Help with my rig

[dbman19]

Here's my system

AMD Athlon X2 6400+ Black Edition @3.2ghz
2gb Patriot 800mhz ram
8600GTS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127284
or
8600GThttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
250GB SATA HD
80GB IDE HD
DVD ROM
500 watt PSU

First of all, what do you think???
Secondly, is my psu enough????
Thirdly, how much of a difference will I see between the GT and the GTS???

 

[neoxblu1]

I took some time to re-configer your system. Get it within the current price of this configeration. But I need more information on what your going to use this system on. If its gaming you need a better video card.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.0GHz
Nvidia 8800GT
Western Digital Raptor 150GB, 10K RPM, 16MB Cache
250GB Storage


Also I like Corsair Dominator Ram's but its you choice.

 

[chookman]

Dude spend a bit more money and get AMD HD3850 will run rings around the 8600's... im assuming you havent bought some of these components yet? What brand/model PSU?

EDIT: NeoxBlu1: i wish you would stop giving others advise when you are asking for it yourself and dont know what to get.

As i read dbman19 post some of these components are already bought (i believe) if not than a budget would also help.

 

[imrul]

psu should be enough depending on the 12v rail,

 

[dbman19]

Thanks for the replies

First of all, I want to stick with my current mobo for money purposes

Secondly, this is a upgrade list

My current build is
Athlon X2 2.0
1gb 553mhz
8500GT 512mb

Thirdly, budget for the video card is max $150 and I would rather not upgrade the PSU

Fourthly, how to I check the 12v rail

Finally, I had another idea
I have a 450watt psu laying around, what about laying it in the case for the 6pin video card power????

 

[chookman]

Rail ratings are either on the side of the psu or you can tell us the model and we can find it on the net.

Dude at $179 the HD3850 is a must have for budget gaming... its $30 more than budget but 3x more in GPU power and the PSU spec ratings arent that much higher as it runs on a smaller die.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211

 

[dbman19]

Thank you very much
One final question

What cooler would you get for the 6400+???

I'm not planning on overclocking

 

[Onus]

If not overclocking, the stock cooler will be sufficient.
We still don't know what brand/model PSU you have. If it's a Powmax that came with your case, it's fecal material I wouldn't trust to run an old 386. If it is a brand like Corsair or OCZ it should be just fine.

 

[dbman19]

A. PSU is a raidmax 500w
B. The 6400+ I am getting does not come with a cooler
C. What about a separate PSU for the 6pin graphics power??

 

[ausch30]

You listed your memory as 553, is that DDR 550 or DDR2 533? I am assuming it's just a typo and it is actually 533 and if so I would suggest just getting another stick, assuming your current config is 1x1gb, rather than DDR2 800. You can get a 1gb stick of 533 for ~$20 and the difference between 533 and 800 is margainal. You can then use the difference toward a better video card like the one chookman mentioned and in doing so would get a much better return on your money.

 

[dbman19]

thanks for the tip, but i'm planning on getting 2gb for $50 (rebate)

 

[ausch30]

My point was that there is very little difference between 533 and 800 and you could get 1gb of 533 and use the extra $30 toward a better video card. You will see a much larger improvement using the money toward a better video card instead of RAM.

 

[dbman19]

ok......then I will consider that

 

[dbman19]

BTW, my psu has a 12v rail rating of 22A

What is max graphics card I could run?

 

[dbman19]

One last item

I game mostly at 1024 or 1280 and the newest game i'm interested is NFS Pro Street

Will a 7900GS or a 7800GT last me for a while????
And will either of these cards be safe for my psu?