COmp. Upgrade questions.

[grimm669]

HEllo, everyone. I have sme questions and need a lil help on my decision.
My comp ias like 3 years old and is lil slow on graphics and speed.

I have an Ati 9200 (i know its old and sux) and 512 Ram.
Im wondering what is a Good priced Graphics card for $100-$200. Also thinking of buying another 512 of ram...Does it matter what brand of ram that you Buy??

Also how do you check the Watts of your power supply??

[Dan]

if u got an invoice that came with your computer, it will say all the spec's on your system. that will have the watts for your PSU. however, on a 3 year old computer, it would be safe to upgrade it anyways if u buy a better graphics card, cause they suck juice like crazy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814150130

theres a good card for only 134$ but the 6800's need alot of juice so u probably will need a new PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814150140

KICKASS CARD i found for 195$ this will blow u away and play any game u have easy. only problem is u will have to upgrade your PSU for sure.

oh btw when u buy a new PSU, take mesurements of your old one so u can make sure the new one fits inside the case >.< just a fyi lol


EDIT!!!!!
IF YOUR COMPUTER USES AGP DONT BUY THESE! these cards are for PCI express only, if yours uses AGP let me know and i can find some compatable cards

erm edit #2, go with nvidia no matter what

[grimm669]

wouldn't the 256 bit be better than the 128?
Also my comp is a Hp incase you needed that info.

[Dan]

what i really need to know is if it is AGP or PCI.....

[grimm669]

Pci

[Dan]

PCI express x16? ok if it is that those 2 cards will work, i am also looking at others, trying to find the best one for the cheapest price for u i'll repost in bout 30 min or so

btw what is your processor? intel/AMD and specs?

Additional Comment:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814127217

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814130283

heres some others to look through, remember when u look at price, u will need to spend probably $50 or more on a good PSU. GL and have fun

oh btw, i dont know as much about ram....but u do need to upgrade it to at least 1gb (i use 4gb ) idk what brand u should use though.

[grimm669]

Intel Pentium 4
2.8 Ghz

[Dan]

ya these cards will work then, but with a 2.8 ghz p4 your not going to be playin HL2 on max settings so....you could go with a 100$ card if u wanted, if u decide u want a cheaper card, pm me and i'll look some more, but if u ever buy a new computer, u could easily switch out a good card that u buy now and put it in that

[grimm669]

YA ill go with a 100-200$ one and if i buy a new comp switch it out thats fine.

[Dan]

ok, all of these are under 200$ so your good

[trayne]

If your just upgrading for diablo 2, a 256 will be fine. If its for other current ones, 512 will be your choice. as for RAM, i'd stick with 1gig. things higher usually have an overflow cause people kinda forget about what they have in it already and mix rpms around and it starts a waved flow for speeding. knowing your power supply, its usually hidden behind the case when they screw in the power supply, sounds like you have an HP so you can just go to their site and punch in your computer type and they should have the details listed.

[grimm669]

Im updating for not just D2. For WoW, Cs GW. Etc. Also for future games.

Ty ill check out the Hp website.

[Bartender]

The g-force fxs are pretty decent, I got one for about 75 bucks and I can play source etc.

[trayne]

well if you got the cash and knoew someone experienced with the newer dells, find some info on the new card they use. Its called a physics accelerator. I bought one myself for my custom computer, seems stable enough and its a bit hard to tell the change in some areas but shows greatly in fps, startup of programs and windows and media work if your making a dvd or converting a file to dvd format. AGEIA made it but dell uses it. For D2, you can improve it without alot of upgrades by using a plugin.

[grimm669]

Yea what if your Pc only has PCI not express??

Can i still get a good graphics card?

[trayne]

yea. heck, if your card is already a 128 or even a 256, get the software to overclock your videocard, just do it manually and only change it about 4 notches if its a 128. 2 if its a 64.

edit: what kind of hp is it anyways? maybe i can help you find a good card and parts for it.

[grimm669]

HP Media Center m385c Desktop
Does over clocking make speed better only?? does it make graphics better/sharper?


Also would 2x graphic cards make it better?

And to make it a pci-X would i have to just buy a new comp?

[L4E]

u cant just stick 2x video cards, u need to buy a specific type of video card that can handle having two of it without conflicting. It's too complicated, stick with a GeForce with the highest number u can get (7800?)

Ur mother board determines wheter its PCI-express, PCI, or AGP 4x/8x
The difference here is mainly that, pci is for EXTREMELY old cards, like cards from the 1990s. AGP 4x is also for old cards, but supports a few new onces, AGP 8x is for most new cards. PCI-express is the newest and also the best.
There are no video cards powerful enough that u would actually see a difference with the AGP8x version or the PCI-X version of them.

It's usually written the power of ur power supply on an etiquet sticked on it

if ur going to play video games, chat on windows live, run media player, surf the net, use XSI, etc etc, all at the same time, i strongly suggest 2gb + ram. If u just wanna play games, 756mb is a recommended minimum.

[trayne]

I would rather build a new computer. the motherboard used in that particular hp has a locked bus so its not overclockable and cant take another type of processor that doesnt have a matching number. but it shows you do have an agp slot so you should be able to use a different video card. I'm guessing your current 9200 is agp, so you can just buy a new one and take out the old one and put in the new one.

2 cards usually wont work since you can only connect the monitor once unless u have a dual pci express connection that you can connect both to a dongle. but if you dont its fine, you can just run a video card, som xfx versions and most msi work fine if its gaming. for all around, i'd use bfg they seem to keep a stable feed.