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Upgrade/Compatibility Help

Forum Motherboards & Memory : General Motherboard - Upgrade/Compatibility Help

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nlovin   07-13-2009 at 08:25:18 PM

Hey Everyone,

My brother's birthday is coming up and he wants to upgrade his computer for better all around graphics and performance. I know enough about components to help him pick something out, but I have no idea if any of it would be compatible. He's currently running a Dell DXP061. Here is part of his dxdiag (I'm not sure what exactly I should throw up here from the report, so let me know if you need anything else):

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/13/2009, 13:00:37
Machine name: JAKE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DXP061
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 2.4.2
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6700 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 743MB used, 3194MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 7900 GS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0292&SUBSYS_037010DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1152 x 864 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9145 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)

--------------
System Devices
--------------
Name: Intel(R) P965/G965 PCI Express Root Port Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_29A1&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&08
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 5.01.2600.5512 (English), 4/13/2008 14:36:44, 68224 bytes

Name: Intel(R) P965/G965 Processor to I/O Controller Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_29A0&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&00
Driver: n/a

Name: Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio
Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_284B&SUBSYS_01DB1028&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&D8
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\hdaudbus.sys, 5.10.0001.5013 (English), 4/13/2008 12:36:05, 144384 bytes

Name: Intel(R) ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 5 - 2847
Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2847&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&E4
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 5.01.2600.5512 (English), 4/13/2008 14:36:44, 68224 bytes

Name: Intel(R) ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 283F
Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_283F&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&E0
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys, 5.01.2600.5512 (English), 4/13/2008 14:36:44, 68224 bytes

Name: Intel(R) ICH8 Family SMBus Controller - 283E
Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_283E&SUBSYS_01DB1028&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&FB


So any help on compatibility issues or component upgrades you guys have would greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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festerovic   07-13-2009 at 08:38:09 PM
- 0 +

How much money do you want to spend? I would say get a 4870 512mb edition, as the 1gb costs more and won't do anything at his resolution.

Compatibility - the only issue is whether or not the power supply has the needed PICexpress power connectors. Most video cards come with molex adapters, so that shouldn't be an issue. If he has a real weak PSU, you may need to upgrade that for most current video cards for gaming. Anything over 450w should be OK.

For a free performance boots, read up on how to overclock. Not sure how overclockable the motherboard is, but you could probably switch only the FSB to 333Mhz to get to 3.33Ghz on the cpu.

Reply to festerovic
belial2k   07-13-2009 at 08:39:50 PM
- 0 +

I assume you are looking for general purpose/gaming upgrades? It would help if you gave a budget, also.

2 general things I can see that would help would be to upgrade the video card and the Ram. I didn't see listed if you are running 32bit or 64bit, with 32 bit you will be limited to 4gb of ram, which you would want to match to the exitsting ram.

Reply to belial2k
belial2k   07-13-2009 at 08:43:04 PM
- 0 +

adding to what festerovic said on Overclocking...your bios is locked, but you could use a software overclocking tool like nvidia's ntune to get a slight overclock on both the cpu and graphics, and the good news is that is free software.

Reply to belial2k
festerovic   07-13-2009 at 08:58:19 PM
- 0 +

is 32 bit.

If you got another 2 gb of ram, would make a very small difference for games, but WTH, 2gbs is like $20 these days. With a total of 4GB of ram, and a new video card, this machine is "done". As in, don't spend any more money on it, because it won't net any gains.

Reply to festerovic
belial2k   07-13-2009 at 09:25:36 PM
- 0 +

without knowing the budget I would say probably your best bet is a hd4850 and adding the ram. If you use the 4870 it is a better card, but will cost quite a bit more and require a bigger PSU....so using the better card is going to cost at least $100 more for a slight increase in performance. Right now the 4850s are about $100 from newegg, and the ram will be really cheap like festerovic mentioned.

Reply to belial2k
nlovin   07-13-2009 at 11:46:25 PM
- 0 +

Yeah, sorry. I completely forgot about budget - even after I figured out how much he'll probably get for his birthday haha. Something preferably around the 200-250$ range, but I can give him some extra cash to boost the max up to 300$.

Yeah, he plays a lot of games - mostly RTSs and RPGs - and wants a little more power. I think the PSU will be fine - it's 550W. And yeah, the BIOS is locked down as far as overclocking goes.

Thanks guys for everything so far.


Message edited by nlovin on 07-13-2009 at 11:55:58 PM
Reply to nlovin
belial2k   07-13-2009 at 11:54:49 PM
- 0 +

Well, then the 4870 might be a better choice. It is about $140 or so from newegg, depending on which one you get. Step up the ram to 4gb, download nvidia ntune, run the autotune (fair warning, run the 3hr tune up, but you'll have to set there with it and restart your computer over and over as it crashes and freezes. Install all the new components before running the program. Then you will have to save that profile to load when the cpu usage increases, and delete any other profiles that are set to run automatically). You are looking at a huge increase in overall performance from what he had in gaming, and it should only cost about $160 or so.

Reply to belial2k
nlovin   07-14-2009 at 12:01:35 AM
- 0 +

Awesome. Thanks for your help. Getting on Newegg now :D

Reply to nlovin
nlovin   07-14-2009 at 12:29:43 AM
- 0 +

Hey, I have a another quick question. I'm almost positive that computer only has PCI-E (1.0) slots. Is he going to lose a lot of quality from a Radeon 4870 since it runs off a PCI-E 2.0 interface?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by nlovin on 07-14-2009 at 01:01:13 AM
Reply to nlovin
belial2k   07-14-2009 at 12:31:16 AM
- 0 +

no, it should not be noticeable

Reply to belial2k
g3force   07-14-2009 at 01:28:37 AM
- 0 +

nlovin wrote :

Hey, I have a another quick question. I'm almost positive that computer only has PCI-E (1.0) slots. Is he going to lose a lot of quality from a Radeon 4870 since it runs off a PCI-E 2.0 interface?


Unless you run it in a x8 slot, no, you wont see any difference.

Reply to g3force
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