barley1987

Hello all

I have recently started playing GTR2 on my PC. The game runs fine I just want to get better graphics as they aren't the best at the moment.

here are my specs:

ATi X550 256MB
pentium 4 - 524
3.06 ghz - 1mb - fsb 533
160 gb hdd - sata 2 7200rpm
my power supply: https://www.newpowersupply.com/hipro...5-c-1-p-2.html
motherboard - elite 649 m3

I suspect an upgrade of 2mb RAM is a good start, but i dont want to change my motherboard etc. Preferably just my graphics card.

Thanks in advance

zerofire

I would personally replace the GPU with something higher in performance like a ATi Radeon HD 2600XT or ATi Radeon HD 4670 first. Then add 1 GB of RAM to a total of 2GB. If you still want an improvement afterword then replace the CPU and maybe motherboard if necessary because a Pentium 4 is considered old even with those clock speeds that are on your unit. The graphics card and RAM should be your first priority though, in that order.

barley1987

Thanks for the reply.

Is my 300watt power supply good enough for the ATi Radeon HD 4670?

upgrading to 2mb ram is a must! :)

RockmasteR

I don't know why you need to upgrade an obsolete system...
sorry to say that, but your CPU is old now, so upgrading this PC for only one game is waste of money, anyway it's your call
do you have an AGP slot or a PCIe slot for the Video Card?
and that power supply isn't enough for the ATI HD series
you need at least a 550 Power Supply with 18 Amps under the 12 Volts if you have AGP
and 26 Amps under the 12Volts if you have PCIe

barley1987

why do i need to upgrade it? Because i have found a game i like, which plays ok but just want to make it a bit better. Im not a big fan of gaming so am not going to blow $$$ on a new pc. This one is a couple of years old now i know but its a decent system (in my books! :P)

Im not sure if its AGP of PCIe, i though agp was normally brown but the slot that my ATi card is in atm is orange. Any thoughts??

Yep i will update the power supply.

Just googled my pc: https://www.xpertonline.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=2728

it seems it uses PCIe

wrench97

Take a look for a HD4650 or HD4670 card you'll need at least a good quality 550w PSU to power it.

zerofire

I don't know what you guys have been reading but for an ATi Radeon 4670 it is recommended to have at minimum 450w with 500w being the most common config. I personaly have a high quality 500w XION power supply with that card in it.

emosun

With only a single pentium 4 I wouldn't bother with anything new. Maybe a x1650 or a 2600 pro , those will do fine until you get a new machine.


Well I don't know where you heard Xion was a quality brand but it seems it is infact not very good.

zerofire

XION is a quality brand just as long as you don't use the XION power supplies packed with the case or under 500w.

wrench97

A good supplier would not use a substandard unit in their own branded case.

Mcninjaguy

@zerofire
Xion PSU's are good for throwing down ravines and watching them smash. Good wholesome fun!

Good PSU's have a single 12v Rail This XIon below has 4 12v rails and is about as strong as a Corsair 550w - Corsair 650w (in between)

Xion 800w (garbage)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817190016

@barley1987

something like this

SAPPHIRE 100255HDMI Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
$67
after rebate $57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102820

and this PSU

Corsair 550w
$94
after rebate $74
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004

zerofire

Any decent person with some sense would never buy a PSU with more than two rails. When the amount or rails exceeds two the PSU is going to experience performance issues due to limitations of amps being placed on each rail right after the line splitters. With four rails you need to properly place all equipment to be equally spread (don't put two state of the art graphics cards on one rail). You need to be very good at balancing and management to get the most out of a four rail unit. Two rail units dedicate one rail to power the CPU and motherboard while the other rail does all the rest. It is a no brainer to setup. Single rail units power everything from one rail. The fact that what you are using as an example is a quad rail unit makes it much more prone to a performance hit upon improper configuration and is therefore unrepresentitive of the brand.

emosun

Sorry but Xion Is still a pretty poor brand , the efficiency is bad , the amps are bad , and the low prices and pretty lights are a typical sign of a bad unit. Quality units don't need led fans. Bad units do need em to sell.

Mcninjaguy

Now you're trying to side with us?

zerofire

@emosun
Not all XION power supplies have lights on them. Only the high wattage ones that are in the LanParty and Supernova series have those. My unit itself is a gray box with stickers on the side and two fans (80mm and 120mm).

@Mcninjaguy
I am not siding with you. I am stating that there is large amounts of error in the calculations in use due to user misconfiguration. If that unit was properly balanced it could output 750-800w. The error is in the user not the PSU.

wrench97

If you're happy with the Xion that's fine after all it is your money, but they are not a high quality Power Supply and therefore we do not recommend their use. They have too many variations made by different suppliers to even attempt to try and pick out the good from the bad.

Mcninjaguy

When I look at the Xion units on Newegg all I see are doorstops.

wrench97

I think we have strayed far enough from the the Original question on this thread back to the subject or start a new thread to debate the qualities or lack there of of the brand.

zerofire

I also forgot to mention that I am running the unit 24/7 for many years. Overall I would agree with wrench97. We have strayed too far from the topic at hand.

Mcninjaguy

I still say you should get the Corsair 550w.

What are 12v voltages in the bios?