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Would this video card upgrade work?

Forum Graphic & Displays : ATI - Would this video card upgrade work?

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astyrrian17   12-01-2008 at 12:37:03 AM

These are my computer components, built 2.3 years ago:

Antec 500W PSU
Corsair XMS2 2GB ram (2x1GB sticks)
ASUS P5B motherboard (contains 1 PCI-E x16 slot)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Evga NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT KO
Western Digital 250GB HD
1 DVD player ( can't remember the brand )

Basically, I want to upgrade to an ATI Radeon HD 4850. I don't want to build a brand new computer yet, this is kind of a band-aid fix for another year or so.

Would this upgrade work on my computer, allowing my games to run a lot better?

Is the power supply sufficient?

Will there be a major bottleneck on my video card as a result of a PCI-E x16 2.0 being thrown on a PCI-E x16 1.0?

By the way, my motherboard only has 1 PCI-E x16, so SLI/crossfire is not an option.

Opinions besides what I asked are welcome.

Thanks.

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geckoar   12-01-2008 at 01:20:50 AM
- 0 +

It should be fine.

Just check to see if the PSU has more than 18amps on the 12V+ Rails.

It would be a nice boost over a 7900 GT

Check out these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127370

For a duel slot

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127359

For a single slot.

I would go duel if your case airflow is not the best.

Good luck

Reply to geckoar
Huttfuzz   12-01-2008 at 01:23:32 AM
- 0 +

Everything will work out. Have fun with that. If you can afford it, get 2 more Gigs of RAM.

Reply to Huttfuzz
geofelt   12-01-2008 at 01:40:33 AM
- 0 +

If you change from nvidia to ati, you will have to clean out the old nvidia drivers first. It may be a problem to do this. If, instead, you get a nvidia based upgrade, no driver change will be necessary.

If your antec 500 psu has 1 pci-e connector, you can upgrade to any card that needs only one such connector. If the Antec unit has two pci-e connectors, then you can upgrade to a stronger card that requires two.

PCIE 1 & 2 are forward and backward compatible, and performance difference is negligible today. No concerns there.

An upgrade to 4gb is worthwhile. Here's why:
http://www.corsairmemory.com/_appn [...] alysis.pdf

If you can't match your 2gb, you can get a complete 4gb kit for $25:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145181


Message edited by geofelt on 12-01-2008 at 01:41:07 AM
Reply to geofelt
Shadow703793   12-01-2008 at 01:48:17 AM
- 0 +

^+1. esp on the 4GB.

------------------------------ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3815217176_0a5be7955d_o.gif
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3818083596_1a772f7162_o.gif
 Reply to Shadow703793
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