Most Practical Upgrade For $100-200?

[Paladuck]

Hello all,

My brother built me a new computer and I'm looking to upgrade it for gaming.

I was thinking maybe a video card, but I don't really know much about computers so I thought maybe someone could offer some advice.

My system:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 2.53 GHz
4GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT

EDIT: 1440x900 resolution, 350W PSU

 

[turboflame]

Definitely the video card, everything else looks good.

$90 - HD4830
$130 - HD4850 or GTS250
$170 - HD4870 (depending on your power supply)

 

[lasoski311]

what power supply do u have? and what resolution is ur monitor?

 

[Kaldor]

Definitely the video card, everything else looks good.

$90 - HD4830
$130 - HD4850 or GTS250
$170 - HD4870 (depending on your power supply)

+1

Depending on your screen res is how I would make my choice.

4850 or 250 for 1680X1050 - requires 400 watt PSU
4870 or 260 for 1920X1200 - requires 500 watt PSU

PSU's need to be decent quality.

 

[coozie7]

We need to know the make and model of PSU and resoloution of your monitor.

 

[Paladuck]

We need to know the make and model of PSU and resoloution of your monitor.

My resolution is 1440x900.

I think my PSU is 350W. Should I invest in a better one along with the video card?

 

[Euphoria_MK]

We need to know the make and model of PSU and resoloution of your monitor.

My resolution is 1440x900.

I think my PSU is 350W. Should I invest in a better one along with the video card?

If you are playing at that resolution, I would rather go with the HD4870 512MB, it would out perform any of the other cards listed on this thread.
At newegg it goes for $159.99 + Free Shipping or $139.99 after $20.00 rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131140

 

[Euphoria_MK]

Yeah I would also inves in a little better PSU.
I can actually sell you a 650W CoolerMaster PSU if you want for $50.00 plus shipping depending on where you live.

I just purchased a new Corsair 750 PSU so I have this one sitting on side, I used it for 8 months only and the only reason I changed is is because I got a fat discount on the Corsair one and I could not pass a good offer

 

[coozie7]

@ Paladuck: Yes, get a better PSU, look to about 500W from a good maker such as Corsair, Antec, PC Power and Cooling and OCZ.
At that resoloution a HD4850 is going to be plenty and I`ve seen one on the Egg for under $100 with rebates.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

I'd say monitor. you can find a decent 22" @1920x1200 for about 200. You'd enjoy it for everything outside of gaming. An 8500gt is fine for most light wieght gaming like WoW. But if you play more FPS shooters then perhaps a vid card and PSU.

 

[lasoski311]

ur going to need to 2 things...a power supply and a video card, what is your total upgrade budget?

Here are some good suggestions without knowing your budget...

power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127409

 

[halcyon]

I'd say monitor. you can find a decent 22" @1920x1200 for about 200. You'd enjoy it for everything outside of gaming. An 8500gt is fine for most light wieght gaming like WoW. But if you play more FPS shooters then perhaps a vid card and PSU.

+1 Upgrade your monitor, then on your next upgrade go for a new PSU/video card so you can further enjoy the monitor that you got this time around. I think you'd get a lot of enjoyment out computing @ 1920x1200, you can still game at whatever resolution you're 8500GT will give you until your next upgrade.

my .01 cent.

 

[invisik]

psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702011
gpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121288

 

[Paladuck]

thank you for the help everyone! i think i'm going to settle on a new PSU and video card for now, since a monitor won't directly increase the performance of games on my system.