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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphics & Displays > Graphics Cards > [Solved] Graphics Card Upgrade for a 5 year old PC

[Solved] Graphics Card Upgrade for a 5 year old PC

Forum Graphics & Displays : Graphics Cards [Solved] Graphics Card Upgrade for a 5 year old PC

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: May, 2006. HP Pavilion t3250.uk (All parts are the same, 0 failures...)
BUDGET RANGE: Up to ~$200

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Online gaming @1280x1024, watching movies...

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TC 256MB DDR RAM (64MB on-board), 300 W PSU BESTEC ATX-300-12Z Rev. CC (I'm not going to upgrade it)

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Intel Pentium 4 640 @3.20GHz (Prescott) LGA 775, 1x PCIe 1.1 @16, 2x512MB (1GB) DDR2-533 SDRAM (PC-4300) (I'm thinking of upgrading my memory as well; what are the options? (4 DIMM slots)), Windows XP Pro SP3

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I care more about the products, than where to get them - any information is relevant.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'm only interested in NVIDIA cards as I researched them a lot. I'm thinking of those: GeForce 9400GT, GT210 and GT240, but I would like to get some recommendations.

OVERCLOCKING: Absolutely not. SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No way.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want to upgrage my old PC to its limits, play with it for a while, build a new gaming PC and then say goodbye to the old one Again, any information/recommendation is welcome.

Message edited by Mousemonkey on 11-27-2010 at 05:25:49 PM

Reply to tigrc

What types of games are you looking to play?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to purple stank

purple stank wrote :

What types of games are you looking to play?

Aion, CS 1.6, CSS mainly, and some RPGs from time to time.

Reply to tigrc

Why not go for a GT240, it is the best performing Nvidia card that you can use with that psu and the GT430 is junk in my opinion.

Reply to nforce4max

I think a GT240 is the best for you.

Here's one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

You will see a huge performance boost when using it.Be sure to check your Power Supply,do you know have many amps are on the 12/v rail.If you open ur computer up their should be a sticker on the Power Supply,just say how many amps it is on the 12/v.

Reply to purple stank

It says 19A Would a 2GB card be any better? I mean if it's on the same price range. Also, what about my RAM upgrade? Any suggestions?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by tigrc on 11-27-2010 at 06:26:37 AM

Reply to tigrc

tigrc wrote :

It says 19A Would a 2GB card be any better? I mean if it's on the same price range. Also, what about my RAM upgrade? Any suggestions?

If you upgraded any more than a gt240 you would get a bottleneck. If you really want a strong card you will need more CPU RAM and PSU.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to HostileDonut

HostileDonut wrote :

If you upgraded any more than a gt240 you would get a bottleneck. If you really want a strong card you will need more CPU RAM and PSU.

I don't want a stronger card/cpu. I want to max out my old PC and use it until I can build a proper gaming PC Any suggestions on RAM? 4x1GB, 2x2GB 1x1GB? 1x1GB+512x512MB?

Reply to tigrc

Best answer

I think the GT240 is the maximum your Power Supply can handle,yours is 19A and the GT240 requires 18.
So get the GT240 and upgrade your RAM about 2 Gigs more it will help your comp as 1g isn't alot but anything more than 2 would really be a waste.Your not going to get much from a single core CPU.It seems more logical to save your money for a new PC and not to spend it on little upgrades that will do to little.

Goodluck and happy gaming!!!

Reply to purple stank

Remember that your motherboard does have a limit to how much RAM you can put in it AND more RAM will require more power.I would suggest getting 1g more of RAM, disreguard my comment about getting 2.I have burned out my RAM in the past from it be underpowered.You are pushing the limitations of your Power Supply and it is 5 years old.

Reply to purple stank

Thank you very much for your help all, especially purple stank! I will get a GT 240 and 1GB of RAM and that will do.

Reply to tigrc

How to select the best answer? There is no button for it...

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to tigrc

The real consumption is much lower than 18a, the max this card can use is roughly 75w max and usually in the 60w range with maybe some overclocking so you are good to go with this card. 12v x5a =60w So 5-6amps at the most.

Reply to nforce4max

Here is a better GT240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
It is $40 after rebate and has free shipping!

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to plznote

tigrc wrote :

How to select the best answer? There is no button for it...

You opened this thread as a discussion not a question, would you like me to change it for you?

Message quoted 1 times

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http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/3995/bl11.gif

Reply to Mousemonkey

Mousemonkey wrote :

You opened this thread as a discussion not a question, would you like me to change it for you?

Yes, please

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to tigrc

plznote wrote :

Here is a better GT240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
It is $40 after rebate and has free shipping!

Thanks for the recommendation, but what about the 512MB ram? I can pay the extra money for 1GB no problem, so long as it is needed.

Reply to tigrc

tigrc wrote :

Yes, please

Done, just bear in mind that choosing a best answer will effectively close the thread.

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Reply to Mousemonkey

Best answer selected by Tigrc.

Reply to tigrc

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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Reply to Mousemonkey

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