So, I'm finally doing some upgrades....

[Sabriell]

I mentioned awhile ago my crappy HP Slimline computer, the specific model number for what I have is the s3750t.

I'm upgrading the video card, and as a result buying a new case and psu. This is what I'm looking at:

Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127445&cm_re=msi_n250gts-_-14-127-445-_-Product

Case/PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.383487

And apparently I need http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/20-pin-to-24-pin-hp-slimline-atx-converter.htm to use a different psu.

So, my dear computer gurus, do any of you see any issues with these things? I've never tried to do anything other than putting new ram into a laptop, so Kanada will be actually putting this together. I'm still a little freaked out about spending money on something I really know nothing about.

Validate me please.

[Valran1828]

Couple of comments and personal recommendations...

The Antec Nine-Hundred case is the best case I have ever owned. This case will last you a very long time and is guaranteed to be long enough to fit your graphics card (I have the longest card that I believe is currently made and it still fits).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

This power supply is much much better than the Rosewill power supply, it will deliver you more than enough power and will be future proof. Also it has a $20 rebate which would make the cost of the case and power supply only like $15 more than the setup you were looking to get. This also comes with the capability to use it on a 20 pin or 24 pin mobo. The main power cable has 4 pins that you can choose to not install and thus it works for older ATX 2.0 mobos.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

If you already ordered the items you mentioned don't worry, I have had a lot of luck with Rosewill they make good stuff, just can't beat the Antec case and Corsair PSU.

Additionally, I honestly think you should get an ATI card, they will offer you a better card at the same price point. NVidia and ATI go back and forth all of the time but the latest 5000 series of ATI cards are better and cheaper than their NVidia counter parts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447

This is $20 more and is as fast as a GTX 260, which blows away the GTS250 you selected...


Onto the components that you are currently going to keep. Does your motherboard have a PCI-Express port? I would assume so but just in case you should check to make sure.

[Songi]

Valran1828 wrote:

This is $20 more and is as fast as a GTX 260, which blows away the GTS250 you selected... Onto the components that you are currently going to keep. Does your motherboard have a PCI-Express port? I would assume so but just in case you should check to make sure.

About the graphic card. I was going to recommend the one I bought, the 260 because it's better and like you said only 20 bucks more.

The motherboard you have... make sure it's compatible with pci express 2.0

[Sintax]

Yea, what gec said. What motherboard do you have? And what CPU?

[Sabriell]

syntax53 wrote:

Yea, what gec said. What motherboard do you have? And what CPU?

Ok, this I'm not too sure of without taking apart the damn thing right now. I get this http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01661175&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3911791&lang=en when i search for my model number of computer, from that, I have an Irvine-GL6E motherboard, so I think

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=de&dlc=&product=3412280&docname=c01357110

is it, which I think means I'm screwed and would have to get a new motherboard.....which I'm not really looking to do.

[Sintax]

Yea you're kinda owned.

[Sintax]

What's the max you'd want to spend to upgrade your comp?

[Valran1828]

Doesnt need to be pci-express 2.0; pci-express 2.0 cards work in pci-express 1.0 slots just fine.

Again, so long as you at least have a pci-express port and not AGP.

[Sintax]

While yes it will work, who wants to spend $150 on card that will only run at half its potential?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_1.0

• PCI Express 1.0
  In 2004, Intel introduced PCIe 1.0, with a data rate of 250 MB/s and a transfer rate of 2.5 GT/s.
  
  
• PCI Express 2.0
  The PCIe 2.0 standard doubles the per-lane throughput from the PCIe 1.0 standard's 250 MB/s to 500 MB/s. This means a 32-lane PCI connector (x32) can support throughput up to 16 GB/s aggregate. The PCIe 2.0 standard uses a base clock speed of 5.0 GHz, while the first version operates at 2.5 GHz.
  ...
  PCIe 2.0 cards are also generally backward compatible with PCIe 1.x motherboards, using the available bandwidth of PCI Express 1.1.

[Sintax]

Since I have fun building computers anyway... here is one for $600. It's not top of the line but will definitely blow your current computer away. It includes everything (including operating system) except keyboard, mouse, monitor, and DVD drive that you'll re-use. You could also shave an additional $54.99 by re-using your current hard drive. You could use that money to upgrade the video card. Don't get fooled by video card model numbers though. High number does not always mean better card. For example the 4770 I have here is better than a 5670. Here is a general list you can go by:

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html

Your old 7100 is WAY down at #195 =P

• $55 - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
  
  
• $55 - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
  
  
• $70 - GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
  
  
• $90 after $15 rebate - XFX HD-477A-YDFC Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
  
  
• $60 - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
  
  
• $110 - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
  
  
• $60 - AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
  
  
• $100 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Total: $600 (before tax/shipping)

[Sabriell]

I'm not looking to spend much money right now, the 250 or so for what I picked out is even stretching it a bit.

I currently have a Nvidia 9500GT 512MB for a video card, so it'd be going from 82 to 29 on your list. (I customized the computer when I bought it, its not the base shown for my model number, but I know the motherboard is the same. I also have 3 GB of ram, vista 64 bit, and an intel dual core 2.6ghz something or other processor.) My PSU is 180 watts, I believe. From what I understand, a new card or even just PSU to get more power to the card I have now would give me a noticeable difference (either way I'd still need the case).

A new motherboard may be in the near future, just not right now. Do you guys think that a new card even with my old motherboard would work for the time, and provide any difference from what I have now? Should I just go for a new PSU and case, and use my current video card?

From my googling about PCI Express and 2.0, the difference with 2.0 is that twice as much data is sent than just the older version, and you can use a pci 2.0 with my motherboard, it will just be limited to the original amount of data transferred. Even though it's technically "compatible" is it something I want to avoid doing? It's feasible I could get a new motherboard in a month or so.

Oh, and I don't think Kanada will even let me get an ATI card. He hates them because of something with drivers. I could go maybe $30 either way with the card, I just don't want to waste my money if I'm not going to be able to notice a difference. I dabble in other games, but I mostly just play WoW, for a reference point. I plan on maybe getting D3 when it comes out, and I'm sure I'll be talked into SC2.

[Valran1828]

Sabriell wrote:

I'm not looking to spend much money right now, the 250 or so for what I picked out is even stretching it a bit.

That is exactly why you would buy a 2.0 card and use it in a 1.0 system. It future proofs your video card a little, most people don't like to drop $600/$700 in 1 shot.

I agree a mobo upgrade would be optimal but its certainly not a show stopper.

I would go ahead and buy the card, 2.0 so its future proof. When you get some money and want to upgrade RAM, CPU, and MOBO just make sure its 2.0 compliant...

[Sintax]

A GTS 250 should be a noticeable difference over a 9500 but you can't really say you're going from 82 to 29 because you aren't going to be running the card at full speed.

What kind of framerates do you get in raids now? WoW tends to me more of a CPU and memory intensive game then it is video. Even with a GTX 260 and a 3.5GHz (OC'd from 2.8) Core i7 in my old box there were times I'd drop down to 30 frames or less during fights with a lot of stuff going on. Not saying 30 frames is bad, but that's a pretty good system which usually gets 100+ frames during not-so-heavy times. So if you're getting 10-20 frames now, upgrading only the video card may only net you an additional 5-10 frames. Though, only having 130 watt power supply may be part of your problem too. So upgrading that could get you some mroe too. It's hard to say.

[Sabriell]

I have everything on low settings, and typically get less than 20 fps. I also get weird screen freezes around death and decay and mostly on marrowgar. Freezes for a split second every 30 seconds or so.

I'm probably gonna go ahead and upgrade the stuff, maybe spend a little more to get gecs video card, and look to upgrade my motherboard and cpu in the next couple months. I just can't really drop the money to upgrade it all at once.

[Gwenevieve]

I came from the same situation you are in, just what valran said,