some action games ( crysis, bioshock, stalker) .



systems specs:
motherboard Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 ATX
CPU Intel 6550 core2 duo
RAM G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800
case COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
graphic card Sapphire X1950pro 256MB
power supply XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W
sound card Creative X-FI Gamer
DVD Lite-On 20x SATA
Hard drive 320GB Seagate 7200rpm SATA Drive , Western Digital 640 gb
Monitor -- 22 inch viewsonic
operating system - Windows XP
 
no one upgrades from a low system or do you all have high systems and want better ones?
 
HD4850, HD4870 or GTX260.

That CPU is pretty decent, but you may want to try and overclock it a little. I bet you can hit 3.0ghz with little trouble. And it will play all games well, Crysis included.

Also, with ram being so cheap I suggest adding another 2GB.
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5672021
 
4850 would be the minimum card to look at. also you need to oc that cpu a little and more ram would help with some newer games.
 
Depending on how much you want to spend... you could go with a 4850 or 9800gtx for pretty cheap. If you did want to spend a little more I would go with a 260 or 4870. Really depends on which company you perfer and how much you want to spend.
 
4850 4870 260 280.. how much you want to spend? The cpu is ok, overclock it.
 
I woud like to keep it around $150 or so.

My 3 main concerns are:

1. with a card like the 4850 or 9800gtx will my cpu hold it back. you don't need to have a quad core or the 8400 cpu to handle these cards.
2. is my power supply good enough
3. as these are big cards, will they fit in my case the Cooler master Centurion 5.

I have no preference of ati or nvidea. I have had cards from both in the past. I just want to get the best value card.

I don't overclock the cpu but I will consider getting 2 more ram.

I would consider a card like the 4870 or 260 and thus spend a little more but I am pretty sure my power supply would never handle them as there requirements are even more than the 4850. Am I correct in that reasoning? At this time I can't get a card and a power supply.
 
your cpu isnt too bad but with some newer games overclocking it will certainly help especially when pairing it with a good video card. I know nothing about your power supply but if it is a decent unit than it should easily handle your system with a gtx260 or 4870. look at my sig pc because it doesnt even pull 250 watts at the wall under full load.
 
Oh I dunno about trying to do a 260 off that power supply. The TDP of the 260 is about 180w just the card alone. The TDP on his cpu is 65w. The efficiency on the psu might not be so great. You don't want him having an unstable system.

I would shoot for a card with a single 6pin connector; so somethng like 9600gt, 9800gt, 4850, 9800gtx(only if it has one 6 pin connector).
 
sh0vet said:
Oh I dunno about trying to do a 260 off that power supply. The TDP of the 260 is about 180w just the card alone. The TDP on his cpu is 65w. The efficiency on the psu might not be so great. You don't want him having an unstable system.

I would shoot for a card with a single 6pin connector; so somethng like 9600gt, 9800gt, 4850, 9800gtx(only if it has one 6 pin connector).
Click to expand...
well like i said i dont anything about his psu. also nvidia cards use way less than their tdp. the gtx260 uses about 140 watts. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/force3d-hd-4870_5.html#sect0
 
If everything were exact to the dot in the computer world then a gtx 260 would only have a single 6pin connector right? I mean if it only uses 140watts then 75w from the slot and another 75w from the 6pin would equal 150watts, and look 10 watts extra.

A design with such a small margin of error is a bad design and a bad setup no matter what links you propose. There is a reason why engineers allow for a decent margin of error especially with an electronic device that draws power from all over the board depending on what it is doing.
 
sh0vet said:
If everything were exact to the dot in the computer world then a gtx 260 would only have a single 6pin connector right? I mean if it only uses 140watts then 75w from the slot and another 75w from the 6pin would equal 150watts, and look 10 watts extra.

A design with such a small margin of error is a bad design and a bad setup no matter what links you propose. There is a reason why engineers allow for a decent margin of error especially with an electronic device that draws power from all over the board depending on what it is doing.
Click to expand...
well they just overestimate for overclocking and modding Im sure. just like the 8600gts was rated at 71 watts and came with a 6 pin connector even though the cards never actually pulled more than 50-55 watts even when highly overclocked. Im not arguing with you about anything, Im just saying that if his psu is decent that he should be fine.
 
we need to be talking about amps on the 12v rails when it comes to psu's and gpu's. The xClio is an ok psu but it looks like the best it will do for amps is about 28-30 depending on the efficiency. That may be pushing it for a 4850/4870/gtx260. Here is what I would do,

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB $149.99 - $30 mir

BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 $59.99

Total $209.99 + shipping - $30 mir.

Also +1 for overclocking that cpu, should be a piece of cake especially with that mobo you have. Its a great overclocker!
 
hossdaddy said:
we need to be talking about amps on the 12v rails when it comes to psu's and gpu's. The xClio is an ok psu but it looks like the best it will do for amps is about 28-30 depending on the efficiency. That may be pushing it for a 4850/4870/gtx260. Here is what I would do,

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB $149.99 - $30 mir

BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 $59.99

Total $209.99 + shipping - $30 mir.

Also +1 for overclocking that cpu, should be a piece of cake especially with that mobo you have. Its a great overclocker!
Click to expand...
probably could get a much better psu for that price. of course it depends on what is on sale at the time.
 
cannondale06 said:
well they just overestimate for overclocking and modding Im sure. just like the 8600gts was rated at 71 watts and came with a 6 pin connector even though the cards never actually pulled more than 50-55 watts even when highly overclocked. Im not arguing with you about anything, Im just saying that if his psu is decent that he should be fine.
Click to expand...

Ya but a system on the edge like that is like building a house in malibu,ca on the edge of a cliff and being surprised when it falls over from a mud slide, the worse thing about that is it happens all the time yet the houses are still built.

However whatever, if the dude builds a system and its unstable and he then suspects his power supply I've at least conveyed the information he needs. I'd rather its done right the first time though.

Ciao.
 
hossdaddy said:
we need to be talking about amps on the 12v rails when it comes to psu's and gpu's. The xClio is an ok psu but it looks like the best it will do for amps is about 28-30 depending on the efficiency. That may be pushing it for a 4850/4870/gtx260. Here is what I would do,

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB $149.99 - $30 mir

BFG Tech GS-550 550W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.8 $59.99

Total $209.99 + shipping - $30 mir.

Also +1 for overclocking that cpu, should be a piece of cake especially with that mobo you have. Its a great overclocker!
Click to expand...

Here's a better choice of PSUs:
PC P&C 610W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005
PC P&C 750W: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

Both are $70 after rebate.
 
buy a gtx260 or 1gb 4870.
and i would put down a quad core cpu on my list of things to get later if i were you.
your board supports it, so this pc doesnt have to be low end forever.
 
when someone posts a budget its a hardline budget, not a budget where its like here dad put this on your visa and I will mow lawns for the next 2 years(mir), you cannot depend on whether you get it or not. While those are great psu's you still need to realise the op's budget. That OCZ psu will be very close to max all the time. I would sacrifice the case for a better psu such as;

BFG Tech LS SERIES LS-550 550W $74.99 - $20 mir
 
I would look into a better psu if you are planning to purchase of any of these vid cards. That BFG is a great buy. my 4850 requires no less then 30amps on the 12v rail and 1 6pin. The gtx260 requires 2 6pins and 36amps of power.
 
thanks for your replies. I think I will go for the 4850 card. For now I will hold off on the PSU and see if the one i have does work with the card. It is hard for to me to rationalize spending $60- 80 for 50 more watts on the PSU based on the ones mentioned here. now i just need to decide which 4850. The 2 top contenders are both $149 at newegg.

saphhire 4850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

asus 4850
ttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272

the asus has the advantage of being factory overclocked buthas an average of 4 stars for reviews.

the sapphire has more reviews and averages out to 5 stars but is not overclocked.

I do NOT do any overclocking. I don't know if there are any other differences in the cards.
 
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