Upgrading to a dedicated graphics card

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Pizzamaker5559

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I just bought a new desktop and was wondering about upgrading the graphics card.
My computer is an AMD phenom quad core 960T Processor with 8Gb of RAM.
My current graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 4200 and I'm using 1600x900 resolution.
I'm only looking to spend around $100, and I'd like to be able to play BF:BC2, MW2, and maybe BF3 after it comes out.
I've been looking on newegg.com and here is basically what I've narrowed my search down to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=geforce%20450&page=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=48|14-121-397^14-121-397-TS%2C14-150-540^14-150-540-TS%2C14-102-873^14-102-873-TS%2C14-500-194^14-500-194-TS%2C14-130-663^14-130-663-TS

Which would you recommend that I get? or if not, what would you recommend?(keep in mind $100 or so price range)
Thanks
 
Solution
That is a great price on the GTX 460 but I would not recommend that particular brand. See this previous THG thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/303221-33-evga

Here’s a roundup of 9 GTX 460 cards – but the PNY is not included – and it was not in two other other roundups from other reviewers – which might say something:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-roundup-gf104,2714.html

Also see this site for recommend video card brands

http://www.upgradevideocards.com/brands.html

I would recommend this power supply over the ones you listed - for about the same price:

Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-620 620W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC - $50 AR with...

wintermint

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If you can, I would go for the GTX 460 for around $120 after MIR. It has better performance than the 5770/6770 but it is more power hungry. Otherwise get what Yuka suggested. The 5770/6770 is like the best budget gaming card :)
 

Archean

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+1 wintermint

If however, you can hold off for few months, the prices of current generation of AMD / nVidia card are bound to come down with the launch of their new generation cards later in the year, which may enable you to get a better bargain.
 

Stance7331

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Considering the next gen is most likely not out for sale for at least another 5 months, with that reasoning you would always hold off buying anything because you are always gonna wait for a price drop. If it was a matter of one, maybe two months, sure. But it's still too soon to wait for it.
 

djabhi003

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Priority Wise, Get The 460.. Its A Lot Better Than The Other Two!
However If You Are Tight On The 100$ Budget, Then Get The 6770/5770 Because Its An Amazing Card For Its Price As Well!
Dx11 And Great Performance At 1600x900 Too!
 

Pizzamaker5559

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Thanks for all the responses!
About the power, would I need to make any adjustments to accomodate the GTX 460? I saw something about 450 W and something about 2x6pin power connector?
my setup is an HP p7-1020, actually exactly this:
http://www.staples.com/HP-Pavilion-p7-1020-Desktop-PC/product_329411
 


I can't seem to find out what your PSU is. You can see for yourselff when you open the case. You need about 500 W ( 450 will do if it's a good brand ) and you can see if the extra power connectors ( 2x6 indeed ) are available.
 

Didn't have me glases on then or something, now i did find it in just a sec. . . . :whistle:
 

rockyjohn

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That PSU will not support any decent video card.

This THG review of your integrated graphics shows what performance you might expect - assuming no other components are limiting its performance:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-785g-chipset,2381-11.html

For more information about considering systems limitations - and in general about video card upgrades, you might want to look at this site:

http://www.upgradevideocards.com/criteria.html

For an inexpensive PSU upgrade that will allow you to get good video cards, consider this:

CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - $50 after rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

Is it too late to take your computer back and find one with a larger PSU?



 

Pizzamaker5559

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ok, thanks for the info.
Assuming I upgrade my budget to $175, would the power supply and the GTX460 be all that I need? What would I do about the 1 PCI Express x16 (available); 3 PCI Express x1 (three available)? What about the 2x6 pin? Would it fit, or would I need to get cables? Sorry... I'm more of a software guy...
 
You need 1 slot that supports PCIe 16x, but usually the GTX460 is a dual slot design (space wise, not connector wise), so if you have something sitting beside the PCIe slot, it might not fit or the fan could be blocked out.

The PSU will give you new cables, so forget about your current ones :p

Cheers!
 

Pizzamaker5559

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Would the fact that my integrated graphics card is an amd, and my processor is an amd make a difference if I got the GTX460? I looked and have enough room on the PCIe 16x. It would only cover one of the PCIe x1.

Here is the PSU i have now:
http://www.censuspc.com/product-pr-4708.html
Would this one be adequate with the GTX?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817342035&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Power+Supplies-_-TOPOWER-_-17342035

I really do appreciate all your help so far!!!
 
Budget PSU I recommend all the time:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

That will be plenty for the GTX460 and the rest of your system for a long time. And that MSI shouldn't use regular 4 pin molex'es. It should use 2x 6pin connectors or 1x 8pin and 1x 6pin. If it does, then the Antec won't have any problem at all anyway.

And no, an AMD processor, chipset or integrated video card won't cripple your GTX460's performance intentionally. If they do, they could be charged for unfair business practices.

Cheers!
 

rockyjohn

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Pzza - the PSU you listed is not very good quality - probably the reason for its low price. And the while Antec is a good brand, the 380w listed by Yuka is really to small for the GTX 460 - and if you ever want to upgrade to a faster card you are back to needing to upgrade the PSU again.

PSUs are one place you DON'T want to go cheap. Remember all the components in your system are dependent on it. Moreover, it goes beyond power as we normally think of it for equipment. In a PC, the power, broken down into very fine, minute amounts, is the lifeblood and neurons of the system, carrying millions of bits of data and driving hundreds of thousands of almost simultaneous calculations. You need good, clean power to make it all work. And a PSU that delivers it constantly, hour after hour, day after day, .... year after year. Billions and billions of calculations dependent on clean power.

Your best option is the Corsair 500w unit I linked above for $50.
 


Nope, the Antec is good enough to drive the GTX460. From the specs:

Antec 380W: +3.3V@20A, +5V@20A, +12V1@17A, +12V2@15A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A

Corsair 500W: +3.3V@25A, +5V@20A, +12V@34A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3.0A

Combined 12V is 32A for the Antec and 34A for the Corsair (24 watts of power). The only thing he'll be missing is more PCIe and CPU power; 5A to be more exact. I'm betting that he won't OC or use more than 2 PCIe slots. Both of them have PFC and Over Power protection, the only thing the Corsair has is a better certification.

Cheers!
 

s9y143

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If u Dont Have Much Budget than go For Antec EA 500 I Am using It with 6790 and It Works fine In my country PSU coasted me 43$ close ur eyes and go for it i m using it on ma second pc with i7 860 + dual card 6790+9500gt(for physicx :D)and it works Awesome.. in ma first PC i HAve ANTec VP450P(40$) and Using i3 with EVGA GTS450 and still room to spare buy any PSU among Both and Both Are Best 4 u..///

For the Card I Bought Both Card After Alot Reserch on One PC i must USE GPU with Phycx so i bought gts450 on second i got dedicated physx so any ATI is good i bought 6790 the best value card in market right now...

let me know if u need any further help :)
 

rockyjohn

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Yuka - you cannot simply add the two legs of the Antec 12v rails together and assume the PSU can provide all that power. The 32a you then say they provide times 12v = 384w. So you are saying this 360w PSU can provide 384w just to the 12v rails. First that is very unlikely - or they would call it a 384w (at least) PSU. Second, the power going to the 12v rails has to be reduced by power going to the 3.3 and 5v rails.

What the Corsair has in addition to the certification is 140w or almost 40% more power.

I agree the Antec EA 500 is a better PSU (I have one in my low end system) - but at newegg it currently cost $70 or $20 more than the Corsair I listed. Given Pizza's trying to keep the budget down, I did not think he wanted to go to $70.
 


Uhm... Actually, it's not about adding the rails together, but just read at the power it can give per rail. A single GTX460 uses 2x 6pin power connectors; the 6pin are rated for 75W each, so the GTX460 should draw around 150W. That divided by 12V is 12.5A and per 6pin is 6.25A. The Antec 380 has on 1 of it's rails 17A and the other is 15A. Either one tan handle a single GTX460 with Amps to spare on HDDs or even DVDRWs (which need like 2A if I recall correctly). Besides, I don't recall that PSU's have shared rails between the 3.3v, 5v and 12v rails; are you totally sure about that one?

Cheers!
 

Pizzamaker5559

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Another question... kinda random, but since we're on the topic of PSU's...
Would I have to disconnect everything from my old PSU and connect it to the new one or could I just run the graphics card off the new one and leave the rest of the wires connected to the old one...
 
Everything will be using the new one. Your current PSU manages every power device, and since you're changing it, it changes everything (power cables wise).

Now... There are "auxiliary" PSU's out there, but don't know much about them. And by auxiliary, I mean that they will provide extra juice for the video cards and don't know what else, but don't replace your current PSU. I have the impression they're more of a hassle than anything else, but that's me :p

Cheers!
 
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