New video card help?

Naz · 02-12-2009, 05:15 PM

Hey everybody,

I am thinking of upgrading my video card on my PC. I currently have an ATI Radeon X1650 pro video card and I was hoping to upgrade to something that would be able to run games like COD WAW and COD 4 on higher resolutions. I have 3 concerns. 1 Will it fit in the chassis? 2 Will I have a good enough power supply to handle it? And 3 will my processor bottleneck the performance?
I have a 250W power supply and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.1 GHz processor.

Thanks guys!

Nexxtech · 02-12-2009, 06:10 PM

I would upgrade to a 400 watt PSU. A 250 watt PSU could create problems for you if you run a better video card. I'm surprised your PSU hasn't given you problems already. Must be a quality 250 watt PSU. Best of luck with this.

**koala** · 02-16-2009, 01:14 PM

1. What size is your case?

2. No, you will need to upgrade the PSU to one that is suitable for the graphics card.

3. The amount of bottlenecking will depend on which graphics card you go for. The Athlon 64 is a bit dated and will struggle with newer games at medium-high settings, but if you don't mind dropping the resolution and settings, you should be ok.

What make/model is your motherboard? AGP or PCIE?

Naz · 02-16-2009, 01:21 PM

I don't know the exact size of my case, but I believe I have about 3 cm of space on both sides of the PCI-E slot. What wattage of PSU should I think of getting? And, I was looking at something like a Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX or something similar. Ya, I don't mind dropping the settings, I just want it to run smoothly.

**koala** · 02-16-2009, 02:47 PM

For a PCIE 9800GTX, you'll need something like the Corsair 650W for $80.

Does your motherboard have AGP or PCIE slots?

02-12-2009, 05:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
Naz Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 8 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit	New video card help? Hey everybody, I am thinking of upgrading my video card on my PC. I currently have an ATI Radeon X1650 pro video card and I was hoping to upgrade to something that would be able to run games like COD WAW and COD 4 on higher resolutions. I have 3 concerns. 1 Will it fit in the chassis? 2 Will I have a good enough power supply to handle it? And 3 will my processor bottleneck the performance? I have a 250W power supply and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.1 GHz processor. Thanks guys! __________________ Windows Vista Home Premium AMD Athalon X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ (2.1 Ghz) ATI Radeon X1650 Pro Pci-E 512mb 2 GB RAM

02-12-2009, 06:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Nexxtech Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 481 OS: XP Pro SP3 / Windows 7	Re: New video card help? I would upgrade to a 400 watt PSU. A 250 watt PSU could create problems for you if you run a better video card. I'm surprised your PSU hasn't given you problems already. Must be a quality 250 watt PSU. Best of luck with this.

02-16-2009, 01:14 PM	#3 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,458 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: New video card help? 1. What size is your case? 2. No, you will need to upgrade the PSU to one that is suitable for the graphics card. 3. The amount of bottlenecking will depend on which graphics card you go for. The Athlon 64 is a bit dated and will struggle with newer games at medium-high settings, but if you don't mind dropping the resolution and settings, you should be ok. What make/model is your motherboard? AGP or PCIE? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

02-16-2009, 01:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
Naz Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 8 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit	Re: New video card help? I don't know the exact size of my case, but I believe I have about 3 cm of space on both sides of the PCI-E slot. What wattage of PSU should I think of getting? And, I was looking at something like a Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX or something similar. Ya, I don't mind dropping the settings, I just want it to run smoothly. __________________ Windows Vista Home Premium AMD Athalon X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+ (2.1 Ghz) ATI Radeon X1650 Pro Pci-E 512mb 2 GB RAM

02-16-2009, 02:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,458 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: New video card help? For a PCIE 9800GTX, you'll need something like the Corsair 650W for $80. Does your motherboard have AGP or PCIE slots? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here