at this point, pretty much anything is an upgrade as the cards are about 2yrs old, but my they were spiffy then.
anyway, we both have a PCI-e port, run XP and need a decent card for graphic heavy use, and have a budget of about 350$ per card.
we prefer Nvidea cards. cause, well, just cause i suppose.
anyway, links? hints? advice?
and, i'll actually heed the advice given!
"Don't want to sound like a fanboy, but I am with you. I'll buy it for sure, it's just a matter of for how long I will be playing it..."
- Silvast, Battle.net forums
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
A particularly nice PSU that will support the card I'd recommended. Didn't think of that point until Blindy pointed it out.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
quote:
Blindy. said:
I got a 260, which is pretty nice, but let me recommend a power supply upgrade be part of your budget. 500W with 2x 12v rails doesn't even cut it anymore.
My power supply recently broke and I had to get a new one, so I picked one up with a little display on the back of it that tells you exactly how many watts you're using. I have an 8600GTS (the good one, not the crap one), two hard drives, a CD drive, and it's never jumped above 300W. So I dunno what's going on there. It's a 3GHz+ double core CPU and a top of the range mobo.
But it matters how good your other computer hardware is too ie delid and his nice graphics card but poo everything else
what do you guys think of this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319
we plan on upgrading RAM as well, Miss Xyrra's machine can only hold 1g though, and mine only 2g.
power supplies will probably be upgraded as well. Trent fucked around with this message on 11-19-2008 at 06:24 PM.
Edit: and what have you got in your rigs right now? Damnati fucked around with this message on 11-19-2008 at 06:31 PM.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
If your shitty no-name brand 500w PSU is rated at 50% you might as well just take a hammer to your hardware then and there.
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq Mortious booooze lime pole over bench lick:
My power supply recently broke and I had to get a new one, so I picked one up with a little display on the back of it that tells you exactly how many watts you're using. I have an 8600GTS (the good one, not the crap one), two hard drives, a CD drive, and it's never jumped above 300W. So I dunno what's going on there. It's a 3GHz+ double core CPU and a top of the range mobo.
Anandtech recently did an article on power supply myths.
They built three systems and monitored their draw under normal use and heavy load. Their top-end system with an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, two 8800 Ultras, four hard drives, an optical drive would only draw 310w under normal use, peaking at 544w under maximum load.
So basically what's happening is that you're realizing that power supply manufacturers have lied to you.
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq Trent booooze lime pole over bench lick:
just cause i have 350$ available doesn't mean i need to spend it.what do you guys think of this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319
we plan on upgrading RAM as well, Miss Xyrra's machine can only hold 1g though, and mine only 2g.
power supplies will probably be upgraded as well.
Wait a second something isn't right here.
You've got a motherboard new enough that it has a PCI Express slot, but it has a 2gb memory cap? I've never seem a motherboard less than 5 years old that couldn't take 4gb except the cheapest cheap dells sold to third world countries and the elderly.
What motherboard do you have?
quote:
Maradon! said:
Anandtech recently did an article on power supply myths.
That was quite an interesting read. I think you read the conclusion wrong though, it's all about efficiency. Even if that high end system was only pulling 500-odd watts, the higher grade power supply allowed it to pull with much great efficiency. If that supply was put into a crappy computer though the efficiency would go down. So you should still get a good supply for a good computer.
Looking at that graph, the well manufactured 700W one I'm using at the moment seems to be perfect for me efficiency-wise.
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq Mortious booooze lime pole over bench lick:
That was quite an interesting read. I think you read the conclusion wrong though, it's all about efficiency. Even if that high end system was only pulling 500-odd watts, the higher grade power supply allowed it to pull with much great efficiency. If that supply was put into a crappy computer though the efficiency would go down. So you should still get a good supply for a good computer.Looking at that graph, the well manufactured 700W one I'm using at the moment seems to be perfect for me efficiency-wise.
Oh, I didn't take it to mean that you should skimp on a power supply, only that outlandishly beefy power supplies are completely unnecessary and that you're much better off buying higher quality, lower wattage supply.
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Duck Tales:
Wait a second something isn't right here.You've got a motherboard new enough that it has a PCI Express slot, but it has a 2gb memory cap? I've never seem a motherboard less than 5 years old that couldn't take 4gb except the cheapest cheap dells sold to third world countries and the elderly.
What motherboard do you have?
well, it was a clearance compaq i got from best buy for 300$, so yep, 2gb is it, and i upgrade it slowly over time.
so, we are.
i know they are POS's, but we'd like to make them stink a bit less.
EDITED HERE:
so, we are maxing the RAM, upgrading video cards and powersupplies and see where we stand then. Trent fucked around with this message on 11-20-2008 at 01:12 AM.
What are you currently using? Alidane fucked around with this message on 11-20-2008 at 04:26 AM.
and yeah, i don't want to spend 300$ on a graphics card, it is what we had saved up just in case they were amazingly expensive.
i can put another gig if RAM in mine, her machine can just handle one gig, so we are doing that.
upgrading the powersupplies to 750W
so, the graphics cards are the last part of what we are going to do now.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
Dell pre-builts that were on sale.
we may have voided the warranty as soon as they hit the floor of the living room though.
but man the monitors are nice.
and both new systems, on an early cyber monday sale, less than 800$.
1. Is it overkill to go for an Intel X58/Core i7 processor combo if you don't see yourself going for SLI?
2. Heck, are even Quad Core Core 2 Duo processors overkill?
3. Who makes the best Intel-chipset mobos that handle LGA775 CPUs this days, if I decide to go the Core 2 Duo route?
4. This looks suitably delicious, but I think even with one video card it still might be a bit much for playing mainly WoW on it.
Keep in mind, I'm currently using my 4-year old 2.8e P4 with Geforce 6800GT on my Abit IC7-MAX3 with 2 GB of PC3200, running XP SP3.
Concern yourself and your money more with the hard drive, video card, and RAM. these are the things that will effect you the most, and there area where spending more money will give you a longer service life.
quote:
Mightion Defensor postedMy favorite motherboard make, Abit, has ceased to be, it seems. Couple questions of my own, since WotLK is pushing my current PC:
1. Is it overkill to go for an Intel X58/Core i7 processor combo if you don't see yourself going for SLI?
2. Heck, are even Quad Core Core 2 Duo processors overkill?
3. Who makes the best Intel-chipset mobos that handle LGA775 CPUs this days, if I decide to go the Core 2 Duo route?
4. This looks suitably delicious, but I think even with one video card it still might be a bit much for playing mainly WoW on it.
Keep in mind, I'm currently using my 4-year old 2.8e P4 with Geforce 6800GT on my Abit IC7-MAX3 with 2 GB of PC3200, running XP SP3.
1) Arguably, though IIRC Intel's going to be sticking with the 1366 socket for a while, so it may not be a bad investment. DDR3 isn't that expensive but you'll pay a premium for the CPU and chipset at this point.
2) Most applications don't scale very well with # of cores yet (excluding high-end rendering and number-crunching apps).
3) Eaglelake variety of your choosing. Intel P45 seems popular.
4) Fuck, I hate PCs.
Time to start saving... after Christmas.
