Upgrading my old workhorse: Suggestion for graphics card.

M

Hello All,

1. Power Supply -- Tech-Com 450W. Blacklisted, so need to buy new one.

2. Budget -- Total 7k including PS, graphic card and RAM.

3. Resolution -- 1600*900

4. Computer specifications
Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.0 Ghz, Intel D915GAV mother board, 1gb ddr1 RAM, D915gav has one PCI express x16 slot.

I am planning to upgrade my RAM to 2 gb and buy a new power supply supporting the graphic card.

I would be interested to know whether P4 is sufficient in playing games like Call of Duty series and crysis.

P.S: The last game played on my PC is call of duty 1. So, would like to continue from there

Regards,
Madhav

Your CPU will be a huge bottleneck for todays titles. Even games like COD4 will suffer.

If your budget is around 7k for graphics card, PSU and ram, then there is pretty much no need to upgrade the PSU. Your Tech com one will hold on just fine. Buy the following -

HD6670 - 5K
1GB DDR1 - around 1.2K (check local markets about pricings on DDR1 DIMMS)

HD6770 will let you game at 1600x900 with good settings, but still the CPU will be a bottleneck for sure. For optimum performance, you can think of upgrading everything from scratch

Still if you go with HD6770 it will be fine for casual gaming like in your case.

V

Get hd5670 gddr5 for 4k and corsair cx430v2 for 2.3k.
For Ram spend from the remaining amount.You might skip psu if u go with hd5670,hd6670,hd7750.

@desiJATT
Where is 6770gddr5 available for 5k?
I guess its hd6670 that you are referring to.

I am sorry for the typo, but i meant HD6670 not the HD6770. Got confused by another thread asking for identical advice.

Still I insist to not change the PSU as your power requirement is very low, and you wont stress that PSU much on that system.

1 GB ddr1 ~ 1200+ last time i checked @ chandi chowk ,kolkata

T

Config is gone ancient. Don't upgrade now. Save up a bit and upgrade the whole thing in one go.
On a P4 Processor most games of today won't be playable on acceptable settings. For Crysis you should be having a Core2Duo at least for enjoying a good game play.

Better upgrade as of now. Adding a graphics card and playing latest games will be great bottleneck to your processor.

Sell everything now while everything is working fine.
It gets tougher selling outdated stuff.

M

desiJATT said:
Your CPU will be a huge bottleneck for todays titles. Even games like COD4 will suffer.

Thanx desiJatt!!
Yes, P4 will be bottleneck but I want this setup to play some games for a week vacation and I do not want to spend huge money. Later I may sell this setup and build a better gaming rig.

Are you sure this PSU will hold and do HD6670 need external power?

Tech_Wiz said:
Config is gone ancient. Don't upgrade now. Save up a bit and upgrade the whole thing in one go.
On a P4 Processor most games of today won't be playable on acceptable settings. For Crysis you should be having a Core2Duo at least for enjoying a good game play.

I just saw a video showing crysis on P4. You can search youtube with crysis and P4 and you will get couple of videos.

Am ok with medium settings, Don't you think P4 HT 3.0 ghz can handle?

Maddy_AzAd said:
Thanx desiJatt!!
Yes, P4 will be bottleneck but I want this setup to play some games for a week vacation and I do not want to spend huge money. Later I may sell this setup and build a better gaming rig.

Are you sure this PSU will hold and do HD6670 need external power?

I just saw a video showing crysis on P4. You can search youtube with crysis and P4 and you will get couple of videos.

Am ok with medium settings, Don't you think P4 HT 3.0 ghz can handle?

my friend play his hd 6670 + core i3 2100 on cheap 450w one . So you wont get any problem with it.

Your PSU will hold on just fine. To be honest, its more than enough for what you require at the moment.

iittopper said:
my friend play his hd 6670 + core i3 2100 on cheap 450w one . So you wont get any problem with it.

the power consumption of a LGA 775 based P4 is around ~150W ( cpu alone ) under stress where i3 2100 only consumes ( the whole system ) around ~80W.

So getting a new PSU is recommended for OP.

topgear said:
the power consumption of a LGA 775 based P4 is around ~150W ( cpu alone ) under stress where i3 2100 only consumes ( the whole system ) around ~80W.

So getting a new PSU is recommended for OP.

Topgear, except CPU, there is no other power hungry component in his config. Do you still think it should be changed? :-?

V

I think OP's Pentium 4 has TDP of less than 90W.

topgear said:
the power consumption of a LGA 775 based P4 is around ~150W ( cpu alone ) under stress where i3 2100 only consumes ( the whole system ) around ~80W.

So getting a new PSU is recommended for OP.

, didn't know about that....

T

Acceptable settings may vary with respect to user. Acceptable for my taste Mid-High Setts minimum.

Try Looking for Crysis at Mid Low setts and High-Ultra looks. Looks entirely different game.

M

topgear said:
the power consumption of a LGA 775 based P4 is around ~150W ( cpu alone ) under stress where i3 2100 only consumes ( the whole system ) around ~80W.

So getting a new PSU is recommended for OP.

I just checked the spec of P4 and its Max TDP is 89W. Check this link.

Do you still think new PSU is required?

So HD6670 is finalised, now which brand should I buy? -- Sapphire, Asus or XFX?

^^ get Sapphire.

vkl said:
I think OP's Pentium 4 has TDP of less than 90W.

Maddy_AzAd said:
I just checked the spec of P4 and its Max TDP is 89W. Check this link.

Do you still think new PSU is required?

Pentium 4 ( LGA 775 - 90nm ) family has many cpu models and they vary in TDP rating and [ower consumption - so to be sure what cpu you have post a cpu-z screenshot.

desiJATT said:
Topgear, except CPU, there is no other power hungry component in his config. Do you still think it should be changed?

most generic psus ( like one Op has ) provides around ~180 -192 on +12V rail
Now Op's cpu may consume 120-150W ( depends on cpu model ) and the HD6670 will need 60W more

Now there's other components like the mobo, ODD, HDD, case fans or some USB devices which needs power and all of is them going to take it mostly from +12v rail - so the overall power consumption ( even if it's 89W TDP cpu ) psu will shoot over the psus +12v specs - so OP better opt for a new PSU IMO.

M

topgear said:
^^ get Sapphire.

*img684.imageshack.us/img684/5724/cpuzu.png

Can you please let me know whether new PSU is required.

HD6670 is available in 3 variants 1gb ddr3, 2gb ddr3, 1gb ddr5. So, which one I should buy?

A normal guess is 1gb ddr5 >> 1gb ddr3 but what about 2gb ddr3?

Also I use windows xp, I think it should not be a problem, rite? Because flipkart says that it is compatible with win7. Thanks for your answers.. :razz:

^^1gb ddr5 >>2gb ddr3>> 1gb ddr3
you can use it with windows XP.No Matter with OS.

S

According to me upgrading this rig wont do any good...

@ Maddy_AzAd - get the 1GB GDDr5 version - if you can't find it opt for 1GB DDR3 version and a new PSU is still required.

If you are using XP the gfx card will wok but you won't get any DX11 feature as XP can handle DX9.0c at max - so better upgrade to win7 or at-least xp-sp3.

M

Sukhvinder789 said:
According to me upgrading this rig wont do any good...

Atleast I can play couple more games and can watch HD movies

topgear said:
@ Maddy_AzAd - get the 1GB GDDr5 version - if you can't find it opt for 1GB DDR3 version and a new PSU is still required.

Ok. Thanks a lot for your input. Is ddr5 version available with Sapphire?

^^ Yes, you will get 1GB DDR5 version of Sapphire.

@ OP - there's only one GDDR5 version of HD6670 is available on FK from HiS which is good quality and A.S.S wise but it's overpriced at Rs. 6440.

Check InfiBeam: Gifts to India | Online Shopping India | Apparel, Books, Cameras, Watches, Mobiles, they have a Sapphirw HD 6670 1GB DDR5 for 5.5k. Get it befor it goes Out Of Stock.