Suggestions For Upgrading My PC

PapiChullo

PapiChullo

CAGiversary!
Well, I just got a new computer about a month ago, but I can't play COD2, and Counterstrike and Half-Life 2 are a little bit shaky. I've assumed that it's my graphics card, so I'm looking to upgrade it. Best Buy has an ATI Radeon card on sale this weekend for the Thanksgiving sale, and I was thinking about possibly picking it up, but I wanted to know first if it would be compatible with my computer.

ATI Card

My Computer

Will that card be good enough to run these games smoothly, or should I just look for another card. COD recommends an NVIDIA card, so if anyone could suggest an alternative if this one isn't really that good, I would appreciate it. Also where do I find out the power supply of my comp? Because when I bought it, the guy in BB said that if I did upgrade my graphics card, I would more than likely have to upgrade my power supply as well. I'm also trying to stay probably under $200, but it's negotiable, I guess. Thanks for any help.
 
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/49...39837!-2061130618&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

RFSD.

That is a much better card than the x1600. Get this instead.

I didn't do too much deal searching for you since I have not looked into the graphics card market for a while, but considering the price and where it benches it is a pretty good deal AR.



As far as power supplies go, find something that is dual rail with a good amount of amps on the 12 volt rail. There are some sites around the net that can recommend good PSU's, but I can't remember any off the top of my head.
 
newegg/zipzoomfly have HUGE selections of computer components (includin graphics cards); i wouldnt buy that sort of stuff at best buy unless the price was much better

oh and any pci-e x16 card shud be compatible w/ that comp
 
You'll have to find out what kind of PSU you have. Chances are you don't have one good enough to handle one of the more powerful GPUs since your PC has a on board graphics.

You might be able to get away with that 7900GS but I can't be sure. Open your case and check the wattage/amps on your PS.
 
Really? 400 watts? Wow... usually they give you sub 300w unless you have a high end system. That's definitely good news.

In that case, I definitely recommend the 7900GS linked a few posts above. It's a great card for only $120. You might want to consider using any remaining money for an upgrade for another 1GB stick of memory.
 
I don't know if you would uninstall the old drivers since they are for an integrated card, but installing the new card should take no time. Just plug in the appropriate slot and install the drivers. At max it should take 30 minutes if you have to fiddle with things.

Also make sure after you install the card to go grab the latest drivers from nvidias website.
 
It would be best to uninstall the old drivers, shut down your computer, install the card (it's easy), and then install the drivers for the new GPU.
 
[quote name='thater']I would suggest this ATI card. 512MB ddr2 ram onboard x1650 Pro chipset fairly new I'm not sure, but I think TigerDirect is one of the stores that works with that $20 back from a $50+ purchase through PayPal if you did that earlier this week.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2522422&Tab=0&NoMapp=0[/quote]

That 1650 is a peice of shit. Sure it has more onboard RAM but who cares it's not like he's going to be using it (or anyone else for that matter). Get the faster GPU, (the 7900GS is great), don't worry about getting a little bit more graphics RAM that you won't use.
 
So, through here and other sites, I've come to the conclusion that the 7900GS is the way to go for my power supply.

The one that Casey recommended doesn't have the rebate on it anymore, but is still in my price range.

I also did a search on newegg for "7900gs" and This is what turned up. I assume that the more expensive, the better, but there isn't probably a ton of difference when going up in price. So which one is the best buy?

I'm going to try and get my gf to buy me one. :D
 
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