Can my PC handle either of these graphics cards?

[AUS_Doug]

Hi everyone.
Long-time browser, first-time poster.

In my PC I have a Gigatech 450w PSU. (Model: ATX 450)

At the moment it is running the HDD and a DVD drive, two small fans
and an old(er) Graphics card. (Nvidia GeForce FX5600XT)

I am looking to replace the Graphics card with either of these two:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20434

or

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=14526

Three Questions:

Will these run on WinXP SP3?

and if so;

Will my PSU handle it? (I think it will, just wanted to check first)

and if so;

Will I be able to run F1 2011?
http://gamesystemrequirements.com/games.php?id=1426
(The minimum required Nvidia card has a memory of 512mb, so I'm assuming the two I listed above are better?)

Let me know if you need more info,
Thanks in advance.
Doug

 

[abbadon_34]

Your basic questions: you should be fine with power and XP

BUT, if your upgrading from a 10 years old card (and not a typo), i would check that you have a PCI-E slot not AGP, as well as question the rest of the components as far as gaming. The amount of Video RAM is the least important part of a video cards performance. The first card 610 is very low end, the second 5450 is just low end.

 

[mouse24]

Yeah the FX5600XT does appear to be an AGP card. I wouldn't put any money into that system as I doubt any of it is even capable of running the game.

Hate to suggest spending money but I would just upgrade to an APU of some sort. A8s are relatively cheap. Grab a cheap motherboard and 8gb of ram and I can see it being >200 bucks.

Just my 2c, feel free to do whatever you like

Edit: Oh considering its a prebuilt you would likely have to purchase a new windows OS aswell -.- (if you went with the APU route.)

 

[AUS_Doug]

Yeah the current card is an AGP card, (1.5V) but I do have four empty PCI slots........
Oh, that could be a problem - Do they even make cards for regular PCI anymore? (As opposed to PCI-E)

And forgive my Noobiness, but what is an APU?

 

[abbadon_34]

They still do, for now (not graphics). PCI-E replaced AGP, and is slowly replacing PCI. APU is just a cpu with graphic on the CPU (not motherboard). Mostly associated with AMD.

 

[mouse24]

Nope, they don't make PCI video cards anymore afaik. None of those would be able to play anything modern anymore I don't think. An APU is a CPU + video card. Such as the A8 is a quad core + 6550D/7560D either of which would far outpass any PCI/AGP video card.

The A10 might be worth the extra 20-30 dollars. Is it better than going with an i3 + 7750? Nope but it certainly is a lot cheaper.

 

[AUS_Doug]

Thanks for your help guys this is great.

This A8 APU is right on the limit of my price range:
http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Detail/Processor/AD560KWOHJBOX?SearchFacets=category%3AProcessor

Is the below AGP card any better than what I've got now:
http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Detail/GraphicCard/81005537-02?SearchFacets=category%3AGraphic%20Card#Details

And will it run F1 2011, and if so will it run in my 1.5V AGP slot? (I can't see a voltage on the page)

Also, is there a PCI to PCI-E adapter available at all?

 

[abbadon_34]

At this point you are talking about building a new computer, and you would best be served by a comprehensive post on the matter.

The A8 APU requires a new motherboard, which will not have an AGP slot, PCI-E only, maybe one or old PCI if you try. There might be a PCI to PCI-E adapters, but with the new motherboard your won't need them.

From looking the specs on that game it seems relatively easy on the hardware, so it should be simple to build around, just keep in mind you're "aiming low"

FYI: PCI was a universal slot for all sorts of things. AGP was developed just for video because the PCI slot was too slow. PCI and AGP coexisted for a while. Then (very confusing and maddening) PCI-Express came out to replace AGP (NOT PCI, or the servers PCI-X). So now PCI and PCI-E coexist. Then as other devices either become integrated in to motherboard or grow in bandwidth, PCI-E begins to replace PCI for the everyday things. This is over 10+ year period.

 

[mouse24]

I'm not sure on the performance of that amd card compared to the current one as I have not been around for that long but that won't play F1 either.

According to this chart it appears its actually a downgrade going with that card: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

If you do choose the APU you will have to get a compatible mobo and will probably have to get a new copy of windows unless you have a retail windows box laying around.

 

[AUS_Doug]

Alrighty, thanks for your help guys really appreciate it.

Apparently there are such things as PCI to PCI-E adapters.
A friend has offered me his, similar to this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCI-32bits-PCI-E-express-16X-riser-card-adapter-/320693561785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aaad369b9

And I have found this graphics card that will run the game:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271090981558?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_1570wt_1037

 

[mouse24]

Humm. Not sure if those would work tbh. I don't know personally how much of a performance hit those cards take but going off the numbers I have here...

the newest PCI iterations appear to have a max bandwidth of around 533MB/s, Where as the oldest PCI-E (V1.0) has a max bandwidth of 4GB/s. Now true only the high end cards use that much but its still seems to be quite the performance hit nonetheless. (for reference PCIE 2.0 has 8gb max and PCIE 3.0 has 16GB, these are all at 16 lanes obv)

But if its free and you have a card laying around then might aswell try it out.

Edit: sorry for the bad typing and grammar its 4AM and I haven't slept yet...

 

[AUS_Doug]

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