Upgrade help please.

system specs are
7900 gt ko evga
amd athalon dual core x2 3300
2 gigs of ram
Tyan motherboard Tomkat k8e
Antec 380w power

I use this pc for games. I was thinking new video card but I dont know if cpu would bottleneck, and if my power supply would be enough for a bigger card. I would like to keep budget close to 300 but that can always go up.

Ya, your setup doesn't have much room for an upgrade path. Maybe go with another set of ram?

ur a lot better off just saving and building a new pc

which would be basically waiting till you get money for a new rig because ^ isn't worth getting old parts + 1066 memory wouldn't be worth it on low end parts, would probably run at it's lowest - 667. 800mhz would be the way to go in your budget.

I actually just surfed newegg and there are quite a few good deals on a 920 build at this point if you want to play the upgrade game i suggest you start upgrading slowly

Start with buying this combo your going to a little more but you save 40$ and you can go for a 920 Quad vs 720 Tri

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.182255

Now move your PSU and GFX card and ram to this build....now start upgrading from there....

After this you should go for 4GB of ram which is perfect for gaming...then a psu and graphics card

You will be able to play GTA IV with this system after you buy a new graphics card and you will have a rather future proof system for the months to come

This will get you some serious performance if your willing to take the little time to wait and buy more ram/gfx/psu

Its definitely the best way to go if you want to have a system with greater longevity and with that cpu you will be somewhat future proofing for games yet to come that will start to take advantage of the quads....so the intel dualcore oc'ing users youv got longevity over them
Make sure to check for combo deals and M$ live cash back etc there is definitely money to be saved when buying your gfx/ram/psu

My video card is showing signs of needing replaced now. Every time I start a game the screen has crazy lines goin across it untill I alt tab out of game. I am also locking up on some games now. So I realy need advice now on what video card to get.

What I would do first is replace your Power Supply and Graphics card.

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W $90 (- $20 MIR)

Video:XFX GTX 260 Black Edition $220 (- $30 MIR)

That is $310 but you have $50 in Mail in Rebate. PLUS you get 2 free games, FarCry2 and COD WaW.


I will be honest though, this will bottleneck a bit on your system, but is a GOOD solid video upgrade. The powersupply will also position you for a mobo,cpu,mem upgrade in the near future. I would then start to save money for that upgrade. This way you aren't hammered with a big cost at one and still get to enjoy a new graphics card.

Just a side comment. Some of those older GPUs ran REALLY hot and the paste dried out or got squeezed out the sides. I have seen this several times and you can take off the stock cooler, clean off the cooler plate, and the gpu with a cotton swap and rubbing alcohol really well. Then apply new paste, a VERY thin layer on the GPU. And you are all set. The old 7xxx nvidia's and 19xx ATI's were known for this after being used for several years. They get hot and start to artifact.

I used artic silver on it. Video card still displays crap when a game is first launched. The pc has not locked up yet though.

This card was given to me and evga will not warranty it unless I have proof of purchase. I am waiting on parts for a new build yet I still want to replace the card in this machine. Can someone give me a suggestion on the best card that will work with this machine? Will a 8800gt run on a 380 watt supply?