New graphics card ~150$

[Bhoomer]

Hi!

I would like to get some advice about buying a new graphics card and possibly more or new RAM. My computer looks like this;

AMD Athlon 7750 Dual Core at 2,7 GHz
2048 MB RAM DDR2
ATI RADEON 4600 Series 512 MB
Windows XP SP3

I wanna raise my FPS in games by upgrading. What would be a good choice of graphics card for me at about 150$. For getting more FPS, is it worth investing in more or completely new RAM and which one should I buy then?

 

[tijmen007]

Post your powersupply specifications as well, otherwise we can't tell you what kind of card your system would be able to utilize.

If you have around 500-450 watt I would suggest either the HD4770 or HD5770.
Anything more than that ( 600 -> 1xxx watt) and you're good to go for a HD48xx or even the HD58xx, although I have no clue what the HD5xxx series cost in your country. ( Talking about brand-supplies though, like Antec )

 

[Bhoomer]

I have a Silver Power 400W SP-400P2C.

 

[tijmen007]

Well that's quite limiting, 400 watt isn't much anymore these days. I suggest you stick to the mid-range segment and watch the power requirements of the graphic cards carefully. In another thread they were discussing the 9600gt running on a 300 watt non-brand powersupply, but the preformance increase will be little.

What kind of games would you like to play with a solid fps?

 

[Bhoomer]

Thanks for the quick response.

I am currently playing company of heroes and Left 4 Dead. But the important thing for me is not exactly what games I will play, but rather a more general performance boost.

Could you be as kind as to recommend me one or two specific cards?

 

[tijmen007]

If I would recommend you something, it would be a better powersupply because with the currently one you're already nearing the power supply's limit.

Maybe the 9600GT or the HD4770 ( but I'm not sure about that one ).

 

[tijmen007]

The HD5750 might be an option, but as the specification table already says:
System Requirements Minimum 450 Watt Power Supply Requirement
Power Connector 6 Pin

If you're willing to take the chance...

 

[Bhoomer]

Hmm... hehe. Seems risky.

What would be the best card for my power supply?

 

[tijmen007]

I'm pretty sure the 9600GT is the best you can get at the moment, assuming that you have a HD4670. But like I mentioned before it won't give you a massive preformance improvement over the HD4670.

If you do go for it, try getting one with GDDR 3.

 

[Bhoomer]

Okay! Thanks for the answers!

 

[tijmen007]

You might want to take a look at this page too http://www.antec.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

[invisik]

A 5750 will work fine with that psu. The 5750 doesnt eat up much power.

 

[tijmen007]

Yep, confirmed that it will run on your psu, the HD5750. It's maximum power consumption is said to be 108 watt, should be possible on your rig.

Anyways good luck finding one, they're pretty rare here.