I have a HP Media Center
Link to see CPU
It has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core 2.2GHz with Bus Speed of 2000MHz.
I have placed 2 more 512 sticks in to make a total of 2G Ram.
I replaced the video card with a GeForce 7600 about 2 years ago.
What I want to know is can my cpu/motherboard/etc handle one of the new GeForce GTX cards?
Link to Card
So I guess I know I could buy it and plug it in, but I really want to know if the system itself would handle it, i.e. is the motherboard/chip fast enough to release the full power of the card?
I have looked at buying a hard/core gaming computer, but I have most of the components already in mine. The newest cpus are around 2.66 to 3.0. If I can make a state of the art video card work in mine and bump up to the max 4G of RAM and make it work, I don't see why I would need to spend 2000-4000 on a system with cool lights and a fancy gloss finish when I have the skeleton.
Would it work? Would I need to upgrade my chipset? Power supply?
Your processor is fine, you might want to think about upgrading to 4gb of ram. ram is cheap right now. Didnt see what size your power supply was but ideally you want to have at least a 400w power supply.
other than those things you should be OK with that video card.
well, you'll need at least a PCI Express slot on your motherboard and depending how old your motherboard is, you might not have one.
Also GTX cards are power hogs, I'd recommend at least a 600w PS.
Finally, GTX cards are monstrous things compared to the old card you have and they produce a LOT of heat, so you might want to check out how big your case is and how good its cooling system is, otherwise you might find yourself without room or worse IMO, with the system overheating.
Now, there is absolutely no point in spending extra for a card like the GTX when you don't have at least a good Core 2 Duo CPU (or equivalent AMX) and at least DDR2 RAM. You should think of upgrading those first IMO. Having said that, your motherboard might be old enough that it doesn't support DDR2 even, so you might find yourself having to scrap everything and start from scratch.
There was a point a couple of years ago where technology took a small leap with PCI express and DDR2 capability, and old motherboards (and even not so old ones) became obsolete quite rapidly. This meant that having to upgrade your computer = buying from the motherboard up. In other words... EVERYTHING! Hopefully, this is not the case with you.
Just my two cents, obviously there's a lot of people in here with more in depth knowledge on the matter. They might be able to explain this better.
His board has PCIe x16
400w is plenty of power unless he was to go SLI which isnt possible on his board.
The heat issue is a good tip. I cant believe I forgot to mention that
his CPU is dual core so he should be OK there.
his mobo looks to support 400MHz DDR400/PC3200. While not DDR2 I dont think he will see that big of a difference, he would only notice it if he was trying to run a game at some crazy high resolution like 1680x1050 or something like that.
I have PCI-Ex ports. The card I have in there now has a fan on opr, so it takes up 2 slots already, which is what I think the GTX 200s do. I think I see they have 2 fans on top.
I don't know exactly what my power supply is, but i can't imagine it being less that 400; I want to say it is 500ish; I'll have to check on that. I can't find it in the specs, can I look somewhere on the cpu for the power supply numbers?
I am looking at around 150 for 4GB of RAM (or 77 if I keep 2 of my 512s and get a pair of 1GBs to make 3GB total) and 350ish if I get a GTX 285. This ends up at about 500 bucks. If I go for a new MB and chipset, we are talking another 200-400 bucks. Additionally, I am going to have to get a copy of Windows (because with the HP all data recovery is on a 2nd drive) which will run another 150-200 bucks.
So if I go that way, we are talking at least 850 maybe 1100.
Cheaply I could get a GTX 260 for 175 and 2G ram for 77 and have a really nice upgrade around 250. I will not buy and install a new MB, if it gets to that I will buy a new system which is what I'm trying to avoid.
I play WOW, by the way. I run two accounts at once on the system I have a fairly decent grafix and have very little problem. My system is, in reality, just fine for what I am doing; I just want it to be better.
ok, that's one thing down
No offense, but you're out of your mind bro. 400w won't cut it. You're not just powering the card, you know?400w is plenty of power unless he was to go SLI which isnt possible on his board.
Its essential. GTX card = Big and HOT!The heat issue is a good tip. I cant believe I forgot to mention that
He should be ok? what? if he doesn't mind the rather small bottleneck that it would create you mean? Again, not worth s ing the bucks for the GTX if you're not going to take full advantage of it.his CPU is dual core so he should be OK there.
There is a huge performance e between DDR 400 and DDR2 1200, and it doesn't just have to do with how high a resolution he uses. Plus, you buy a GTX285 precisely to be able to play games at crazy resolutions (which 1680x1050 is NOT by the way). Otherwise buy yourself an older, cheaper card and you'll be great.his mobo looks to support 400MHz DDR400/PC3200. While not DDR2 I dont think he will see that big of a difference, he would only notice it if he was trying to run a game at some crazy high resolution like 1680x1050 or something like that.
If all you play is WoW, then you don't need a GTX, you need more, faster RAM to be able to handle the two accounts open at the same time. If you really must build yourself a better system, then to my knowledge a GeForce 8800GT should be able to handle anything WoW can throw at you, at a fraction of the price. This would also allow you to look into upgrading your RAM and CPU by the way.
P.S. I don't understand why, ff you're willing to spend 1100 to upgrade your system, you don't add a couple of hundred and build yourself a new one. Its not THAT much more expensive and you'll have a decent rig to hold you for another year or two, depending on what you want to do with it... but that's just me.
you might need a bigger power supply, but what i would recommend is getting a new motherboard/CPU with a combo like this
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...therboard-CPUs
scroll to which one you like, its not that expensive and get an 8800 off of ebay. What kind of games will you be playing? GTXs are pretty damn expensive unless you are going to be an insane game you won't need that.
The GTX280 gave one of my friends around 1500FPS on halo 2 with max settings. He was getting around 50 with his 8300 GS before that...so you can see that it is top of the line, actually the GX2 might be better but I wouldn't go throw your money at it just yet...
The 8800GT is the best buy by far. The 9800 is almost identical
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...eries%20Family
Performance
NVIDIA GTX 280
Memory
Interface
Resolution & Refresh
Requirements
Minimum of a 550 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 40 Amps.)
The problem i have with gaming computers...and i used to be a huge fanatic is that technology gets outdatedd sooo fast. Next thing you know you dishing just as much as you spent last time, if not more just 5 months later.
Here was mine
I ended up selling this sucker to my cousin
I didn't mean to say I was going to spend 1100, I was more saying I didn't see spending that much simply upgrading and trying to back it up with the cash numbers.
Do you think going from a 7600 to an 8800GT and adding 2G of RAM would enhance it enough, proportionally?
Obviously if I can get that for 100-130 and the 2G for 77 (to make 3G total) that might be the best and most frugal option.
It'd be even better if I could get a free Quatro razor thrown in.
It all depends, is WoW all you play? if so then yes, a 8800GT and two more gigs of DDR ram should be more than enough. It is by no means a "hardcore gamer" rig though, not by a long shot, but it should hold you over for a while.
You want to see a hardcore gaming rig, check out this thread.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122832
Right now I play WoW and Spore. I don't get into 1P shooters. I also like to play stuff like Civ4, AOE3, you know civ builders. That takes zero work to do. Therefore WoW is the most intense thing I will have, most likley.
I see that 9800GT is actually cheaper online than 8800GT but looks like it performs better; is there something to that?
8800GT is a nice card, still. I have one, and 6GB RAM and can run any Orange Box stuff pretty damn smooth. 9800GT isn't much of an improvement over the 8800GT.
Which I see as well, which is why I'm wondering why a 9800GTX+ is the same price or cheaper than a 8800GT. Seems to me the way to go is the slightly better card that is cheaper.
Where exactly are you finding an 9800GTX cheaper than an 8800GT?
Newegg has 8800GT for 114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814145149R
They list the 9800GTX+ for 114.99 after 15.00 rebate and this includes a copy of Call of Duty: World at War
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339
Actually... that's not half bad. I'd go with the 9800GTX. Plus, I'm not really acquainted with CHAINTECH. EVGA on the other hand makes quality products IMO.
with that amount of money go buy a ps3 or some ....
DON'T BUY THE 9800!!!!
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=XFX-487G1B&src=DC
That is a ing STEAL for a top of the line video card.
! I totally forgot about ATI.
Yes, the 4870 is a lot better. The x2 might be better than the GTX actually
The 4890 is $170 after rebate from newegg. That just might be the best deal in the history of videocards. 1 4890 will run Crysis on max detail.
I've heard that there is some sort of inherent screen blip problem with the high end ATI cards; is that still true?
I'm not into PC gaming much anymore so I can't recommend a card, but ABSOLUTELY buy your stuff from newegg. They're by far the best online retailer I have ever bought from. I have gotten way too much dead hardware that had to be RMA'd from sellers I found on pricewatch (sellers who had great resellerratings online), whereas newegg has been fast and the one and only time I did have a problem, it took me maybe a 2 minute call to get my refund. Their prices are great too, no sales tax outside of Cali, and they offer free shipping on tons of items.
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