Advice on upgrade GPU, possible?

[nismo91]

hey all, i got a almost-3-years-old desktop on home with integrated graphics. suddenly my brother wanted to play "the last remnant". so i need buy new GPU.

so i check out the specification, turns out mine is of course, lack at CPU and GPU.

game vs mine, minimum requirement
E4400 2.0 ghz -- E6300 1.86ghz stock no OC
1.5GB RAM -- 3GB RAM
15GB Free -- 100GB Free
XP SP2 -- XP SP3
8600 256mb -- onboard, plan to buy 9600gt 512

well, some questions:

1. what u think of 2.0 ghz requirement and my 1.86 ghz E6300?
2. i have 400W AcBel PSU. (34A on 12V rail) with 4 pin PCIE connector. is it compatible?
3. my board is D946GZIS. its PCIE v1 im sure. 9600GT compatible?
4. my budget is 100US$, converted. if u think 9600GT is not enough to play the game smoothly (i dont expect high details) any other recommendation?

if it require me to upgrade my entire PC, i will then cancel my plan to buy 9600gt, and wait until i got some $ to upgrade my entire system later this year.

thanks all

 

[klepto12]

nah i think it will be fine the 9600 is ok but might try
XFX Radeon HD 4850 512MB for 89.99 free shipping buy it now though its on a 3 day special price and its alot more powerful than that 9600

 

[nismo91]

well, im actually thinking about the cheap 4830 and mighty 4850.
thing is, im pretty sure my 400W psu will bottleneck.. i even think of a cheaper alternative like 8600GT... i just need to know, whether my setup is compatible with 9600... power supply, power supply connector, mobo...

cause im really noob at desktop graphic card, and its going to be bought next week....

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

http://www3.dealtime.com/xPO-Intel-D946GZIS
If that is indeed your motherboard, the you actually have a PCIE x16, which will fit a 9600gt. However, it is a microATX, and i'm not so sure it could fit a 4850, it still might.

2. i have 400W AcBel PSU. (34A on 12V rail) with 4 pin PCIE connector. is it compatible?

Are you sure it only has a four pin connector? Most power supplies have a six pin. The 9600gt and 4850 both require six pins. If it really doesn't have one, I think you could work in a 6 pin adapter.

The 9600gt can run any game as long as you don't go wild with the settings.
EDIT: Honestly, the 8600 sucks.

 

[nismo91]

http://www3.dealtime.com/xPO-Intel-D946GZIS
If that is indeed your motherboard, the you actually have a PCIE x16, which will fit a 9600gt. However, it is a microATX, and i'm not so sure it could fit a 4850, it still might.


Are you sure it only has a four pin connector? Most power supplies have a six pin. The 9600gt and 4850 both require six pins. If it really doesn't have one, I think you could work in a 6 pin adapter.

The 9600gt can run any game as long as you don't go wild with the settings.
EDIT: Honestly, the 8600 sucks.

yep, thats what i was asking... im sure newer PCIE GPU need something like the 6-pin connector... and my power supplies are.. well as the E6300 comes out, its 3 years old... this desktop is really low end, i knew it.. wont spending too much for it.

okay since i got a big clue right here, i'll post the picture asap, and regarding card type, ati or nvidia.. im gonna ask local stores for price... anyway the computer is in indonesia... price is not as attractive as in newegg.

thanks.

 

[nismo91]

http://www3.dealtime.com/xPO-Intel-D946GZIS
If that is indeed your motherboard, the you actually have a PCIE x16, which will fit a 9600gt. However, it is a microATX, and i'm not so sure it could fit a 4850, it still might.


Are you sure it only has a four pin connector? Most power supplies have a six pin. The 9600gt and 4850 both require six pins. If it really doesn't have one, I think you could work in a 6 pin adapter.

The 9600gt can run any game as long as you don't go wild with the settings.
EDIT: Honestly, the 8600 sucks.

hey, i just got back from singapore and checked my desktop. it has this connector lying around from the 400W AcBel (34A @12V)

is it the one required for the 9600GT??

pardon me for my noobness, cause i heard people saying, some guys with 9800GTX did not get optimal result, because he forgot to attach the extra PCIE connector... i wonder if it is the one... if it is, im safe...

and... i think 4850 may require more then 400W right? so i go for cheap er 9600 maybe...

thanks!

 

[EXCellR8]

I think the 9600GT only requires a six pin... 9800GTX needs a six and an eight pin.

Either way you should aim for at least a 500w PSU for the 4800 series cards you mentioned, and a 600w - 700w PSU for the 9 series cards (more power being for the 9800GTX). 34A on the +12v isn't all that much. You want to be at least in the low 40s when running a higher-end card these days.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

The 9600 requires a six pin, but you have enough power for a 9600gt, maybe not a higher end card. I honestly think it's plausible to just cut off those other two pins.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

That actually looks like the 8-pin EPS12V connector used on mobos. I'm not 100% sure, but that's what it looks like.

And IMO, don't go for anything more powerful than a 9800GT. Your PSU likely cannot handle any more load than that, owing to its age. The best choice however, if you can find one, would be the HD 4770. Far lower power consumption compared to the HD 4850, but the same level of performance.

 

[nismo91]

That actually looks like the 8-pin EPS12V connector used on mobos. I'm not 100% sure, but that's what it looks like.

And IMO, don't go for anything more powerful than a 9800GT. Your PSU likely cannot handle any more load than that, owing to its age. The best choice however, if you can find one, would be the HD 4770. Far lower power consumption compared to the HD 4850, but the same level of performance.

4770? okay im gonna check... but the 8pin.. thanks for reminding me.. i cant seem to see the in-detailed difference between the EPS12V and PCIE 8-pin.

well, i know for sure, i will not go for anything beyond 9600GT. that's why im asking for recommendation... so.., if 9600GT or 4770 is too high for my PSU, maybe should i go for 9500GT or 8600GT? i dont want to spend much, this is an old computer... i also didnt expect it to be good...

really, just want to be safe.. really noob in GPU and dont want to buy something that is too "waste", since my CPU, PSU and mobo, basically they will bottleneck anything higher than 9600, in my opinion...

 

[nismo91]

bad news... i read the PSU manual it says about the 8-pin CPU connector thingy.
so Rage was right, it was a EPS12V i think... hey thanks!

also reading from this http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/256011-28-tomshardware
i think my system cant run a 9600GT unless i change PSU. well im thinking of changing the entire thing later this year.. maybe just gonna have to wait...

or is there any GPU with PCI or PCIE that doesnt need the 6-pin PCIE power?

tomorrow im gonna buy it.. lucky i've posted here.. otherwise it'd be useless wouldnt it?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

As I stated before, you can run any card upto a 9800GT without major issues IMO. The 9600GT should run fine.

As for your query, the only decent card that doesn't require the connector is the HD 4670.

 

[nismo91]

4670? okay... tomorrow i shall check for the cards that doesnt require connector. since my old PSU didnt even have the connector... hope found a great deal for a decent card...

anyway, rage, thanks alot... im sure i'd buy the wrong stuff if u didnt mention the eps12v.
really appreciate it.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

You're very welcome mate. Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[fimbles]

As a side note, if you have 2x4pin molex connectors going spare you can buy an adapter to turn them in to 1x6pin pcie connector.

Like these:

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl...a=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

Hope this helps

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

As a side note, if you have 2x4pin molex connectors going spare you can buy an adapter to turn them in to 1x6pin pcie connector.

I still think it would work if you just seriously cut off two pins.

 

[nismo91]

As a side note, if you have 2x4pin molex connectors going spare you can buy an adapter to turn them in to 1x6pin pcie connector.

Like these:

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl...a=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

Hope this helps

I still think it would work if you just seriously cut off two pins.

nice info, because im going to the local computer mall in 2 hours time... i wouldnt like to travel long way back to the mall, since im in west, its in east... and this city isnt that "advanced"... means not easy to find stores selling.

well, im gonna ask the stores for the enquiries about the 2x4-pin molex into 6-pin PCIE connector. if they say it's reliable, maybe im gonna give it a shot.

anyway, for the 8-pin PCIE i mentioned before, it's a "fake", it wasnt for PCIE apparently... its the EPS12V rage mentioned. i just realized, bought it on the early 2006. i guess 2006, in this area, PCIE is not that popular yet... i guess many users still using AGP... hence the power supply they sold to us is... well...

before buying my very first graphic card, in fact, (its ridiculous, i even have bought 2 soundcards but have never bought a graphic card), i'd like to thanks all Techspot members who helped me in this topic. i hope i make a good decision later. thanks all, regards from indonesia...

 

[nismo91]

well, end up buying the 9500GT 512 DDR3 which cost me about 69USD. the 9600GT require the 6-pin and cost about 103USD. the 4670 most around 95USD and comes only with 1-year wty, while for nvidia they're 2yrs.

running smooth today, hope it works perfectly. once again, thanks for all, especially rage_3k

hope the continuity of this website!

 

[nismo91]

sorry for bump, but i realized something important i just noticed. (maybe some ppl find this useful)

as i state before, the ultimate purpose of the purchase is to play a game called "The Last Remnant", from the Square Enix. i did not know that this game uses Unreal Engine, which uses PhysX. eventually many new games also uses physx.

therefore: getting the 69$ nvidia card was not a regret.. cant imagine if i've bought the 4670, definitely got worse, because of no physx support.

 

[klepto12]

wow a 9500gt that isnt really an upgrade over an 8600 IMO but glad it helps ya