Upgrading current

[antemon]

I have a friend that wants a bit of help.

basically he just wants to know if his he's PC is "OK" and would like to have as little upgrades as possible due to budget constraints.

I can tell that his PC is very unbalanced.
Core 2 Quad Q8200
Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS
2GB single channel RAM

For GPU, I'll tell him to get a 4850 or something similar, maybe even a bit weaker. Does that sound like a good idea?

My main concern is his motherboard, MSI G31M3-F ( http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=G31M3-F&class=mb )
in conjunction with his CPU and the GPU and ram upgrade that I will advice him, is this good enough for gaming?
newegg reviews are very high.

 

[gkay09]

The mobo will not affect much on the performance and is actually a decent overclock board.
Well here are a few things that you can say your friend to Get/Do to improve his gaming performance...

1. Get a better GPU lkike you said...a 4850 is a good option...But take care that his PSU can handle it...
Few more options -
4830 (If resolution not more than 1440X900 and want to play with max settings..)
GTS250(Alternate for the 4850. Get which ever is cheaper)

2. More RAM (get 2 more GB)
3. Ask you friend to overclock his/her CPU.

 

[fullmetall]

@Gkay09, you can't get 2 more gb sticks because theres only 2 slots for ram.


@O.P
If he has 1gb each stick, i'd rather upgrade to a 2x2gb = 4gb g.skills pi black at 800mhz or corsair.

As for the board, thats a pretty old style motherboard but, it will work. If he decides on an oc, i recommend a nice aftermarket cooler and thermal paste.

Whats the size on the Monitor

 

[gkay09]

@Gkay09, you can't get 2 more gb sticks because theres only 2 slots for ram.

Dint notice that...
Hmm...mostly all the G31 mobos have only 2 slots...

 

[aevm]

What kind of power supply does he have?

 

[Helloworld_98]

4750 when it comes out and 2x2gb of ram.

4750 because the wattage needed is 90w i think which is 20w less than the 4830.

 

[antemon]

The mobo will not affect much on the performance and is actually a decent overclock board.
Well here are a few things that you can say your friend to Get/Do to improve his gaming performance...

1. Get a better GPU lkike you said...a 4850 is a good option...But take care that his PSU can handle it...
Few more options -
4830 (If resolution not more than 1440X900 and want to play with max settings..)
GTS250(Alternate for the 4850. Get which ever is cheaper)

2. More RAM (get 2 more GB)
3. Ask you friend to overclock his/her CPU.

I don't think he'd OC till he really needs it.
I haven't had the chance to take a look at his PSU, I'll check a little later.
The 4830 would probably be the choice of GPU, due to budget constraints and I can't seem to find a GTS 250 at a local store (with a pricelist online)

@Gkay09, you can't get 2 more gb sticks because theres only 2 slots for ram.


@O.P
If he has 1gb each stick, i'd rather upgrade to a 2x2gb = 4gb g.skills pi black at 800mhz or corsair.

As for the board, thats a pretty old style motherboard but, it will work. If he decides on an oc, i recommend a nice aftermarket cooler and thermal paste.

Whats the size on the Monitor

yep, gonna swap out his 1GB single channel ram for two 2GB dual channels. I think we'll have to settle for a DDR2 800, the price difference compared to 1066.
That said, we'll also have to settle for either a Kingston or a Transcend RAM, Corsairs and OCZs are also a little too expensive as well.

What kind of power supply does he have?

as I said earlier, I have no idea yet. Will take a look at it a little later though I think it's just a generic PSU. Will post the specs later.

4750 when it comes out and 2x2gb of ram.

4750 because the wattage needed is 90w i think which is 20w less than the 4830.

Let's see how it compares to the 4830 and 4850 and if there's some price difference. When is it supposed to come out? We do have time to wait but not so much, a couple of weeks to a month.

 

[fullmetall]

Wouldn't see much of a price differential in the 2, if the 4830 is in the range, get it.

As for memory, Kingston at its lowest Cas Latencey you can find for your budget on 2x2gb.

1066 wouldn't be an honorable usage for memory on that board. It would be limited down to 800mhz so full speed wouldn't be applied.

Oc'ing, you can see a difference in things but, i think he'll be fine just upgrading the partial's.

 

[antemon]

good to hear that a DDR800 wouldn't be a bad choice.

forgot to say this earlier, his display is a 17inch LCD. Viewsonic VA1716w ( http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktop-monitors/lcd/value-eries/va1716w.htm ) with an optimum resolution of 1440x900.
512MB 4830 is doable, right? Read somewhere that 1GBs were for very high resolutions


still haven't taken a look at his PSU though.

 

[aevm]

I think a HD 4830 512MB would handle that resolution very well, no worries.

You need a 450W PSU (or larger) with a 6-pin PCI-E connector, according to Sapphire recommendations.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822

If you don't have the PCI-E connector but the PSU is powerful enough then you can just buy a $3 adapter and reuse the PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887001

 

[antemon]

the current PSU should have that kind of connector, unless 7100GSs (current GPU) have a different thingamajig altogether

 

[aevm]

The 7100GS doesn't need a PCI-E connector. It consumes very little and gets all it needs from the PCI-E slot itself.

Still, there's a good chance that the PSU does have the connector indeed, unless it's a very old model. OK, check it and let us know the model.

 

[antemon]

forgot to ask, what does the connector look like?

still at work so...

it's probable a cheapo PSU but the PC was bought just last month.

 

[aevm]

Click this link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887001

The PCI-E connector is the thing with the 6 pins on the upper side. The two molex connectors on the lower side are part of the adapter, you don't care about that. Ideally, there's a cable coming out of the PSU and with that 6-pin connector at the end.