[epics]

well, titlte says it all. I'm looking to upgrade approx 400~ dollars worth into my pc for an upgrade. my current specs are


PROCESSOR:3.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium D
circuitboard: Board: ASUSTek Computer INC. EMERY2 2.00
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
GRAPHIC card: Radeon X1650 Series
monitor: HP vs17 [Monitor]
sound (i dont own speakers, i use my monitor ones) Realtek High Definition Audio
and 2 gigs of ram.
POWER supply: smart power 400 watts

i'm looking to upgrade my graphics card mainly, and possibly look into some form of a sound card... if there is such a thing. i limit myself on my gaming sound greatly and i thought id try and get into one. im willing to spend seperate amount of money on the sound part. the 400 is mainly for graphics. looking for something thatll fit my current PC specs. i may also get more ram if my pc has the room >< ill check tommorow.

SHORT VERSION: looking to get a card my pc can handle better than my 1650 series!

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OK you will need a new PSU, maybe a better monitor too if you want good quality, either way a 8800GT or 3870 should do the trick, that is if you up the PSU, Sound doesn't really matter since onboards are pretty much good enough however I can't find your mobo so can you tell me if its 8 channel or 6 channel?

Soorena

[SOORENA]

OK you will need a new PSU, maybe a better monitor too if you want good quality, either way a 8800GT or 3870 should do the trick, that is if you up the PSU, Sound doesn't really matter since onboards are pretty much good enough however I can't find your mobo so can you tell me if its 8 channel or 6 channel?

Soorena

[epics]

alrighty! thanks for the reply. what sort of PSU am i looking for? up it to 500? would this affect the rest of my PC? also i have no idea where to find this Mobo setting. i just load up belarc advisor and it lists my pc stats.

EDIT: i see a 500 here for 80 dollars http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1188560188623
and a 650 here for 124 http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1156203858419

also, i've never really shopped for a monitor before. heck up to a few months ago my playstation was still running on a commodore 64 ([bleep] things were built to last!). the one i have now is a flat panel LCD. i assumed that this was top of the line sorta and monitors didnt make that huge of a difference >< it was all the Graphics card.

Edited by epics, 10 December 2007 - 10:24 AM.

[SOORENA]

OK take it form me and all the guys here, don't buy from stores like bestbuy or futureshop they will rip you off. Go to newegg.com and you should be able to find a good deal. for 80 dollars you can't go wrong with THIS and if you add $10 THIS would be better. As I said don't worry about the sound unless the sound on your mobo is really bad, because by upgrading you won't see much difference. And as for the Video Card go with either a NVIDIA 8800GT or ATI HD3870, whichever one best suits your budget, the 8800GT is better however.

Soorena

Edited by SOORENA, 10 December 2007 - 03:57 PM.

[kamille316]

OK take it form me and all the guys here, don't buy from stores like bestbuy or futureshop they will rip you off.

Soorena

Or do a price match if you can't purchase online.
I don't know how it works personally but I was told you can bring a printout of the product you want to PM.

[SOORENA]

OK take it form me and all the guys here, don't buy from stores like bestbuy or futureshop they will rip you off.

Soorena

Or do a price match if you can't purchase online.
I don't know how it works personally but I was told you can bring a printout of the product you want to PM.

I know we have that here in Canada with NCIX and one of those two but I'm not sure if they have that in other countries like the states.

Soorena

[james_8970]

Bestbuy (and futer shop for Canadians) will not price match online competitors. I have tried many times, unless the online company is located in your city, they will not price match an iteam.
James

[epics]

yes i noticed that today, very large price difference. so if i get a 600 watt psu i would be able to upgrade my graphic card?

[SOORENA]

That depends what you upgrade it. For example a 7800 consumes WAAAY less power than a 8800 therefore you need to be specific of how high quality the card is.

Soorena

[epics]

well ill compare prices first. these are ATI or nvidia numbers?

[james_8970]

The 7800 and 8800 are series from nVidia.

The ATI cards that you'd be interesting in are the HD3850 or HD3870.
The nVidia cards that you'd be interested in are only from the 8800 series.
James

Edit: However with a budget of 400, these cards will be outside of your budget. If I were you I'd try for a HD3850, though you can get a cheaper card if you don't want to exceed your budget.

Edited by james_8970, 10 December 2007 - 08:31 PM.

[epics]

well this Tiger direct place is offering this http://www.tigerdire...p;CMP=SPC-YAHOO

XFX GeForce 8800 GTS XXX Video Card - FREE Lost Planet: Extreme Condition PC, 320MB GDDR3, SLI Ready, PCI Express, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card

im assuming this is the 8800 series you were tlaking about? for 269.99. what icant find is the required PSU

[james_8970]

I suggest this card, it's cheaper and a better performer.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150263
Your going to need a new PSU, regardless of what card you choose here.
James

Edited by james_8970, 10 December 2007 - 08:53 PM.

[epics]

oh loving that price. now to choose a PSU. im going to browse newegg, seems to be the nicest pricing

im currently looking at http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817341010, think thios would be enough? to run it on high performance

[james_8970]

I'd edit but you'd likely miss that edit as your reading this thread.
Can you measure the physical dimensions of your case to see what the maximum length of a PCIe card you could fit in there. Also can you tell me what the physical dimensions are of your PSU?
Also, can you confirm that your PC is indeed PCIe, not AGP. I'd assume it's PCIe because your processor is a Pentium D, but I want to know for sure
James

Edited by james_8970, 10 December 2007 - 08:57 PM.