Upgrading my old 7600gt

RonenIL85

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Oct 12, 2010
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hi there,

my pc specs are these:

CPU: Intel Pentiun D 3.0 Ghz ; Cooling : Thermaltake BigTyphoon

M\B: Gigabyte 8i-945p-pro

Ram: 3GB

Power Supply : HEC 420Watt

i want to upgrade my graphic card since nothing can run normally on my pc, i'm not a top-end gamer although i play a little

and watch HD movies.

i don't know which graphic card i should get because i cant upgrade my cpu and i don't want a bottle-neck state.
(i'm willing to do small OC to the cpu if needed)

my budget is in the 70-90$ max.

could you please help me decide ,


thanks you for your help .
 
Get a 5670. It will be a big upgrade over your 7600GT. Your CPU is going to hold the card back but it will help if you can overclock your CPU a bit. With a good cooler you might go over 3.6GHz and that might hold you over till you can upgrade the rest of your computer.
 

jasonp12

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i had that CPU until it blew up its really easy to overclock but its a piece of junk and will pretty much bottlekneck anycard you decide to get....

i had a 9800GTX+ which is a great card i had a 7800GT (not much better then your 7600) and got the 9800 thnking it would help...it DID but barely any...depending on the game your CPU is a huge bottlekneck and upgrading your CPU is a much better option and needs to be done
 

RonenIL85

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Oct 12, 2010
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hello again,

I've done some reading about OC the pentium D's , and i reallize that gonna be a little problem because the cpu's are very hot!.

so if i'm not intended to do OC what should i buy out of the following :

1. 5570

2. gt240 \ gt250

3. any inferior one you might suggest that won't do bottle-neck


thanx again
 

RonenIL85

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Oct 12, 2010
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upgrade the cpu as well if you can, does your board take a C2D.? and then upgrade RAM 4(2x2GB) with the newer nVidia gts250 card.
your set and this will hold you over till new build..


the problem with my M\B that it's compatible only with Pentium 4 | D cpu's so that's not an option and that's the main reason why 3GB of ram is good enough i think.

that's why i have that dilemma.

 

RonenIL85

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well get your game right and make some money...
seems that is the answer you need.
people kill me when they want to have this or do that and they keep crying they broke..
you're looking at spending money for just a video card when you should be on newegg or frys looking for a combo deal.
just plain weak.

i didn't say i'm broke . i just said that new pc is not available now because most of my pc's resources are to programming and working and not dedicated for gaming!
i thought that i could combine little of both , if not that's ok and i understand it (but according to first replies it can be done).
and BTW, that the whole idea of that forum , if can help - do it if you can't sit back.
 
^1 new build
As long as that is a standard ATX/mATX etc case than with a approx 90 dollar budget looking for a cheap combo deal makes the most sense.
Especially considering the tower is used primarily for programming/work purposes then a higher end CPU is more important than a better GPU.
If you really dig around you could get a cheap LGA775 with C2D combo or AM2 with Athlon x 2 and still scratch together enough to buy a decent card used on Craigslist for little more than just buying a brand new GPU.
Also if you are just going to get GPU then the 5670 makes most sense (within budget,power rating and most powerful your system can handle) and your thread is answered
I am all for using the equipment you have but you got to consider "bang for buck".
Why dump almost a 100 bucks into that system?
Seriously consider buying a used card on ebay or craigslist for 30 bucks.
Depending where your at you can find some nice deals on PCIx16 cards like a nvidia 8800 or Ati HD 3870 dirt cheap used around 30 USD and they would be way better than the 7600gt and handle medium gaming.
In New Jersey USA Craigslist I see nice cards for around 30-40 all the time.

 

robert123456

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Oct 21, 2010
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I think your system looks pretty solid as it is, the 7600Gt is a good card for up to some 2008-09 titles. If you feel the need to change it my suggestion would be to buy a mobo that supports a core 2 quad and build from there for the future.
 

good point.
My P4 based Dual Xeon 3.2 with a OC'd 7600 plays Crysis Warhead at low settings 1280x1024 and Left For Dead 2 at 1920x1080 at high settings also Far Cry 2 at medium settings on 1600x1200.
A 7600gt especially if is active cooling (fan) overclocks nice.
As long as you are not playing any games that use higher than DirectX 9.0c and are not worried about playing HD at highest settings than you are fine.
Or look for a cheap ATI HD 4xxx series used.
That would give you DX10.
But for medium level gaming for most games you are fine.