M57SLI-S4 mobo, amd x4 955, nv460

[knightbringr]

Ok, I currently have:

cpu - Amd Athlon 64 x2 6000+ chip
mobo - GA-M57SLI-S4
gpu - 9800 GTX+
psu - 550w Cooler Master RP-550-PCAR

I am wanting to play Star Wars: TOR.

A year ago, I thought my system was "maxed out" with this setup but then I did some reading and I realized I could upgrade to a phenom x4 955 (95w) which I bought ($135) and I'm just waiting for it to come in the mail.

Since then, I've also read where people have upgraded this mobo to include an Nvidia 460 but some people have issues where they actually have worst performance with the 460 than before when they used a much weaker gfx card.

I personally am concerned about my psu - in particular my low amperage on the 12V rails.

Question #1
Does anyone think my psu will be a problem? I ask because there were times (very rarely) with my 9800 GTX+ when I would get artifacts, freezes, and crashes while playing games from what I assume was not enough power from the psu.

Question #2
Would I be bottlenecking somewhere and therefore upgrading to 460 would be pointless? My mobo PCI-e slot is 1.0 by the way.

Just wanted to know this before I buy a 460 and then realize I need to fork out more money for a psu as well.

Thanks.

 

[knightbringr]

Wow! I thought someone would be able to help me out here. No one has an opinion?

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

I will have a look, but have to go to work now. When i'm there i will have a try. ( when it's not to busy )

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Well, theoraticly the psu should be strong enough. Only problem is it only has one pcie 6pin connector. So the other one has to come from a molex adapter and i think ( not sure ) that that will come of the other 12V rail and then i'm lost i'm afraid, not experienced enough to say for sure it works, specially because cooler master ain't that good. I would buy a nice Corsair, Antec or XFX psu, they sell around 50-60 dollar, sometimes less with rebate.

Can't understand though why those others have worse fps with the 460 than with the 9800, they are both 2.0 cards so the 1.0 slot shouldn't make a difference with that.

The Phenom should be able to do the 460, even more so, i think even the 560/560ti should create no bottleneck.

Afraid i can't provide you with real good answers for that, don't know that much about mobo configurations i'm afraid.

The nice thing from this forum is that when i say something wrong or don't know the answer there's always someone else to step in. ( usually though )

 

[knightbringr]

Thanks for responding robjordy.

I was afraid of that. I'm trying to avoid having to buy another PSU. If I have to do that that will be putting me at:

$130 - cpu
$110ish - gpu
$50 - psu

and I'm basically $300. Since I'm nearing that range I would rather just say "forget it" and go build a decent rig, but my fiance would probably kill me (they never understand...).

So I'm trying to squeeze every little ounce of breath I can out of the setup I have.

Would you recommend another gpu that would need a little less power and almost same performance?

I know 460 is best bang-for-buck card, so I'm kind of disappointed not being able to get it.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[knightbringr]

Also, I've heard that the 460 SE pulls less wattage (like 20-30w less).

Should I maybe go with that or am I just being too picky? 😀

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

The Hd 6850 is the same or better with 30 watts less. Only thing is thats a 2.1 card and sometimes ( not often, but still ) they give problems with a 1.0 slot.
I i really don't know enough bout that to say it will or won't work. Maybe try to google if someone with the same mobo has put in a 2.1 succesfully.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

There's a reason why the se uses less, it's not that great a card i believe. The 6850 would be way better.

 

[knightbringr]

It's not so much the money, it more or less the fact that if I can upgrade my cpu and gpu for $200 to get much better performance out of SW:TOR in December, then great!

If not, then I'll just wait till sometime next year to build myself a proper system.

Like I was saying, just trying to eek out the last little bit my mobo and psu can provide. I think the cpu upgrade will be a big improvment, was just wanting to also do a gpu upgrade as well if it was cheap enough.

When I start getting to $300 - $400 for upgrades I get the itch to just go ahead and build another rig.

 

[knightbringr]

I've spent the past 3-4 days googling 460's with my mobo, psu's and 460's, and every other combination I can think of. I glanced at the 6850 but I thought it needed even more wattage than 460?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102866

 

[knightbringr]

Ok. I guess not guys.

http://www.hwcompare.com/8241/geforce-gtx-460-1gb-vs-radeon-hd-6850/

looks like it doesn't draw as much.

Will check out your links 384-Bit and see if I can do that... (she's gonna end up killing me though...)

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Love hurts. ( specially when you and love women and love pc's. ) :lol:

 

[knightbringr]

So true robjordy... so true.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Wow! I thought someone would be able to help me out here. No one has an opinion?

And if you ever post again don't bump your thread, no one is under any obligation to respond.

Don't...
Bump posts
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/283384-33-read-first