Thread: Suggestions for Small (i.e. Budget) Upgrade

I think it's about time I give my rig a small upgrade in the video and memory departments. I know what I'm going to get for memory but, given my lack of knowledge in the area, I'd like to run this by you guys. I'm not looking for a big upgrade, more on the somewhat budget side actually. Somewhere between $100-$200.

Per Tom's recommendations, I'm thinking of getting either the GeForce GT 250 1GB or the Radeon HD 5770 1GB. Thoughts? Other suggestions? Should my PSU not meet the recommended system power for either of those cards (or others suggested), I'd also like some recommendations on getting a new PSU.

My current specs:

Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+
Memory: 2GB (2046MB) DDR2

I'll need to look inside to find out what PSU I have in there, it's at least 350W given the video card. Someone built this rig for me as a wedding present so I don't know all the details, never was much of a hardware guy. I don't even know what mobo I have in there.

Not the most up-to-date rig, I know, but it gets the job done. However, I'd like some more speed and better performance with games at medium-to-high settings. A reference point would be running a game along the lines of Bioshock 2 at medium-to-high settings with minimal or no performance issues.

I'm sure there are some other variables I need to find out in order to figure out what I need/can get so I apologize in advance for you guys needing to ask those questions.

You can use a program such as Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit to determine which motherboard you have. It'll give you a lot of additional info about your system, also.

You will, however, have to look at your PSU to tell us its wattage.

Between those two video cards the 5770 is far better.

Originally Posted by Kanati8869

Between those two video cards the 5770 is far better.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by Viktor_Olin

You can use a program such as Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit to determine which motherboard you have. It'll give you a lot of additional info about your system, also.

You will, however, have to look at your PSU to tell us its wattage.

I had installed AIDA32 earlier this week. The Belarc provided the information needed, going to stick with that.

Results for motherboard:
Board: PCCHIPS A15G 2.0
Bus Clock: 201 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 12/05/2007

As for the PSU, I feel like a noob for saying it, but I didn't know which information was needed for figuring out if I need a new PSU for the new graphics card. As such, here's everything:

S/N #D8405367

Sos, I have an ATI 5770 1 GB. It runs any game I have tried at least at medium settings with an acceptable frame rate. In particular, BF3 runs at medium settings (with no MSAA I should note) at a playable framerate. Most games I run at high though, even Bioshock 2.

But your CPU will be a limiting factor.

Originally Posted by Madmax (Grape)

Sos, I have an ATI 5770 1 GB. It runs any game I have tried at least at medium settings with an acceptable frame rate. In particular, BF3 runs at medium settings (with no MSAA I should note) at a playable framerate. Most games I run at high though, even Bioshock 2.

But your CPU will be a limiting factor.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like what I'm looking for. I figured my CPU would be a limiter as well, though.

Both of those video cards look like they require at least a 450W PSU. So, I'm 45W short of what I need. Suggestions for a PSU?

I'm a fan of Corsair PSU's, but their prices are on the steep side.

A quick check of Newegg's specials shows this as a daily deal: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W ATX12V v2.31 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$70 after MIR. Decent reviews and a 3 year warranty. More wattage than you would need, but it does allow for possible upgrades.

Originally Posted by Viktor_Olin

I'm a fan of Corsair PSU's, but their prices are on the steep side.

A quick check of Newegg's specials shows this as a daily deal: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER GX Series RS750-ACAAE3-US 750W ATX12V v2.31 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$70 after MIR. Decent reviews and a 3 year warranty. More wattage than you would need, but it does allow for possible upgrades.

Hmmmm... not a bad deal but, as you said, that is a bit more wattage than I need. I don't plan on doing another upgrade anytime soon after this one.

For PSU quality sake, would a 600W-650W PSU from XFX (e.g. this one) or Antec (e.g. this one) be just as good to go with?

Both of your links are for the same XFX PSU. Which, by the way, got a very good review here:
XFX PRO 650 W Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets

You cannot utilize DDR3 RAM on your setup; that would require a new motherboard.

What is your OS? Unless it's a 64 bit OS, you will not be able to utilize over 4 GB of RAM, so you would not benefit from additional RAM, anyway.