Upgrade graphics, but limit on size and watts

[RazberyBandit]

With a 4650, I'll put myself down at 100%. Though, 99% would be more logical and leave some room for that "fluke" card that just isn't the same as all the rest.

Also, with a 128-bit bus and DDR2, you're looking at similar transfer rates as 64-bit bus and DDR3. (I have to get to work soon so I don't have time to research the math.) Sure, it'd be better to have 128-bit and DDR3 like a 4670 has, but it's not a major loss considering your restriction to low-profile cards and your budget. Also, DDR3 would consume a little bit more power...

Btw... Apollo has managed to pair DDR4 with a 4650... I dunno how well it works, but you might wanna look into that particular card in detail.

 

[stevenrunner]

Yeah I know what you mean peolpe who have amazing power supplies and the most expensive config sometimes get random problems, its like those germ products only 99.9 percent of bacteria will be removed. Now, only 1 more suggestion, 512mb vs 1gb and if they change in terms of performance and power consumption

 

[RazberyBandit]

512MB is all you need. 1GB cards are for systems with high resolution monitors. They need the extra memory for all the extra textures that have to be stored and drawn. Some games do prefer more and more memory, but at lower resolutions, if makes little difference. And yes, more RAM on the card = more power draw. It's not much, but in a system where only a few watts can make a difference, better safe than sorry.

Last bit of advice: Shop around. Newegg, ZipZoomFly, Tigerdirect, CompUSA, Fry's, and MWave are the ones I shop, but I've only purchased from 3 of them (Newegg, Zip, and CompUSA).

 

[stevenrunner]

I refuse to give my credit card online. My dad said just find a card in a retailer and buy it from them in person. He doesn't trust the sites or alot of people witht he card, his identity got stolen last year and it was a whole ordeal to get it back.
Anyways, im looking and most stores might have the 4650 im not sure if its half height. You know the math and the estimates you did for the 4650? Could you do the same thing for the 9500gt and tell me if it will run please? Just incase I end up going to the store and then having that card the only one there, or just for my own curiosity

 

[RazberyBandit]

9500GT would work just fine as well, but low-profile versions of them are rare compared to the 4650. You'd probably see slightly better performance from a 4650, too.

As far as the online credit issue, you've got nothing to worry about unless you're using it on unsecured sites, or if you don't know a single thing about keeping your system secure from viruses, trojans, mal-ware, hijackers, phishing emails, etc.

 

[stevenrunner]

Nope. They are actaully avaialable on canadacomputers.com and tigerdirect.ca and both of those online sites actaully have stores i can visit in real life

 

[RazberyBandit]

Seems you Canadians have it better than us Americans in yet one more way... I would have to drive roughly 3 hours 1-way to the nearest CompUSA to do the same thing.

Let me know how things work out.

 

[stevenrunner]

I will. I can't go today since everything is closed on Easter

 

[stevenrunner]

GUESS WHAT GUYSSS i have ADHD, and i ordered the 4650

New Egg
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102829
Thank you so much razz

 

[RazberyBandit]

You're welcome. I thought you were gonna go to the CAComps or TigerDirect stores to get one? In which case I would have probably tried a 4670, first

The hell with closing the case! Stick in the most powerful thing it can power! hehehe

 

[stevenrunner]

True. OMG I hate you now you made me sad!
Were you joking though or serious, and you really think id be able with 4670É
Hey, like i said ill spend as much money as long as it works with the psu w.e i already ordered it online

 

[RazberyBandit]

4670 isn't available lo-pro man... LOL

But, I suppose you could leave the case wide-open and try one... It wouldn't fasten tightly, so it'd just be hanging there, but I suppose a long screw and a piece of metal tubing could be cut to length and secure it... I dunno... Big question is, would all that trouble be worth it? Not likely.

 

[Axeon]

I've seen one of these computers at a local electronics store and man are they TINY!!! The width of the case is like the size of my hand lol. Its a mITX i think?

 

[stevenrunner]

It would not be worth it at all. I just saw some benchmarks, 3-4 difference in fps in the resolution i would play at for crysis. speaking of which ill be able to play crysis 720p almost 30fps, if i overclock it even more! which btw does overclocking make your powerconsumption go up?

 

[RazberyBandit]

Yes, OC'ing increases power draw. For example, I've overclocked my Athlon X2 5000+ from the stock 2.6GHz to 3.2GHz, and I had to increase the voltage from 1.35v to 1.43v to do it. It has since gone from drawing 65W of power at 100% load to drawing 90W of power at 100% load. I can't overclock it much more because my motherboard only supports up to 95W models of X2, Phenom, and Phenom II CPUs in the first place. It sucks, but I learned my lesson - never buy the first version of a motherboard, as the Rev. 3 version of my exact same mobo can run 125W CPUs, and it was released only a month after I bought mine...

 

[stevenrunner]

Would I have headroom to OC my dual core pentium e2200 or my hd 4650
My heart pounds everytime i say hd 4650 because im so excited. I was able to OC my 9400gt a bit, and it improved in fps drastically i would say form like 600 core clock to 695 and then i tried a bit more but i started seeing these weird lines flashing on the screen so i went back.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I think it'd probably be safe to OC one or both, slightly. Depending upon which one becomes more of a bottleneck actually depends on the specific game, as some are more CPU dependent than others. I often see the best results in my system when I OC the crap out of my CPU but not so much OC on my GPU, but I'm also using on-board Realtek audio (go ahead and laugh) so the more CPU power I have directly affects my sound processing.

Considering you've got a pre-built system, you might not have the options to OC your CPU at all... Many of these systems have the FSB and CPU multipliers locked to the auto-detected defaults. And I honestly can't say I've ever seen OC results for an E2200 Allendale... Not that I've ever looked for them, either

 

[stevenrunner]

Hey Raz, i just got it and i installed the hd4650 into my pc, but it when i turned it on it didnt recgonize it. My 9400gt right away started using the dvi, but this is not finding the dvi i have to put the vga for the onboard slot to even get a picture. Why is this????

 

[RazberyBandit]

Disable the on-board VGA in the BIOS completely, then try again. You may have a selection something like this:

Primary VGA adapter: (options on-board, PCI-Express)

Set it to PCI-Express

Good thing I'm off today, otherwise I wouldn't have seen this til midnight, EST. LOL

 

[RazberyBandit]

Might also see an Option for "On-board Devices" or "Peripherals" in the main menu. If so, you'll see a list of devices there, and VGA should be one of them. Set it to "Disabled" if you can.

 

[stevenrunner]

Okay Ill give that a try brb

 

[stevenrunner]

Completly no difference, nothign happended, i disabled onboard video and the default vga was already set to pcie.... And so since i didnt have a picture on the montior through the graphics card vga or dvi i put the vga cable back into the onboard and thats the only way im getting a picture right now, also nothing except the geforce 7100 integraded showing up in device manager..... Is there a quicker way we can communicate like IM?

 

[RazberyBandit]

Yeah, check your PM's in your profile. I sent one a while ago, but I guess you missed it.

 

[stevenrunner]

Its all good, but i expected better performance
I was basing my expectations on this
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4650_OC/9.html

 

[RazberyBandit]

I feel kinda bad, but I did tell you to look at 1280x1024 benchmarks as it's close to the same pixel count as 1440x900, and what do we see? An average of less than 20fps... 20fps is not considered a "playable" frame rate. It's also an overclocked DDR3 version of the 4650, not a stock GDDR2... Sorry man.

I know it'll probably look like crap, but try Crysis with the absolute minimum settings. At least then it might be playable.