Page 1 of looking to buy a new graphics card - advice please

Hi,
I`m sorting out some new memeory for my PC, but also want to upgrade the graphics card:

My PC is nearly 2 years old, it has:

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ with HT Tech.
Mini-Tower Micro ATX Case +250W PSU - Black
ASUS A8N-VM - Nforce 410 PCI-Express Mainboard - Micro ATX
1024MB DDR400 Memory - PC3200 (2x512)
512MB DDR2 nVIDIA GeForce 7300GS - TV out- DVI - PCI X (256Mb SMA)

I was looking at the GeForce 8800GTS but am worried they may require too much power for the PSU.

So thought maybe a 256MB nVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT would work ok, or maybe even a Radeon 3850

I don`t want to buy a 8600 and find it`s not that much better than a 7300 (it looks like it is better) but I`d happily spend a bit more money on somehting like the Radeon 3850, unless that would cause PC problems.

I don`t game that much, but was disappointed to not really be able to play Bioshock or Crysis demos that well. Missus plays Sims 2 and new Sim City Societies a lot, but has noticed Sims is slowing down a bit now ( I think that may be more to memory with all the add ons) and Sim City I think needs a better card.

We`re also interested in Spore next year when it comes out.

Any suggestions? On retrospect I guess when I bought the PC I should have paid a bit more for a normal case and ATX PSU, but I don`t really want to buy new case, mobo and graphics card now.

Cheers

Al

As far as I can see you`ll need a higher wattage PSU to support the more recent cards.

Your current CPU max wattage I think is ~ 65W
Motherboard ~ 20W
Optical drive ~ 30W
Each hard drive ~ 25W
Your existing Gfx card ~75W

So you`re already up to around 215W (peak usage mind, so CPU and gfx card running flat out). Bare in mind that whilst your supply is 250W I don`t think they`re all that stable at providing this figure constantly.

The Radeon 3850 draws around 105W - so whilst not a huge amount more, you may find your power supply can`t handle it. It also requires a 75W 6-pin PCI-E power cable from the PSU - which you may/may not have on your existing PSU.

HTH
Miles

Thanks Miles, that does help I thought the 3850 may be pushing it a bit.
So the thing I want to look for in a new card is wattage, and I want to keep clear of going above 100W

the PSU does have some free leads running off it, don`t you normally get a splitter with cards in case? i guess that`s only if you buy retail boxes rather than OEM.

Also, I use XP rather than Vista so didn`t know if I`d better off going for an older 7 series nvidia or ati equivalent?


thanks

Al

Do yourself a favour and get a good power supply. Your old power supply may well fail if you try running it with a more powerful card and potentially destroy your motherboard and whatever new videocard you buy when it does so.

Check out how well any PSU you like the look of does in stress tests before you buy it, there`s usually an online review somewhere if it`s an even barely semi-reputable branded type. I`ve seen a report of one type of dirt cheap no-name brand 600W PSU that didn`t even reach a 300W load before failing with a loud bang and a power spike so do your homework and google some reviews. While you`re at it you might want to try googling for a review on your old PSU to see what happens when that`s stressed.

I estimate that my 4200x2 running at default speeds under Windows XP and a 8800GT will score over 8000 3DMark06 points by looking online scores others have posted which is way better than the next best, so that`s what I`m going to get. Mine is a 22 inch 1680x1050 monitor so it has to be the 512mb 8800GT, but the 256mb model would run just as fast on a lower resolution monitor.

(same post as before, just edited to show I use Windows XP)

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 11:39

Al - the PCI-E connection they`re referring to is a little square`ish black connector (IIRC) rather than the (usually) white 4-pin molex connections.

As for which card to go for, I think Kin`s right, you`ll probably end up having to upgrade the PSU before getting anything significantly better than what you already have.

The problem with getting a new PSU is my mobo and case

Mini-Tower Micro ATX Case +250W PSU - Black
ASUS A8N-VM - Nforce 410 PCI-Express Mainboard - Micro ATX

I looked at powerful Micro ATX PSUs, and there aren`t many, and those that exist are expensive.

Al

Have you considered getting a slightly bigger midi-size atx case that`s also compatible with micro-atx boards ? It might be the most cost effective option unless you have a really good reason for a tiny one. Bare cases can be quite cheap, you could get one with a window for under £20.

More powerful cards also put out a lot more heat which could be a problem with a micro case unless the ventilation is phenominal.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 11:48

Quote:
Have you considered getting a slightly bigger midi-size atx case that`s also compatible with micro-atx boards ?

I didn`t know I could do that, I`ll look into it, thanks

So just so I`m clear, the micro-atx label on the mobo, just means it`s small enough to go into a micro case,

Al

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 12:07

You could do worse than look at this Aplus case (Froogle link to many retailers). Bigger than the Shuttle and clones, but it takes a full ATX psu, 5 drives and offers 4 card slots.

I have built a couple of these and have been very pleased with them.

Eclipse have them branded as Ecute with a 550W psu for £38.72
They are also available branded as X-Qpack (more expensive)

These cases are available with/without windows, in various colours, and there is also a version with a large top fan.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 12:22

They look interesting, inside I have 1 graphics card , 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives (sound and network is onboard)

So I could theoretically spend ~£40 on that Ecute case and £200 on a 8800gts and I`d be ready to go?

edit: Maybe not `cos 8800 is double height.

I looked at the other link, quick look at http://www.lambda-tek.com/

Chassis
1 x APLUS BLOCKBUSTER BLACK ALU MICRO ATX 2X 5 25 ... £26.88
Power Supply
1 x TAGAN EASYCON 530 WATT PSU ATX12V EPS MODULAR N... £51.62

I think missus would be happy with £250 so her sim city is full detailed and him Sims 2 ppl walk around properly :)

Thanks guys. I`ve emailed Mesh who i bought the PC from to see what they suggest.

Actually what would be the best card I could put in current setup? e.g. if best card was £65 i could get that (assuming it`s noticeably better than 7300gs) and put remaining £200 to one side ready for next new PC, where I`ll think about upgrade options a bit more

Al

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th December 2007, 12:39