Guide to video card upgrades/questions

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Hi i use my PC for all kinds of stuff, i just thought my PC was about 4 years old and needed an upgrade, i got "Ages of Empire", and it wouldn't play properly on my PC. I did buy a card for about £50 but had to send it back because i got the wrong one. H ow can i upgrade the power supply? Thanks.
 
As I stated before, are you going to game a lot on your PC i.e. are you only going to play Age of Empires or newer and upcoming games like FEAR and Crysis as well? Also, get me the info on your power supply ASAP. Upgrading a PSU (Power Supply Unit) only involves disconnecting the current one from everything, removing it from the case, putting a new one in and reconnecting everything to the new one. You have to be careful while reconnecting everything though, since one wrong connection can kill your PSU and\or your PC. In addition, you've got to give me a budget range so I can recommend something for you.
 
Hi, I do intend to play games such as Fear, and my price range is anything up to £75. I bought the last card from ebuyer on-line. Are PSU expensive? Thanks.
 
A good-quality PSU will cost you around £30 while a decent graphics card will set you back about £50-60. Add in the fact that you'll have to buy this since your PSU is a wired differently by Dell and you'll be spending more on the lines of £100. Let me know if you're okay with that or not and I'll recommend parts accordingly.
 
Need a new PSU/ Video card...NEED HELP!!!

I'm looking online for a video card and I think I am going to get PCI-e card but at the same time I need a new power supply, I saw one that said it has PCI-e conectors...do I need those for a PCI-e card???
 
Yes for most of the PCI-E cards you get today, you'd need some way of giving the card extra power it doesn't get via the PCI Express slot. This is usually a 6-pin PCI Express power connector on new PSUs. If your PSU doesn't have any, you can use something like this.
 
psu/PCI-e

so if I got a power supply with a PCI-e connector it would just plug straight in the the PCi-e slot regardless if there is a video card in it or not?
 
LOL no the video card will have a slot for the power connector. The PCI Express already provides power but for higher-end GPUs, that power is not enough so a direct connection is needed to the power supply, which is provided by the 6-pin connector(s).
 
1. Motherboard -
2. Graphic interface - PCI-e
3. Memory - 1 GB
4. CPU - AMD Athalon 64 4000+
5. CPU Speed - 2.41 GHz
6. Power Supply Make/Model - Delta Electronics Inc./ DPS 330AB 15A (no clue about this one)
7. Watt output/Amperage - +12V/15A
8. Max Power- 300W

I love first person shooters and i just bought STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl and it's not that fun on my current and very crappy integrated nvidia 6100. I'm looking into the e-GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB PCI-E DX10 Graphics which i can get for $120 or a PNY GeForce 7600GS 512 MB for $100.

I guess that's pretty much my financial range. The problem is i dont know what's better for its price. I'd assume the 8600 b/c of my little bit of research it was only ever compared to the 7900 (so maybe the 7600 is a lot worse than the 8600, but for a $20 difference i want to be sure). But i'm not sure and that's why i'm on here asking you guys.
 
My old geforce4 ti4200 64mb card doesn't seem to be working anymore. I'm using an older one in the computer now, the ti4200 causes the computer to display jumbled colors and then locks up.

So I decided why not just get an upgrade since a used ti4200 costs $20, I could get an upgrade for $30-40. So I'm just looking for the best card I can get at that price.

1. Motherboard - gigabyte, nvidia-nforce2
2. Graphic interface - PCI and also AGP I think?
3. Memory - DDR 1gb, dual channels
4. CPU - AMD athlon XP 1800+
5. CPU Speed - 1530 mhz
6. Power Supply Make/Model - Okia 420ATX
7. Watt output/Amperage - 420W +12 18A
 
@RineEater, the 8600GT is superior to the 7600GS. Bear in mind that you'd need a new PSU for either card, since the one you have is insufficient.

@gmk1212, for that price, I'd suggest this card. A large step up from the Ti4200 and affordable as well.
 
I'd rather you spend a bit more and get this. It's the best card available in that price bracket and is far superior to the FX5200. It also has a DVI port.
 
Oh, that 9600XT isn't bad. It's 256mb with DVI and only $3 more then the 9600. That sounds like a great deal, I think I'll get that one. Thanks for your help.
 
1. Motherboard - ASUS P4C800-E (Deluxe)
2. Graphic interface - AGP Version 3 (Transfer Rate 8X) (Max Supported 8X)....i think, i never knew i had a AGP Slot :/
3. Memory -2560 Mbs
4. CPU -Intel Pentium 4
5. CPU Speed - 3000 MHZ
6. Power Supply Make/Model - (Need a new one please suggest)
7. Watt output/Amperage - (Need a new one please suggest)


my price range is from $80-$150

thanks for all the help :)
 
Will you be gaming a lot on your PC? What will you be using it for mainly? IF you're planning on gaming, you'd need at least 1GB of RAM and a decent video card and PSU, all of which will come up to at least twice your max budget at the moment. Let me know and I'll suggest something.
 
Sage Advice re My System Appreciated

Wow -- you guys are a godsend! I'd really appreciate your takes on my present system (details below). It's three years old and I'm not a cutting-edge-type-guy, so I'd like to hang on to this system as long as possible without it becoming a dinosaur.

I just got a good deal on upgrading my graphics card to a Radeon 1600X Pro which hopefully will max out the longevity of my doomed AGP interface. I'd be grateful for your take on my present system vis-a-vis the PC game world. I'm not interested in shooters but enjoy Dreamfall-quality graphics and complex variables a la Sims 2. (Surprisingly, my old Radeon 9200 ran Dreamfall, Riven, Myst III amd others with hardly a hitch, but I think it would have a coronary if I asked it to run with the latest Sims.)

Also, I'd appreciate any cost-effective recommendations you can offer re future upgrades to help delay the onset of Jurassic-itis.

Here's my present system, including upgrades and updates:
Motherboard -- Biostar U8668-D (latest AGP drivers)
Graphic interface -- AGP 4X/8X
Memory -- 512, 1 Channel
CPU -- Intel Celeron 2.70GHz
Power Supply -- Thermaltake, 430 Watts, 18 Amps (new)
Graphics Card -- ATI Radeon 1600X Pro; 512 mb, AGP (latest drivers) -- May I assume it's okay that the card's memory is DDR2 and my RAM is DDR? (C'mon, what's a little "2" between friends?)
Monitor -- ViewSonic Digital LCD; 1280 x 1024 (new)
CD-DVD -- Combo Drive: 52X CD-RW & 16X DVD-ROM (new)
Sound Card -- Integrated Sound Blaster -- Audigy AC97 -- (basic, but no complaints so far)
HD --80 GB
Platform -- XP Home SP2
Country -- USA

Thanks for any feedback anyone cares to offer, either here or by e-mail to "drshi[at]optonline.net"
 
The card's onboard RAM has nothing to do with your PC's RAM, as you rightly assumed.
For the PC, I'd recommend a CPU upgrade first. The Celeron is hardly a gaming CPU, let alone a good one. A Pentium 4 processor with at least 1MB of L2 cache would do wonders for performance. After that, upgrade your RAM to at least 1GB. More is better but it depends on how much you can afford and how much your mobo supports. After all that, if you can afford it, get a 7600GT and you've got a decent AGP system.
 
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