Help / Up Grading My Graphic Card

Hello,
Could really use some help choosing a new graphics card.
I have an Dell Dimension 9150 which has a Geforce 7300 le,the PCU is 375 watts, i ve up graded ram to 3 gigs and it has a sata harddrive .
Im looking for a card which would work well with world of warcraft as at the min im on the lowest settings and it still seems to struggle at times.
I would consider upping the psu if needed.
Any help would be really great.
Here you can find the Dimension stats
http://support.dell.com/support/ed [...] /specs.htm

Thanks Shaun

Reply to shaunbund

The problem is, your system is pretty well balanced. If you upgrade the video card, it will probably be"bottle-necked" By your processor.

I hate to say it, but it might be time to upgrade the whole system

You can probably bring the ram and power supply over to a cheap p35 board and a cheap core 2 chip.

What resolution are you playing at?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sportsfanboy

Im playing at 1280x1024 at the minute i've also tryed it in 1152x864.
If i try taking any of the settings off low the FPS just go so low the whole game comes to a stand still.

Reply to shaunbund

Actually I just looked into it, and I believe you can throw an older core 2 duo in there.

That would be a 65nm core 2 chip. If you do that a gpu upgrade will make sense.

At that resolution all you need is a 5750 or equivalent, and a older core 2 chip and your golden for wow. You will need to upgrade your power supply sorry.

I still think your better off just upgrading the whole thing, but there are your options.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by sportsfanboy on 10-26-2010 at 12:00:24 AM

Reply to sportsfanboy

I don't know your budget but if it is below 200$ then I suggest this combo fron Newegg.com.

-OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W
-ASUS EAH4870/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870 1GB

Combo Price: $174.98

If you upgrade with these you'll see huge improvement but your CPU will hinder the GPU's full potential. I'll suggest try upgrading with those and decide if it's enough for your liking.
Check this one, the guy is using single core AMD, one of the cheapest CPU right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mX [...] re=related

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http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/1091022.png

Reply to boljack

sportsfanboy wrote :

Actually I just looked into it, and I believe you can throw an older core 2 duo in there.

That would be a 65nm core 2 chip. If you do that a gpu upgrade will make sense.

At that resolution all you need is a 5750 or equivalent, and a older core 2 chip and your golden for wow. You will need to upgrade your power supply sorry.

I still think your better off just upgrading the whole thing, but there are your options.

Thanks for the reply
Right so your saying for me to upgrade the power supply np, get a 65nm core 2 chip and then i will be good to run a decent graphics card like the 5750 ?
Im quite new to playing around with my pc and online gaming so just double checking to be such on your meaning
Im a bit unshore with the 65nm core 2 chip , so i would need to buy one and fit it.
Also are the core 2 chips pricey, i checked on power supply they were ok priced and i've got money saved for the card it self.

Also if id went for upgrading the whole lot could i not use my current pc and add to it 1 piece at a time to save on money as xmas is coming and i've got kids lol if so is the graphics card the right place to start.
Thanks for the help
Shaun

Reply to shaunbund

I'm pretty sure the older core 2's will work, but I would do some research and make sure. When I looked at the power requirements for the 5750, it said 450 watts total system draw. So a good quality 500w from Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec, or Antec should work fine and them some.

You might have to buy the 65nm core 2 on ebay if that's the route your going to go with. Major retail shops stopped carrying them a while ago.

Just want to clarify, you will need a chip, power supply, video card, and I take it your gonna re-use the rest. For the extra cost of adding a motherboard for about 50 to 75 dollars and ram for around the same, you'll have a complete upgrade, if you go with a more current platform.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sportsfanboy

sportsfanboy wrote :

I'm pretty sure the older core 2's will work, but I would do some research and make sure. When I looked at the power requirements for the 5750, it said 450 watts total system draw. So a good quality 500w from Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, Antec, or Antec should work fine and them some.

You might have to buy the 65nm core 2 on ebay if that's the route your going to go with. Major retail shops stopped carrying them a while ago.

Just want to clarify, you will need a chip, power supply, video card, and I take it your gonna re-use the rest. For the extra cost of adding a motherboard for about 50 to 75 dollars and ram for around the same, you'll have a complete upgrade, if you go with a more current platform.

Thank for your time for lookin all this up
It sounds good i have around £150 not sure thats about $200
So i'll beable to make a good start at this.
I already have up gradeded memory to 3gigs, so i'll spend tomorrow loooking for a chip and power supple and yes it will be ebay.
I did have a look b4 but found it hard ti find the 65nm chip.
Thanks Again
Shaun

Reply to shaunbund

NP, here's an idea on a new set up if your interested

You'll be able to re-use your ram and every thing else, but you'll have a modern setup.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by sportsfanboy on 10-26-2010 at 02:50:57 AM

Reply to sportsfanboy

sportsfanboy wrote :

NP, here's an idea on a new set up if your interested

http://i1100.photobucket.com/album [...] rbuild.jpg

You'll be able to re-use your ram and every thing else, but you'll have a modern setup.

Yes that seems very good and when I converted the price it was a little over my budget but managable. Its a shame they do not deliver in the uk. I'am off out now for a couple of hours but when I get back I will get some prices from UK sellers. Thank You very much for all of your help though, Its good to know what I will need!!!

Reply to shaunbund

These are pretty good little cards. You'd have to check the benchmarks yourself though. I don't see any need to upgrade the PSU.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150467

Reply to swifty_morgan

@swifty, that card wont do a very good job in gaming, one of the clues is it doesn't require an external power source. It's also a 56xx series, for 25.00 more you can be in the 57xx series of cards.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sportsfanboy

sportsfanboy wrote :

@swifty, that card wont do a very good job in gaming, one of the clues is it doesn't require an external power source. It's also a 56xx series, for 25.00 more you can be in the 57xx series of cards.

seems like the most logical upgrade for his system and gaming resolution without going over board.

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 33-17.html

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to swifty_morgan

swifty_morgan wrote :

seems like the most logical upgrade for his system and gaming resolution without going over board.

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 33-17.html

Hi thxs for the reply
So with this card i could use it without buying anything extra ?
And my power supply at 375 should handle it.
thanks
Shaun

Reply to shaunbund

Unless you're in the market to completely upgrade your system, IMO, this would be the best upgrade for you. Here are a couple of utube vids to watch. Look carefully at the hardware being used in each and you should be able to make up your own mind. One of these videos has many other videos of game performance with the 5670. Hope I got the links right. It's too hard to find that game and newer video card bench marks but one of my nephews plays WOW on a single core 939 processor, 2gig of ram and a 4830 and doesn't have much problems at all. Your system is better" and the 5670 is faster. Not the best of choices out there but good for your other components in your machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcgUjytppQE

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou [...] Kw&cad=rja

Reply to swifty_morgan

sportsfanboy wrote :

The problem is, your system is pretty well balanced. If you upgrade the video card, it will probably be"bottle-necked" By your processor.

I hate to say it, but it might be time to upgrade the whole system

You can probably bring the ram and power supply over to a cheap p35 board and a cheap core 2 chip.

What resolution are you playing at?

That's not well balanced at all!!! Even an old LGA 775 Pentium 4 can do better than a 7300le!! Just saying.

Anyway, as the others have said the 5670 would be the best upgrade and you can use it on a newer computer later on to get a little more out of it. If you don't care about that though and only have a single core P4 then you really could just save money and go with a cheaper nVidia GT 240 or Radeon 5570 as they would give you about the same performance. If your CPU is a low clocked 2.8GHz chip then you could also just go with a 9500GT since a more expensive video card wouldn't really do anything for you.

It's well balance because both cpu and video card are relatively weak!!!

Reply to sportsfanboy

Hi
Thanks to every one who help me make up my mind when chosing a gfxs card.
In the end i desided to go with a cheaper xfx ati hd5550 .
It has improved my system noend and now on wow i got the settings uup to good to high range and still getting over 30fps.
I intend to save up a bit more and then start updating my system as sportsfanboy said.
Last question i havn't upgraded my psu (dell 375w)yet but everything seem to be running fine at the minute is it safe to carry on with this psu 4 about 1mth b4 upgrading it (wot will happen if i dont )?
The 5550 recimends 400w

THANKS
AGAIN
ALL
SHAUN

Reply to shaunbund

Where did does it say the 5550 requires a 400 watt power supply? It doesn't use any power except the 75 watts that is provided on the pci-e slot. I'm sure your fine for a month and more, as long as things are running well. Your system with the new card at full cpu and gpu load is probably consuming somewhere around 250w to 300w at the wall socket, and probably around 200w to 250w after inefficiency, through the power supply to your system.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to sportsfanboy

sportsfanboy wrote :

Where did does it say the 5550 requires a 400 watt power supply? It doesn't use any power except the 75 watts that is provided on the pci-e slot. I'm sure your fine for a month and more, as long as things are running well. Your system with the new card at full cpu and gpu load is probably consuming somewhere around 250w to 300w at the wall socket, and probably around 200w to 250w after inefficiency, through the power supply to your system.

I bought the xfx Radeon HD 5550 version and in the system requirements on the side of the box it says 400wats or greater power supply.
It also goes on to say Certified power supplies are recommended and then lists a link to there web site.
So maybe a way to get a few extra sales i would have took it as a must have , luckey i found this site b4 i bought my card
Thanks All
Shaun

Reply to shaunbund

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