Whats a better upgrade ofr my computer?

Wolfcelt07

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I'm upgrading my computers HDD, MoBo, CPU, Ram and I come to a snag where I would like to upgrade my video card so that I may play World of Warcraft and make machinma and possbily some lightweight video editing for a portfolio later on.

Now currently the graphic card I have is...

Radeon X1550 Stealth 256(512) DDR2 PCI-E


What I need to know since I only know so much about video cards is which will be a better choice for what I need since I don't have cash for a 460 Fermi or anything.

Options:

PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 1GBK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP $49.99

EVGA 512-P3-1213-LR GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP $34.99

ECS NGT220C-512QZ-F GeForce GT 220 512MB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP $54.99

Galaxy 43GGS8HX3SPZ GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP $64.99

Just an example my target price is under $70 really under $40 for something but Im open to all other suggestions...

I need to know if this is gonna be a significant upgrade from the X1550.

Thank you :)

 

Wolfcelt07

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Thats one of the ones I put up so its really that one of the 430 fermi! Both are DDR3 but is 5450 better then GT 430 fermi? Only has to be for mild video editing like I said. Warcraft machinma and such.
 

duxducis

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I have simply listed cards that beat your primary chooses by 50-100% at same price point"1", to give you something to think about, but its always up to you,
Do i buy brand new Sentra or slightly used BMW?
funny thing i still have about 10 video cards from 10 years of upgrades and they all work while hanging on the wall.
 

Wolfcelt07

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Wow well i only heard bad things bout tiger direct and when i saw that i kinda went eh but still looked at what ya had to show. :3 i wont be picky though this time around I do appreciate your help a lot.
 
Tiger Direct is as good as anything. I don't know where you heard a bunch of bad stuff--just one unlucky person I guess.

I'd have to recommend the $65 4870 linked by duxducis. This $60 9800GT is new and a decent choice as well: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6820707&CatId=3670

All of these cards both of us mentioned will play all games--most at medium to high settings and have similar performance with the 4870 definately on top.

Can you provide more information about what you're trying to do? You said you wanted to upgrade your HDD, motherboard, CPU, & RAM. Can you tell us what you currently have (product names & manufacturers) along with what you're willing to spend.

If your CPU was made in the last 4 years, it doesn't need an upgrade to use the graphics cards we're recommending. The other cards you suggested are marginal upgrades to your current card.

If you tell us what you have, what you want to do, and how much you can spend, we'll give you the best possible setup.

EDIT: One very important thing you are overlooking is your power supply. A lot of people think their hard drives or motherboards go bad, but in many cases a weak or just plain bad power supply is killing their parts. If you want to use a decent graphics card, you will need a 350W PSU bare minimum--and I'd recommend 400W (mine's 850W).

 

Wolfcelt07

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MY current rig is a Emachines T5088 P4 3.2ghz HT CPU 2gb Ram 160gb HDD a Radeon X1550 Steal 256(512) video card and dvd/cd burner. I got it in about 2007.
I mean I can live with it really but the CPU burns so hot it actually heats my room up to sweating tempratures in Texas not how it was in Washington where I just came from.

Ask for what Im trying to do...I want to play games. MOSTLY World of Warcraft and I know it doesnt really boast or need the heaviest of machinery to play but I wanna upgrade to high quality standards. GOOD at the least because...I want to try my hand at Video editing and photoshop and the likes of that...

MY price range will vary as Im selling my laptop my alto saxaphone off and some other stuff but...at $200 for the basis of what I need Im getting a 500gb HDD to start off with a 2.9ghz Athlon II dual core(would prefer phenom ii and mobo that can FINALY handle more then 2gb like the old one 8gb max is fine prefer 16 for the future and 4gb of ram to star off with...i mean the case i have needs more fan power fure sure and the PSU i have is brand new at 500w. I mean I know what I need vs what I want. Just trying to get a little bang for my buck till I am finacialy secure in my new place.
 
Okay, you need a new rig. $200 isn't enough to build one though--so you've got to be selective with your upgrades. The first question you have to answer is: do you plan to spend more on it later? If you might put another $200 down on it this summer, then you should just start with parts that you can transfer to a new/good build.

Keep in mind that a new generation of much better CPUs--with integrated graphics that are twice as good as your graphics card are being released right now AND they are not at unreasonable prices. An Athlon II dual core is okay, but definitely not ideal. If you're limited to $200 total, I'd recommend a CPU with integrated graphics.

HDD: Get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB drive for $55 on Amazon. It's worth the $15 to get the fastest 1TB drive out there instead of a mediocre 500GB drive.

CPU: Athlon II x2 255 3.1GHz because it's $3 more ($63). You really should find a way to save $20 in everyday life (like save on food for a week) and get an Athlon II x3 450 3.2GHz for $79.99. You'll be glad you did.

Motherboard: For when you buy a CPU & RAM only. I cannot recommend one without more criteria. Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, EVGA, Biostar, in that order). If you have the dough, a better CPU and an ASRock 870 Extreme 3.

RAM: For when you buy a motherboard only. $44 1600MHz CL9 DDR3.

Case: Antec 300 Illusion (often $55 on Newegg.com w/ free shipping) It has great airflow.

PSU: Just because it's brand new and 500W doesn't mean it can handle a graphics card. #1: What is the Amperage rating on your +12V Rail? #2: Who's the manufacturer?

Graphics: Radeon 4870 for $65 above.

But really, you shouldn't buy a computer right now. Just a new case, hard drive, and graphics card. Oh, a Hyper 212+ CPU cooler would also be a good buy. And learn how to overclock. It's worth its weight in gold.
 
641 is a Pentium 4 CPU model, not the socket. That's a socket 775 CPU if it's the P4 641. Get CPU-Z and check it out to be sure of the model. You can also just take the side off of your case and look at the motherboard model, then put that in Google.

If it is 775, you can post in the Classifieds section for a new socket 775 CPU. I wouldn't be surpised if you could find a solid one for $35.
 

Wolfcelt07

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Wow such alot of help. Im glad I came here. $200 was an estimated amount that I will have once my laptop is sold...but when I sell a couple other things with my moms help. The pricetag will be around $250-$275. The Mobo DEFINITELY needs to be upgraded. I dont want to deal with 2gb Ram max on this board. All I need is a board under $70 and the Athlon II dual was just my last resort. I got a thing about even numbers dont know why heh, Id really prefer the Phenom II X6...but...just no use really. A dual core will fine for me really, but if you suggest x3 that works to. As far as all the other stuff. The case I have has got a 80mm fan as exhaust and thats all but I figure maybe a new case is in order I dont know Im just getting some basics to upgrade with for now. I may just get a DIY deal on newegg and build from there. But as far as the P4 goes its 641 thats all I know. Im just trying to upgrade the old to at least slightly moderate...would prefer a kickbutt gaming performance but...jobs needed for that and YES I AM GOING TO ADD ON AND BUILD UP LATER ON im not gonna just settle. I just want something basic for my gaming mostly then crappy quality video stuffs.
 
And Amperage on the +12V rail? If you don't have 25A, you've got to be pretty careful with what graphics you get. I've seen cheap 500W PSUs with 19 amps on it and weird stuff like that, so you have to check. I only blindly trust Corsair, Antec, Season, & XFX (& more expensive brands).

If I hadn't just sold my 9600GSO to a guy at work for $30, I'd sell that. Oh! I have an 8800GT 512MB that's broken. I'll try to flash the bios and bake it. If either works and the card can run benchmarks stably, I'll sell that for $20 + shipping. That might save you enough money to get decent stuff elsewhere--then you can just wait on graphics for a few months.

Okay, $275 is something we can work with. The first question that MUST be asked:
Do you have a Micro Center nearby? Go to their website and check: http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

What I'm planning at the moment is that your PSU will be good enough so we'll keep that, your case, hard drive, and your DVD drive. I assume your DVD drive is IDE, not SATA? Is your hard drive also IDE? If so, then we'll have to stuff your hard drive somewhere that will allow you to hook up both to a single IDE cable. There's also some confusing Master/Slave drive setup stuff that we can get into later.

So you need:
1) CPU
2) Motherboard
3) RAM
4) Graphics

If you have a microcenter we can get both the motherboard and CPU for $110. Then RAM will cost $45 for 4GB (2x2GB) 1600MHz CL9 DDR3. That would leave you with $120 to spend on graphics. I saw a Radeon 6850 for $133 the other day. You should either get that, a Radeon 5850 for a similar good deal, or a 5770 for $100.

What monitor do you have? If it's below 1680x1050 resolution, there's no reason at all to get better than a 5770.

I know you're excited to upgrade your computer and get parts. But you will waste your money if you don't either do a lot of research or ask people that already know. Post in the forums as much as you want for questions. We can give you good links to back up our sources too.
 

Wolfcelt07

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I said wrong on the PSU I got this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170014 and the monitor I have is just a little machines monitor I dont need extrodianary resolution. heh...man back in Texas 1 week and I got money problems! What a world.
 

Donald92382

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The GeForce GT 430 1GB features a clock speed of 700 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 900 MHz through a 128-bit bus and uses a 40 nm design. It is comprised of 96 SPUs, 16 Texture Address Units and 4 ROPs.

The GeForce GT 220 has a clock speed of 625 MHz and a GDDR3 memory speed of 506 MHz on the 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM. It also features a 128-bit memory bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It features 48 SPUs as well as 16 TAUs and 8 Rasterization Operator Units.

The Radeon HD 5450, has a clock frequency of 650 MHz and a DDR3 speed of 800 MHz. It also uses a 64-bit bus and uses a 40 nm design. It features 80(16x5) SPUs, 8 Texture Address Units, and 4 ROPs.

The GeForce GT 210 features a clock speed of 589 MHz and a DDR3 memory speed of 400 MHz. It also uses a 64-bit bus, and makes use of a 40 nm design. It is made up of 16 SPUs, 8 Texture Address Units, and 4 Raster Operation Units.

Radeon X1550 Stealth 256(512) DDR2 PCI-E is accessible on two versions for each system bus type , which are distinguished by the memory volume GDDR2, which works at frequency, 520 MHz: 256 or 512mb.
The clock frequency of graphic processor is 450 or 550 MHz, depending on model.

The Radeon HD 5450 should perform a lot faster than the others in general.
--Memory Bandwidth--
GeForce GT 430 28800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 220 16192 MB/sec
Radeon HD 5450 12800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 210 6400 MB/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old

The GeForce GT 430 should be just a bit faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GT 220.
--Texel Rate--
GeForce GT 430 11200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 220 10000 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 5450 5200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 210 4712 Mtexels/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old

If running a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GT 220 GDDR3 is superior to all the others.
--Pixel Rate--
GeForce GT 220 5000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 2800 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 5450 2600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 210 2356 Mpixels/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old

Galaxy Technology GeForce GT430 (1 GB) Graphics Card 43GGS8HX3SPZ by Galaxy Technology $70.59
PNY GeForce GT 220 (1 GB) PCI-Express 2.0 DVI with HDMI and VGA Graphics Card VCGGT2201XPB by PNY $62.17
ZOTAC nVidia GeForce GT 220 Synergy Edition (512 MB) DDR2 VGA/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card ZT-20202-10L by Zotac $49.99
HIS Radeon HD 5450 Silent (1 GB) 64bit DDR3 HDMI DL-DVI (HDCP) VGA PCI Express 2.1 16x Video Card Retail H545H1G by HIS $49.99
ASUS Radeon HD5450 Silent (512 MB) GDDR2 Low Profile Graphics Card EAH5450 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) by Asus $34.99
PNY GeForce 210 (1 GB) PCI-Express 2.0 DVI, VGA, and HDMI Graphics Card VCGG2101XPB by PNY $45.99
Asus nVidia GeForce GT210 589MHz (512 MB) DDR2 DVI/HDMI PCIE 2.0 Video Card EN210 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) by Asus $35.30















 

Donald92382

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****CORRECTION***
The GeForce GT 430 should perform a lot faster than the others in general.
--Memory Bandwidth--
GeForce GT 430 28800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 220 16192 MB/sec
Radeon HD 5450 12800 MB/sec
GeForce GT 210 6400 MB/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old

The GeForce GT 430 should be just a bit faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce GT 220.
--Texel Rate--
GeForce GT 430 11200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 220 10000 Mtexels/sec
Radeon HD 5450 5200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GT 210 4712 Mtexels/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old

If running a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce GT 220 GDDR3 is superior to all the others.
--Pixel Rate--
GeForce GT 220 5000 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 430 2800 Mpixels/sec
Radeon HD 5450 2600 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GT 210 2356 Mpixels/sec
Radeon X1550 cant find-too old