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To rebuild or not to rebuild? Help! =D

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - To rebuild or not to rebuild? Help! =D

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A few months ago I bought a new computer. Being lazy I bought an HP a6452f from Futureshop.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/ [...] 59216.html

I upgraded the graphics card from a NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT to a NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT. Should this have made a noticeable difference? I noticed that it made no difference at all.

Anyway, I am looking to play games such as Age of Conan and the up-coming Warhammer Online. I have Age of Conan and even on the lowest setting the frame-rate is unplayable. I then tried Oblivion with similar results.

I was wondering if the cheap HP IPIBL-LB motherboard was bottlenecking the system? If I purchased a new motherboard what else could be upgraded for a reasonable price and what could I transfer from the HP? I'm not sure if the processor should be used in the rebuild (or if it can be used) or if I should use the RAM.

If I should rebuild it I was looking at this website http://canadacomputers.com/. Can you suggest a motherboard and case to get started?

Thanks a lot for any advice! =)

Message edited by Kazappa on 09-11-2008 at 10:31:24 PM

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upgrade to something better like 8800gt or 4850 then you will see difference

Reply to alvine

You may need a better PSU as well.
You should have seen some performance difference. Into which connector did you plug your monitor?

------------------------------ There is ALWAYS a drone. Exactly where, or how many drones you will encounter may vary, but that there will be at least one will not.
Reply to jtt283

EDIT: It is plugged into DVI and there is a VGA beside it.

Message edited by Kazappa on 09-11-2008 at 11:00:41 PM

Reply to Kazappa

I would expect you to be able to play oblivion/aoc, since a 9600gt is roughly 10% below a 8800gt, and a bit more powerful than the 8800gts 640. The latter I owned, and it ran both those games fine. As the above poster mentioned make sure the monitors in the right connector, check your PSU (chances are it sucks). And also update to the latest video drivers.

Message edited by falcodakrzz on 09-11-2008 at 11:02:18 PM

Reply to falcodakrzz

I think the video card should make a difference indeed. I think your problem is that you aren't seeing the difference between 4 fps and 8 fps. :pt1cable:

Not that I'm laughing or anything. Anyway Get a better video card. As long as you have at least 8 lanes in your PCI-E 16x slot it should be fine. G33 chipsets should have a full 16x bandwidth to that one slot I believe. Oblivian should have been (barley) playable with that 9600GT though. Which 9600GT did you get and are you sure you didn't get like a 8600GT instead? What settings were you trying to play Oblivion at? If your trying to play on a high resolution get at least a Radeon 4850.

I have the NVIDIA Radeon 9600 GT. The box is sitting beside me. Would a PSU make a difference? I'm gonna check what this comp has.. what should it have? Then I'll go buy one immediatly! <=O

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Kazappa

Here is what it currently has.

Bestec ATX-300-12ZCDR - 300 Watt ATX Power Supply

Not big enough? Killing performance? Hope so.

Reply to Kazappa

lol ive not heard of BESTEC chances are it is why your computer was cheap??

buy a Corsair or a PC power & cooling PSU also i would take a guess at your MOBO being naff if its a shop bort comp.

they usually use second rate parts to keep the price low as they dnt expect people to be opening them up to upgrade.

like above you should :

check specs of motherboard and its chipsets.

Reply to jasobnd

I have a question - I'm sure you have your 9600 in the right and only PCIe slot in there, but my question is really about the original config. I checked the spec on your PC from your HP link. In reading them one thing stood out to me. In the expansion slots part it says 1 PCI (occupied) 2 PCI Express 1x(2 available), and 1 PCI Express 16x (available). So on the original config, what was in the PCI slot? the 8500GT? I know Sparkle put out a 8500GT card in PCI, is this what was in your pc to begin with?
In regards to your main issue, that power supply is boardline for running a 9600GT. Online specs say it only has 19amps on the 12v rail.

Reply to occdavid

I just upgraded the PSU from a 300W to a 465W. Didn't do anything. I tested using PassMark PerformanceTest to see if there was any difference.

Reply to Kazappa

Kazappa wrote :

I have the NVIDIA Radeon 9600 GT. The box is sitting beside me. Would a PSU make a difference? I'm gonna check what this comp has.. what should it have? Then I'll go buy one immediatly! <=O

A Nvidia Radeon ?

Reply to knotknut

Oops. I's can't read.

NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT >< Sorry.

My other computer has a Radeon so I got mixed up somehow.

Message edited by Kazappa on 09-12-2008 at 01:14:48 AM

Reply to Kazappa

That "new" PSU could still be an off, crappier brand. I'm quite sure that you should be able to play oblivion. I have seen oblivion with a 9600gt at 1680x1050 and it was on all high with no AA, probably at 25fps. I would still suspect that the PSU may be a problem.

Reply to MegaGamer3

Yea judging by the name RetailPLUS+ I can gauruntee you it is a cheap brand. Thought it should do something though if that was it.
In this little town I only have one choice. So I guess I'll have to order something. I'll go Corsair, sounds sexy.

Before I order though pretty positive I can rule out the crappy HPIPIBL-LB motherboard?

Message edited by Kazappa on 09-12-2008 at 01:19:06 AM

Reply to Kazappa

"I upgraded the graphics card from a NVIDIA nvidia GeForce 8500 GT to a NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT 9600 gt . Should this have made a noticeable difference? I noticed that it made no difference at all. "

Before you go replacing other parts, what resolution are you playing at, do you have aa and af on? Also, what is the fps difference between your 8500 and the 9600? Do you play any other games?

Reply to nerdnic

I tried AoC on the lowest resolution at the lowest setting and it was unplayable. Oblivion I tried at multiple resolutions. 1024x768 and medium-low settings. Tried high settings. Tried the lowest and it was still choppy.

Reply to Kazappa

Did you install the latest drivers?

Reply to nerdnic

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