All PC Experts Needed PLEASE.

[hoan]

Hi, I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to Pc gaming. I have no idea what to buy or what is good or bad. Right now I have a Pentium D Dual Core computer from Dell, it called the E510. I currently have an Ati x600 video card, but wishes to upgrade. I have been reading posts about the new Nvidia 8800s, but belive it wont fit in my computer slot. I have PCI E by the way. So right now I am waiting for the 8600s, but I stumble onto an another problem

*My problem is the power supply unit. I don't know how to check how much I have. I took apart my comp and SO NUMBERs and Words on the PSU. I have no idea. I did see something that said Output: 305. .....But besides that, I have no idea. So my question is, will I be able to run a Geforce 8600? without a problem?

 

[nightscope]

Hi, I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to Pc gaming. I have no idea what to buy or what is good or bad. Right now I have a Pentium D Dual Core computer from Dell, it called the E510. I currently have an Ati x600 video card, but wishes to upgrade. I have been reading posts about the new Nvidia 8800s, but belive it wont fit in my computer slot. I have PCI E by the way. So right now I am waiting for the 8600s, but I stumble onto an another problem

*My problem is the power supply unit. I don't know how to check how much I have. I took apart my comp and SO NUMBERs and Words on the PSU. I have no idea. I did see something that said Output: 305. .....But besides that, I have no idea. So my question is, will I be able to run a Geforce 8600? without a problem?

Sadly, I don't think you can run an 8600 on that PSU (unless the 305 output was for the +12 rails only...which I doubt). Right now I would wait a bit longer till R600 is released, which is the new line of dx10 cards that ATI is releasing in a couple of weeks (according to some posts). That, as a result, will most likely decrease prices from the competition, nvidia. Therefore, I advise you to wait a bit more and see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

Oh and BTW, if you do get an 8600, your processor might be a bit of a bottleneck for it.

 

[hoan]

Thank You. I was wondering how is my processor going to have trouble running it? Is it too slow or something? I thought having a Dual Core Pc would help a lot.

 

[randomizer]

See if you can find a model number for that psu and I will look it up and see what I can find.

EDIT: Also check out the PSU 101 sticky for info on how to read psu labels and understand more about them. If you have a question, post in that thread or make a new thread.

 

[hoan]

Thx. I didnt see the PSU 101 Sticky, that really helped me a lot. O man, there goes another 100$+ down the drain to play Crysis 8O

 

[nightscope]

Thank You. I was wondering how is my processor going to have trouble running it? Is it too slow or something? I thought having a Dual Core Pc would help a lot.

It's not about having a dual core (since most games out now don't utilize both cores in a dual core yet, it's about the processor itself. Pentium D processors are based on an architecture called Netburst, which proved to be a very unsuccessful one. Actually, there isn't any processor out at the moment that will not bottleneck an 8800 GTX for instance, because it is an extremely powerful card. Your processor will bottleneck your card by a margin, but not a very noticeable one. If you can upgrade to a better processor (an X2 or a Core 2 Duo), then it would increase your performance.

Also, keep in mind that some games are not only GPU intensive, but also CPU intensive. So the CPU plays a good part in gaming.

 

[randomizer]

I know how it feels...

 

[randomizer]

Thank You. I was wondering how is my processor going to have trouble running it? Is it too slow or something? I thought having a Dual Core Pc would help a lot.

It's not about having a dual core (since most games out now don't utilize both cores in a dual core yet, it's about the processor itself. Pentium D processors are based on an architecture called Netburst, which proved to be a very unsuccessful one. Actually, there isn't any processor out at the moment that will not bottleneck an 8800 GTX for instance, because it is an extremely powerful card. Your processor will bottleneck your card by a margin, but not a very noticeable one. If you can upgrade to a better processor (an X2 or a Core 2 Duo), then it would increase your performance.

Also, keep in mind that some games are not only GPU intensive, but also CPU intensive. So the CPU plays a good part in gaming.
But having a Pentium D over a single core P4 is still better for games like crysis, since they are multi-threaded. A C2D will kill anything a pentium can throw at it tho.

 

[nightscope]

Thank You. I was wondering how is my processor going to have trouble running it? Is it too slow or something? I thought having a Dual Core Pc would help a lot.

It's not about having a dual core (since most games out now don't utilize both cores in a dual core yet, it's about the processor itself. Pentium D processors are based on an architecture called Netburst, which proved to be a very unsuccessful one. Actually, there isn't any processor out at the moment that will not bottleneck an 8800 GTX for instance, because it is an extremely powerful card. Your processor will bottleneck your card by a margin, but not a very noticeable one. If you can upgrade to a better processor (an X2 or a Core 2 Duo), then it would increase your performance.

Also, keep in mind that some games are not only GPU intensive, but also CPU intensive. So the CPU plays a good part in gaming.
But having a Pentium D over a single core P4 is still better for games like crysis, since they are multi-threaded. A C2D will kill anything a pentium can throw at it tho.

Oh, of course. Did not see he was referring to Crysis. Crysis will take advantage of all available cores. A dual core will certainly help you in boosting your performance in Crysis...Though in my opinion, a Pentium D is not enough for a demanding game like Crysis.

 

[randomizer]

Then my 3700 sandy is gonna have issues. It may smash netburst, but its only a single core. If I got an X2 I'd be good tho.

 

[joefriday]

People run 7600GTs in their E520s without problems, so it really depends on the power consumption of the new 8600s.