[Solved] Upgrade from a Geforce 9500 GS for desktop

Hi! I'm going to be playing SWTOR very soon and I am looking to upgrade my video card!

My PC info is:

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System Information
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Time of this report: 12/1/2011, 18:47:41
Machine name: ERIC-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: KT608AV-ABA d5000t
BIOS: BIOS Date: 07/18/08 15:07:06 Ver: 5.18
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9300 @ 2.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3072MB RAM
Page File: 1780MB used, 4360MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

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DxDiag Notes
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Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

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DirectX Debug Levels
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Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 9500 GS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0644&SUBSYS_13301462&REV_A1
Display Memory: 1779 MB
Dedicated Memory: 499 MB
Shared Memory: 1279 MB
Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Monitor Name: HP w2007 Wide LCD Monitor
Monitor Model: HP w2007
Monitor Id: HWP26A7
Native Mode: 1680 x 1050(p) (59.954Hz)
Output Type: DVI
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver File Version: 8.15.0011.8627 (English)
Driver Version: 8.15.11.8627
DDI Version: 10
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 6/26/2009 20:01:00, 7620608 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4504-11CF-6156-3B3301C2C535}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0644
SubSys ID: 0x13301462
Revision ID: 0x00A1

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From what I have read it might be difficult to upgrade my current video card, and I must say I am not very confident in my abilities to pick out a correct replacement.

I was considering buying another card and running SLI, and I was wondering if the Geforce 9500 GT would be suitable for this.

Also, what newer video cards would these two cards running in SLI be comparable to?

Thank you!

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by erix372 on 12-02-2011 at 12:56:23 AM

Reply to erix372

Here is my MB info just in case!

Manufacturer PEGATRON CORPORATION
Model Burbank (CPU 1)
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model P35/G33/G31
Chipset Revision A2
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801IR (ICH9R)
Southbridge Revision 02
System Temperature 43 °C
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends Inc.
Version 5.18
Date 07/18/2008
Voltage
VIN0 1.672 V
MEMORY CONTROLLER 1.688 V
VIN2 1.624 V

Message edited by erix372 on 12-02-2011 at 01:08:40 AM

Reply to erix372

Need to know the make and model of your PSU, the resolution want to game at. I couldn't find out anything about your motherboard, does it have a PCI-e 2.0 slot?

Power supply info:

Delta Electronics
Model: DPS-460DB-1 A
460 W

Resolution: 1680x1050

It does not have a PCI-e 2.0 slot.

Reply to erix372

It has a PCI-e 1.0 slot right?

It has 3 available PCI-e 1.0 slots and the current card is connected to a PCI-e x16 slot.

Message edited by erix372 on 12-02-2011 at 01:36:30 AM

Reply to erix372

Ok, whats your budget?

I'd say at most I'd be willing to spend $150, although money is tight.

Reply to erix372

In your case you are going to have to invest in a new PSU to get any reasonable $150 video card. If you get a card to work with the current 460w PSU it'll most likely be garbage. Here are my suggestions for a PSU and according card. Good Luck!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150534

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to MeriaX

I see! What if I wanted to keep it cheaper?

Would something like this work?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133415

Also, what about an SLI option? Would I still need a better PSU?

Reply to erix372

No something like that will not play the game you want to play. I'm looking up SLI 9500GT power consumption right now, but I'd guess you'd want a better PSU for that.

MeriaX wrote :

In your case you are going to have to invest in a new PSU to get any reasonable $150 video card. If you get a card to work with the current 460w PSU it'll most likely be garbage. Here are my suggestions for a PSU and according card. Good Luck!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150534

OP, don't buy a Rosewill PSU: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx
If you want to be lazy and not look up reviews, stick to Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, or XFX.

I recommend you wait for a deal on the Corsair CX 430 or something similar. After rebate, these are often $20. You can get one of those for $20 and a Radeon HD 6850 for $130 after rebates. If you want to spend less money, you can get a GeForce GTX 460 768MB--those can be found for around $80 from time to time.

If you're willing to learn how to overclock a graphics card, you can get A LOT of performance out of a GTX 460. Do not get the GTX 460 SE.

Reply to dalauder

The GTX 460 looks promising, and I would be willing to learn how to overclock!

I guess it should be noted that my current GPU is capable of running the game I am interested in at around medium-low settings (after having beta tested). I'm really looking for something that can improve that to higher settings.

What about the GeForce GT 520? http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GP [...] gt-520-oem

I find myself getting overwhelmed shopping for video cards because of the various reviews that say "X and Y cards are better than this for reason Z, plus they are cheaper" etc etc

Message edited by erix372 on 12-02-2011 at 02:58:09 AM

Reply to erix372

Best answer

erix372, this will help with getting overwhelmed: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 067-7.html
That list ranks most cards and you won't have to worry where things go.

Get a GT 240 DDR3 before a GT 520.

If you don't want to upgrade your PSU, but just want a big performance bump, get a Radeon HD 5670 or 6670 GDDR5. They make DDR3 versions, but you want the GDDR5.

EDIT: You can get the reasonably capable Radeon HD 5670 512MB DDR5 for $55 after a $10 rebate: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph [...] 7VGA5&c=CJ
It's the most bang for your buck I can find. Just don't expect to be running many games on "very high" settings.

Message edited by dalauder on 12-02-2011 at 05:04:59 AM

Reply to dalauder

The GT520 is terrible, just flat out terrible. The two cards you posted (referring to the OP) are more productivity based products. They are for running 2 monitors at work or making pretty powerpoint presentations.

On a budget of $150 I would highly recommend what MeriaX posted, the 6790 is one of the best cards you can get at that price point. You will also want to get another power supply; it should definitely be over 500W. This one will allow you to get a sufficient power supply to go with it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

The GTX460 is a very good card, but if you are going to get one, I would recommend getting the 1GB GDDR5 version, not the 768MB GDDR5 version. They are also very expensive nowadays.

Ironically according to the hierarchy chart posted by dalauder, the GT520 would be worse than your current card.

Message quoted 1 times

Deemo13 wrote :

The GT520 is terrible, just flat out terrible. The two cards you posted (referring to the OP) are more productivity based products. They are for running 2 monitors at work or making pretty powerpoint presentations.

On a budget of $150 I would highly recommend what MeriaX posted, the 6790 is one of the best cards you can get at that price point. You will also want to get another power supply; it should definitely be over 500W. This one will allow you to get a sufficient power supply to go with it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

The GTX460 is a very good card, but if you are going to get one, I would recommend getting the 1GB GDDR5 version, not the 768MB GDDR5 version. They are also very expensive nowadays.

Ironically according to the hierarchy chart posted by dalauder, the GT520 would be worse than your current card.

You're right about the GT 520 being terrible and also that the 6790 is very capable. But I think the 6850 tends to be a better deal price/performance. Also, the PSU does not have to be over 500W. I could demonstrate it for you, item by item on power draw, if you want. But a CX430 can handle a 6850 just fine. What matters more than wattage is amperage--you're going to want at least 28A on the +12V rail and more with a more powerful card than a 6850.

$130 AR 6850: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

I suggested the GTX 460 768MB because I thought it could still be found for reasonable prices. The GTX 460 1GB is very hard to find for under $150 and not worth nearly that much. But both of these cards are VERY hard to find. 6850 or 6790 it is.

Yep, the GT 520 is atrocious.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by dalauder on 12-02-2011 at 05:55:13 AM

Reply to dalauder

dalauder wrote :

You're right about the GT 520 being terrible and also that the 6790 is very capable. But I think the 6850 tends to be a better deal price/performance. Also, the PSU does not have to be over 500W. I could demonstrate it for you, item by item on power draw, if you want. But a CX430 can handle a 6850 just fine. What matters more than wattage is amperage--you're going to want at least 28A on the +12V rail and more with a more powerful card than a 6850.

$130 AR 6850: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

I suggested the GTX 460 768MB because I thought it could still be found for reasonable prices. The GTX 460 1GB is very hard to find for under $150 and not worth nearly that much. But both of these cards are VERY hard to find. 6850 or 6790 it is.

Yep, the GT 520 is atrocious.

I would definitely agree with you on the fact that the 6850 is a very very good bang-for-the-buck card and that the GT520 sucks hard. I was just not sure how flexible the OP was with his budget, so the 6790 I posted with the CX430 on Tigerdirect would be precisely $150.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=C13-2810

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

The 6850 can almost reach 6870 speeds when overclocked correctly; that thing is insane.

Message quoted 1 times

Deemo13 wrote :

I would definitely agree with you on the fact that the 6850 is a very very good bang-for-the-buck card and that the GT520 sucks hard. I was just not sure how flexible the OP was with his budget, so the 6790 I posted with the CX430 on Tigerdirect would be precisely $150.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=C13-2810

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

The 6850 can almost reach 6870 speeds when overclocked correctly; that thing is insane.

Overclocking, and I'm very glad the OP is open to it, can provide HUGE boosts to many cards--most notably GTX 460's and GTX 560's of current hardware. My GTX 460 768MB is OC'd to match my stock GTX 470, which is why I suggested that card. I'm ironing out the last of stability issues before I flash the bios and mail it out to my stepdad to upgrade his GTS 250. And my GTX 470 beat a stock GTX 480 after I OC'd it.

Anyhow...OP...start a thread here (and please PM me) after you get your new graphics card and we'll walk you through how to OC it. We'll point you to good tutorials, but also give you some step-by-steps and answer questions along the way.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to dalauder

dalauder wrote :

Overclocking, and I'm very glad the OP is open to it, can provide HUGE boosts to many cards--most notably GTX 460's and GTX 560's of current hardware. My GTX 460 768MB is OC'd to match my stock GTX 470, which is why I suggested that card. I'm ironing out the last of stability issues before I flash the bios and mail it out to my stepdad to upgrade his GTS 250. And my GTX 470 beat a stock GTX 480 after I OC'd it.

Anyhow...OP...start a thread here (and please PM me) after you get your new graphics card and we'll walk you through how to OC it. We'll point you to good tutorials, but also give you some step-by-steps and answer questions along the way.

Sorta thinking about it though, the OP may not be getting the full potential of either of the cards (6790/460) since he only running a PCI-E 1.0 slot. He may be better off with a lower end card and building a whole new computer later. With a lower end (but still potent) Radeon 5670, he can increase the value of his computer, allowing himself to build a better one or start saving up for a new one. It might not be completely worth it. If the OP is planning on keeping the computer for awhile, then go with something like a Radeon 6790 or a GTX460. Both are very good, but make sure you have the right power supply.

It does still have a Core2Quad, which are usually insane in terms of performance will go very well with either card and will give you at least 2 more years of gaming depending on the games you play.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Deemo13

Deemo13 wrote :

Sorta thinking about it though, the OP may not be getting the full potential of either of the cards (6790/460) since he only running a PCI-E 1.0 slot. He may be better off with a lower end card and building a whole new computer later. With a lower end (but still potent) Radeon 5670, he can increase the value of his computer, allowing himself to build a better one or start saving up for a new one. It might not be completely worth it. If the OP is planning on keeping the computer for awhile, then go with something like a Radeon 6790 or a GTX460. Both are very good, but make sure you have the right power supply.

It does still have a Core2Quad, which are usually insane in terms of performance will go very well with either card and will give you at least 2 more years of gaming depending on the games you play.

Nah, a PCI 1.0 16x slot is the same as a PCI-e 2.0 8x slot, which is plenty of bandwidth for a GTX 590.

Between the GTX 460 level card + PSU or the 5670--it'll depend on whether the OP wants a great gaming experience for $150 or a decent gaming experience for $55. That is a lot of money AND a lot of performance difference.

Reply to dalauder

Wow! Thank you!

I had stumbled upon the 5670 and thought it might be a really good deal, especially considering it currently comes with a $30 rebate.

I'm not really after the BEST gaming experience, but I definitely want an obvious improvement over what I have now; I typically only use my PC for MMOs.

I will say that the PC has served me really well, and I've had it going on 3 years now. I'm open to building my own PC, I have done it before, but it was many years ago and I have strayed since then and don't really keep up to date on this particular sphere.

And as for the overclocking help, it would be much appreciated! Would it involve OCing the CPU as well? I've heard that it can be a little more tricky to get it right on HPs and whatnot.

Message edited by erix372 on 12-02-2011 at 04:41:25 PM

Reply to erix372

The 5670 is the best budget gaming card on the market now. It will play almost all games on some graphics. It would most likely not require a new PSU. Its hard to beat it.

Reply to Deemo13

Best answer selected by erix372.

Reply to erix372

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