[Malco84]

Hi

I would really appreciate any help, this is the first time I've chosen to upgrade my video card so Im having to learn lots of new info.

I would like to replace the rubbish card that I got with my desktop 4 years ago so that I can keep it running for moderate gaming (spore) and 3D design work. luckily I spent some money on my machine back then and it has aged amazingly well.

Ive read through the pages at playtool.com and have determined that I will require an AGP card with 1 VGA and 1 DVI-I output with Direct X 9. At this point I get lost in the sea of choice and would really appreaceate some guidance. My system info is to the left but if you need anymore info I'll try to get it for you.

Many Thanks

 

[Houndog777]

http://compreviews.about.com/od/video/tp/AGPVideo.htm

 

[AceGoober]

I think the questions that need to be asked are:

What games are you intending to play?

What screen resolution / detail level are you hoping to play them at?

What type of performance are you expecting to achieve?

We will also need to know the make / model of power supply to see if it will support the video card you choose.

 

[Malco84]

Thank you for your replys,

The games I intend to play, should not be too intensive, as I said the only new one I can think of will be spore which I would love to look nice and sharp. Apart from that I doubt I'll be playing any new FPS just strategy games and some 3D design work in Pro E, Solidworks and Studiotools.

As far as screen resoloution goes I would like to be able to run my desktop at 1600 x 1200 and run games with at least most effects turned on.I would like the performance to be quicker and sharper, without having to make comprimises with resoloutions or effects.

The power supply is a Delta Electronics, DPS-295BB A REV:00
Output total 295.4W max

With the list of AGP cards, if I were to buy a card that supported DirectX 10 would this also be compatible with directx9 as I do not want to install Vista on this system.

Thanks

 

[Houndog777]

Hi, yes DX10 will handle any other version of Direct-X.
What you have to think of now is power supply.........modern card are power hungry.

http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Power_Supply_Unit

The above link will give you a good insight into the power you need; it's not all about wattage, but the output on the diferent rails of the psu. Have a read of the article at your leisure and you will be a far wiser man. Good Luck.

 

[Malco84]

Sorry for asking more questions but it seems that the more I find out the more complicated this gets. These are the full details of my PSU,
-----------------------------------------------------
Delta Electronics
Model: DPS295BB A REV:00

Output: Total 295.4W Max
--- +5V --- 28A Max
--- +12V - 17A Max
+12sp 1.2A Max LPS Output
+12, +12sp Total 209W Max

+3.3V --- 13A Max
-12V ----- 0.2A Max
AUX + 5VB 1.8A Max
+5V, + 3.3V Total 165V Max

165mm (w) x 90mm (h) x 100 (L) mm
------------------------------------------------------

I have come to understand that this is quite a rubbish PSU but if possible I would prefer not to change it as I dont want to end up spending too much.

So as I understand it the 12V rail gives out 204W? but how do I find out what the videocard would require?

So far from my search I was looking at:

512MB Sapphire HD2600XT AGP 4x/8x 128 Bit GDDR3, D-Sub/HDTV/Dual Link DVI-I, Retail

or

512MB ECS 7300GT, AGP 8x, Mem 667MHz, GPU 350MHz, 8 Pipes, D-Sub/DVI/HDTV, Fan Cooling

Do you think these cards are suitable.

Thanks again

 

[AceGoober]

If I were in the same situation as you I would choose the HD 2600XT over the 7300GT. It does require a little more power (from the use of GDDR4 and higher clock frequencies) than the 7300GT, but not by much.

As far as performance goes, the HD2600XT will outperform the 7300GT by a great margin. Here is a chart which will allow you to see the basic differences:

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/graphics-cards/3dmark06-v1-0-2-hdr-sm3-0-score,538.html

As far as your PSU goes, I would replace it with at least a good 400 watt unit that has strong 12V rails and an efficiency rating of at least 70%, if not 80%, between 25% to 80% load.

The one I would recommend in your situation is the $46.99 Silverstone Strider ST-400. It has very good efficiency ratings throughout various levels of load and at 80% load it rates at 77% efficiency. Very good for PSU in it's price range. Here is a link to a review and the NewEgg link as well.

Review:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQzNCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

NewEgg Link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256032&Tpk=Silverstone+ST-400

Whatever video card you decide on make sure to keep good airflow stream going over it. I would suggest picking up a good 120mm fan such as the Yate Loon 12SL-12, 120mm, 47cfm, 28DBA fan. It runs quiet and produces good airflow.

http://www.svc.com/d12sl-12-bk.html

Hope this helps. :smile:

 

[Malco84]

Thank you for your reply AceGoober

Since posting last I decided to go for the Sapphire 3850 512mb, it appears to have got good reviews on quite a few sites and I was particularly swung by the article at the inquirer,

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/14/agp-nth-coming

When I purchased it I found out that the 3850 needs 63W so I presumed that my power supply would be able to handle it.

As you have said that I need a new power supply for the HD2600 which only needs 49W I presume it is more necessary for me to get a better PSU now that I have gone for the 3850.

Is this due to the efficiency of the PSU or would my existing PSU not even have enough power to run everything now? (I think I will upgrade my PSU I am just curious as to the reason)

Also with regard to the fan upgrade, does this mean that the cooling systems on the cpu and psu are not effective enough? or are the basic fans provided with PC's generally not up to the job of cooling good graphics cards?

Many thanks for your time and patience.

 

[emosun]

That 3850 will need a quality 550 watt or higher with 18 amps on the 12v rail.

 

[Malco84]

So would the 560W Silverstone Zeus ST56ZF be suitable for this graphics card? Do I need to consider anything else when choosing a PSU? (apart from size which I will check this evening)

 

[emosun]

You should really go with a better bran such as antec or thermaltake or corsair. Also need 18 amps on the 12v rail.

 

[AceGoober]

From all the brands that emosun listed I would have to lean towards Corsair over the others. The Corsair CMPSU-550VX is a very good PSU, has 41amps on the +12 volt line and won't break the bank either.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

If you really wanted to get a time proven product then go for the Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620 watt power supply. It has dual 12v rails with 18 amps on each line. It is about 50% more expensive than the 550VX but worth every penny.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002

 

[Malco84]

Hi thank you for your comments,

I should update you on my situation as it has been snowballing. Having chosen the 3850 and discovering that it would need a larger PSU I discovered that my Vaio was pretty much impossible to upgrade. It has a very small OEM PSU and overheats very easily, this discovered I realised that I would have to buy a new case.

I have chosen the Antec Sonata 3 Super Black Mini Tower Case with 500W aPFC PSU and an extra 120mm fan. However I believe that the 12v rail only has 17amps so will this be sufficent or will this snowball continue growing?

 

[emosun]

Freebee case psu's are very crappy junky psu's that are thrown in to move the cases off the shelves. They usually only cost a few dollars to build and are made to be as cheap as possible. so yes the snowball grows a little more.

Also , I hope your sony viao has a removable I/O shield plate or you'll have a big hole in the back of your pc.

 

[Malco84]

ok

To try and stop this snowball, I cancelled my order for the Antec case. I have now changed my order to the AKASA Zen Case and the The Corsair CMPSU-550VX.

My I/O shield plate is removable so I will try and put all these bits together on Monday and will let you know how it all goes.

Thanks

Malco

 

[Malco84]

Hi

just thought I'd let you know that I managed to transfer everything across and the video card seems to be working fine. There have been a couple of problems but I have posted those here http://www.techsupportforum.com/f255/problems-with-an-old-motherboard-258769.html#post1532845.

Many thanks to all of you that helped me choose this new card, it has given a old machine an much needed new lease of life.

Malco