Upgrading my 2 year old system for gaming

[Antrim]

Hi! A couple of years ago I built a PC which I haven't upgraded since. Here are the components:

Motherboard: BIOSTAR TA75A+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138331)
Power supply: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371034)
Processor: AMD A8-3850 Llano con AMD Radeon HD 6550D (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103942)
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186)

Although it wasn't meant to be a gaming computer, I played some games since without too much trouble, although I had to turn the graphics to minimum in certain cases. Now I'm seriously thinking of selling my 360 and turn into PC gaming, which is cheaper. So I'd like to upgrade it a little bit, without having to get a mortgage.

I was thinking of anywhere $100-$200, although I could spend a little more if the difference was noteworthy. I assume adding a graphic card will make the biggest impact, but I'd like to hear any ideas. Maybe instead of spending $200 in a graphic card it'd be better to spend $150 in the card and $50 in more RAM, or maybe I should get a new processor. Also, I'm not sure if it'd be possible to pair the new graphic card I buy with the which one that I already have (Radeon HD 6550D) in the Llano processor. Using resources I already have sounds good, but I'm not sure how it works or if it's even possible. My last question would be, can I keep using that power supply or would I need to upgrade to support the new graphic card?

Thanks!

 

[Outlander_04]

Your mb has a pci-e graphics card slot so your upgrade is simple . Add a graphics card .
A radeon 7770 costs about $90 and will game better than an x box . I'd spend the whole budget and use a Radeon 7850 and then you can game really well on very good image settings .

Technically your psu is a little lightweight for a 7850 but I just checked the specs on Newegg and it has 37 amps on the 12 volt rails so it will run it OK

 

[Antrim]

Your mb has a pci-e graphics card slot so your upgrade is simple . Add a graphics card .
A radeon 7770 costs about $90 and will game better than an x box . I'd spend the whole budget and use a Radeon 7850 and then you can game really well on very good image settings .

Technically your psu is a little lightweight for a 7850 but I just checked the specs on Newegg and it has 37 amps on the 12 volt rails so it will run it OK

Since I asked in three different forums and all three of you mentioned the same option -HD 7850-, I went ahead and got myself this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127706

I chose MSI because I read good things about the Twin Frozr (any opinion?), and the price seemed fair compared to the other options ($179.99 after rebate).

Since it's been 2 years since last time I touched the PC, and that I'm a noob at this, maybe you can give me a hand for the card installation. These are the steps that I believe I'm going to have to follow:

-Plug the graphic card to one of the two PCI Express 2.0 connections in my motherboard (since before I've been using the 6550 GPU that came with my processor, and that I've never bought or used any other graphic/sound card or similar, both PCI Express 2.0 slots in my motherboard should be empty).

-Once I've done this, there should be a power connector hanging down from the power supply (in the power supply's specifications it says: PCI-Express Connector - 1 x 6-Pin, which if I'm not mistaken is exactly the connector I'm talking about). Then, I need to match this connector with another one hanging down from the graphic card (in the card's specs it says: Power Connector - 6 Pin) and connect them together. Am I right?

-Turn on the PC and download the latest drivers for the card.


Connecting the graphic card and the power supply is the part I'm more worried about. Also I've read that some people recommend a power supply of at least 500W or 600W for the HD 7850, which scares me a little (I don't want to burn it) but I've also read plenty of people saying 400W or 430W should be more than plenty to support it. You seem to be in the middle between the two opinions, should I take any kind of special precaution nonetheless?

 

[Outlander_04]

After you have stopped windows and disconnected the computer from the power

open the case .

Careful handling the graphics card . Only touch the edges and back plate . You need to remove the slot covers on the case . Two of them . Then the graphics card will just push into the pci-e x 16 slot . No force is required . If you are pushing hard you are not doing it correctly . Then two screws hold the back plate to the case .
Then connect the two pci-e power leads . Depending on your power supply you may have to use a molex to pci-e adapter cable .

Cloce the case , reconnect the power , and connect the monitor to the graphics card not the mb . The mb should detect the card and you will have a really los res screen to start with because you have no driver . Install the graphics driver from the disk , or preferably download the latest version from AMD or MSI
Reboot

Done.


The MSI cooler is a good unit .

 

[Antrim]

After you have stopped windows and disconnected the computer from the power

open the case .

Careful handling the graphics card . Only touch the edges and back plate . You need to remove the slot covers on the case . Two of them . Then the graphics card will just push into the pci-e x 16 slot . No force is required . If you are pushing hard you are not doing it correctly . Then two screws hold the back plate to the case .
Then connect the two pci-e power leads . Depending on your power supply you may have to use a molex to pci-e adapter cable .

Cloce the case , reconnect the power , and connect the monitor to the graphics card not the mb . The mb should detect the card and you will have a really los res screen to start with because you have no driver . Install the graphics driver from the disk , or preferably download the latest version from AMD or MSI
Reboot

Done.


The MSI cooler is a good unit .

Thank you very much for your directions.

But I thought the graphic card I got only had one 6-pin power connector? Do you know for a fact it has two?

And when you say connect it to the monitor, you mean that blue connection with little holes in the back of the case? When I connect the graphic card to the motherboard, the graphic card should have a connection right there, and that's what I need to connect the monitor to, right?

 

[mattius92]

I ran a 7870 on a CX430, so you will be fine with your 7850.

A 7850 has ONE 6-pin connector, a 7870 has TWO.

 

[mattius92]

Most graphics cards have a couple ways to plug the monitor up too. DVI and VGA are the two most common. If your GPU has no VGA port, it should have a little adapter to plug into your card so you can hook up a VGA plug.

 

[Antrim]

Most graphics cards have a couple ways to plug the monitor up too. DVI and VGA are the two most common. If your GPU has no VGA port, it should have a little adapter to plug into your card so you can hook up a VGA plug.

Good to hear about you running the more powerful card in a 430, it makes me feel better. And also good that it only has one 6-pin connector, that way I don't have to worry about anything.

Thanks for the information regarding the monitor connections. This is my monitor:

http://

In the specifications it says that it has D-Sub and DVI connectors and it says nothing of VGA, so I guess I was wrong and what I'm using is the white connector (I know for a fact I've used the bllue VGA connector before in older computers, so I guess that's what I was thinking of blue). The card says it has

1 x HDMI
2 x Mini DisplayPort
1 x DVI-I

So I guess I'll use the DVI that I'm currently using (I assume that's what I'm using, I've never heard of D-Sub).
Is there a difference in quality between HDMI and DVI? If there is, I'd consider getting a new monitor in the future with a HDMI connector.

 

[mattius92]

D-SUB is the same as VGA, just another name for it. Your card has no VGA (D-SUB) port, but your card should come with a little DVI to D-SUB converter.

DVI is better if your monitor supports it.

 

[Antrim]

Wait, but if I'm currently using VGA (D-SUB), and the card has a DVI connector, don't I need a VGA to DVI converter instead so that I can connect my monitor's VGA cable to the DVI in the card? I'm sure I'm saying something really stupid here, because you seem to think otherwise and the package of the card says it includes a 1 x DVI to VGA Dongle, which is exactly what you're saying.

 

[Outlander_04]

If your monitor had a DVI port then use that

Only use VGA if your monitor has no other options

 

[mattius92]

Yes, the DVI to VGA dongle is what you will need. That will allow you to plug your VGA monitor to the DVI video card.

 

[Outlander_04]

To get this straight . VGA is an older anologue connector . It refreshes the screen one pixel at a time scrolling from the bottom , line by line till it gets to the top .

This can cause awful ghosting on LCD monitors . and basically messes up the refresh rate .

All the other connectors are digital , and change every pixel on the screen at the same time .


If the monitor has a DVI , display port , HDMI then use it even if you have to buy a cable .
DVI will have the easiest set up .....none actually