Author Topic: Help me with my new pc  (Read 1357 times)

Offline Smiles

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Help me with my new pc
« on: 13-06-2011, 14:06:26 »
Ola, i have some `new` components for my pc and its all sort of up to date except my graph cart.

My specs atm are.

770-c45 mainboard MSI
ddr3 4 gig
n9400 gt nvidea
XP
athlon x4 average quad core (dunno, box is lost and im somewhere else atm).
The price range im searching in differs from 80/150€

2 cards i found are :
msi r6870 -150€
msi r6670 - 90€

will i be fine if i go for one of these? Should i buy the more expensive one or do you think i can spend my money on something else? Im not really aiming for a upper class pc but id like to be able to play, say bf3 on medium. High is best ofcourse.
I'm taking my own freedom
puttin' it in my song
singing loud and strong
proving all day long
I'm takin' my freedom
puttin' it in my stroll
I'll be hop-steppin' y'all
lettin' the joy unfold

Offline Thorondor123

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #1 on: 13-06-2011, 14:06:29 »
XP
I hope this doesn't mean your OS ;)
Let mortal heroes sing your fame

Offline Smiles

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #2 on: 13-06-2011, 15:06:03 »
Yesssir it does ???
I'm taking my own freedom
puttin' it in my song
singing loud and strong
proving all day long
I'm takin' my freedom
puttin' it in my stroll
I'll be hop-steppin' y'all
lettin' the joy unfold

Offline LuckyOne

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #3 on: 13-06-2011, 16:06:52 »
Yesssir it does ???

Shame as if it's the 32 bit version you're kinda wasting some of your RAM as it can't address more than 3,2 GB or so... BTW I believe that both of those cards should be able to run BF3 on high medium at least . Also keep in mind that BF 3 won't support XP.
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 16:06:40 by LuckyOne »
This sentence is intentionally left unfinished...

Offline Thorondor123

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #4 on: 13-06-2011, 16:06:32 »
Yesssir it does ???
You should get a 64 bit Windows 7.

With XP, you can't use all of your 4 gigs of RAM, and you have no access to the Dx10/10.1/11 features of your fanci GPU.

On the system, XP would be by far the worst bottleneck.
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Offline Smiles

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #5 on: 13-06-2011, 17:06:43 »
Alright thanks for the answers so far :). I know ill have to buy a copy of win7, im going for 1 with xp one with win7. But still, do you people think id do well with these cards, or should i be looking for another one? Or other components
I'm taking my own freedom
puttin' it in my song
singing loud and strong
proving all day long
I'm takin' my freedom
puttin' it in my stroll
I'll be hop-steppin' y'all
lettin' the joy unfold

Offline LuckyOne

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #6 on: 13-06-2011, 17:06:59 »
Well the 6870 although pricey (not at all that pricey if you look at it, I paid my 5770 nearly the same - yes I know I live in a crappy country for anything related to high technology) is currently one of the top "bang for the buck" cards out there. It will be able to hold its own against BF3 and will last you quite more years than the 6670 which is frankly outgunned by the older (and now probably cheaper) 5750 and 5770.
This sentence is intentionally left unfinished...

Offline Dukat

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #7 on: 13-06-2011, 19:06:07 »
Your current video card Nvidia GeForce 9400 GT is ranked in the chart at number #108 and rather outdated while supporting DirectX 10.
Your mainboard is from 2009. (Would have made a good combo with the 4800 Series from Radeon.) I doubt you can play FH2 on highest settings. The current system requires about 350W estimated.


The Radeon HD 6670 is some low-cost videoard pushed on the market in April 2011, it is ranked at #44, slightly below the Radeon 4800 Series, which have been introduced in 2008 already. It is supporting DirectX 11. The advantage on this new variant is less power consumption compared with the 4800 Series at slightly less performance. Estimated required wattage for this system is about 350W. Your video performance would increase significantly, without leaving much reserves to play future games above low graphics level. You could play FH2 on high settings, with few restrictions such as low AA and AF.

The Radeon HD 6870 is some rather new videocard released at the end of 2010, ranked at #12 in the charts. It is the high-end (luxury) version of the 6800 Series. The Radeon HD 6800 Series and the latest Radeon HD 6900 Series are based on the same chip, making it a proven and reliable chip. Good chances for excellent driver support in the future. It is supporting DirectX 11.  Estimated required wattage for this system is about 450W.

On long terms the Radeon HD 6870 will do excellent, while the more cost efficiency Radeon HD 6850 is probably sold out already. If you can get your hands on a Radeon HD 6850(ranked#14), you could expect a reduction to 139€ while the system would only consume about 400W. The Radeon HD 6670 on the other hand is almost of the same low cost type, as your current videocard was when you got it. The lifetime will be limited, while the graphics of future games will be average.

Limitations:
The general problem here is, that you got Windows XP which will use only 4 GB memory. 4GB will be considered outdated for games soon. Your current Windows XP supports only DirectX 9 and exludes you from DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 effects on all these videocards anyway. Those DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 updates are rather little, but usage requires often high performance videocards to be used in notable proportions.

Considering that your mainboard was rather cheap, while being combined with an AMD CPU, your looking for cost efficiency and a good long term investment.


Conclusion:
If you consider to upgrade the RAM to 8GB and the OS to Win 7 soon, while having at least a 450W power supply, the Radeon HD 6870 would however suit well to the Athlon X4 CPU. They'd probably get outdated at the same time. Though I can't really predict the future, it looks like a fine combo.

If your current power supply is only about 350W, it might be cheaper to buy the Radeon HD 6670, to be replaced rather quickly by another low cost card. That would get you around a power supply upgrade.

The Radeon HD 5700 Series mentioned above is overpriced at about 128€, considering its high power consumption (400W system total) at rather poor performance.


Disclaimer:
Please don't complain about wall of text, as the information given was a bit limited. Don't make me accountable for possible mistakes on my part. Always consider the possibilty of fatal errors. You might be forced to deal BIOS and software upgrades when combining older mainboards with new videocards.


Edit:// corrected price for 5700 Series.
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 19:06:02 by Dukat »

I usually imagine my own sounds with it, like `tjunk, tupdieyupdiedee` aaa enemy spotted, ratatatataboom

Offline Smiles

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #8 on: 13-06-2011, 19:06:45 »
Complain? Your a hero!
Ok, so the card is the one i could go for.
The mainboard, wich i got for free because my other died, is outdated and should(?)/could be replaced by a newer one. <-i dont know the importancy of a mainboard
.

Im willing to upgrade to 8g and have win7. Will have to look for  money though, i lost it between here and some pubs^^.
I dont think i can spend more than 200 € this month.
I'm taking my own freedom
puttin' it in my song
singing loud and strong
proving all day long
I'm takin' my freedom
puttin' it in my stroll
I'll be hop-steppin' y'all
lettin' the joy unfold

Offline Dukat

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #9 on: 13-06-2011, 20:06:12 »
The board is one of the cheapest mainboards available for an Athlon X4 processor, which doesn't mean it is performing bad. It just comes with rather small size, while having less equipment, interfaces and accessories when compared with luxury mainboards. Suits well for your gaming PC at a decent price.

It is also fine to buy a videocard now and the RAM and new OS when really needed or desired, whenever that may be. However buying a new videocard will definetely improve your graphics for FH2 and other titles.

But take a look at your PSU wattage first.






*
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 20:06:13 by Dukat »

I usually imagine my own sounds with it, like `tjunk, tupdieyupdiedee` aaa enemy spotted, ratatatataboom

Offline Ajs47951

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #10 on: 13-06-2011, 20:06:38 »
Complain? Your a hero!
Ok, so the card is the one i could go for.
The mainboard, wich i got for free because my other died, is outdated and should(?)/could be replaced by a newer one. <-i dont know the importancy of a mainboard
.

Im willing to upgrade to 8g and have win7. Will have to look for  money though, i lost it between here and some pubs^^.
I dont think i can spend more than 200 € this month.
8gigs of ram is wasting of $$$ in less your doing tons of Video editing 6gigs of DDr3 is plenty
windows 7 64bit ultimate..... if you don't want to spend $$ on it you can allways torrent it and you can update it do with  Windows Loader v1.9.2
if you don't want to pirate it do you know some on in collage that can buy it  for you because you can get it way cheaper that way

and for video card  i would go with a 4xx Nivda series you could all ways go with the 5xx series but the 4xx series is better for price for performance

if you want to stay under 150$usd you could go with a 8800gtx super clocked or a 9800gtx super clocked
the 9800 and 8800 are all most the same  and they can max all most every game



but in that case you will need a 800w psu and there some room left in there
and with that Athlon X4 processor what model? because if you got the 3.2ghz one you could of got a i5 3.8ghz for the same price and its performance  is better

all so what is your hard drive? if you need a better on you can go with a Western Digital 500 GB Caviar Black

also what is your Cpu cooler because you can overclock your cpu

also what case are you using? how many fans?

what size?

what are your temps like?

you left out so of the most apportion thing keeping COOl!
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 20:06:31 by Ajs47951 »


Offline LuckyOne

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #11 on: 13-06-2011, 20:06:16 »

you left out so of the most apportion thing keeping COOl!


I wouldn't worry about it that much... The 6XXX Radeon series are as cool as it gets and the MSI has good cooling (the Hawk or TwinFrozr version that is). Besides the Nvidia 460 is generally more power hungry and hotter (with the reference cooler) than the Radeon.

However it would be smart to install an extra fan if you are getting a new video card, seeing as your old one probably wasn't that hot as these babies.

And yes, having a good PSU is really important, you don't want to have your card (or PSU) get fried when you start Battlefield 3 on high settings :P ... I recommend Seasonic or Corsair (not those new cheap models though).

P.S. Ajs I don't believe he wants to switch to Intel now seeing that would require a new (Intel chipset) motherboard.
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 21:06:30 by LuckyOne »
This sentence is intentionally left unfinished...

Offline Ajs47951

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #12 on: 13-06-2011, 22:06:28 »

you left out so of the most apportion thing keeping COOl!


I wouldn't worry about it that much... The 6XXX Radeon series are as cool as it gets and the MSI has good cooling (the Hawk or TwinFrozr version that is). Besides the Nvidia 460 is generally more power hungry and hotter (with the reference cooler) than the Radeon.

However it would be smart to install an extra fan if you are getting a new video card, seeing as your old one probably wasn't that hot as these babies.

And yes, having a good PSU is really important, you don't want to have your card (or PSU) get fried when you start Battlefield 3 on high settings :P ... I recommend Seasonic or Corsair (not those new cheap models though).

P.S. Ajs I don't believe he wants to switch to Intel now seeing that would require a new (Intel chipset) motherboard.
I am not saying he should switch I am just say that he wasted money on Cpu that he could of spent for a better one
and no I am not a intel fan I love Amd

and for psu Cool masters are mostly better for price for performance

and about the Radeon I know nothing of ati....... so that I really don't know when i make PCs for customers i always use Nvida but i know that Ati has some really good cards

@Smiles  just go to newegg.com and have a look around and see what you like but before you buy any thing post  first
« Last Edit: 13-06-2011, 22:06:18 by Ajs47951 »


Offline Dukat

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #13 on: 13-06-2011, 22:06:40 »
Smiles picked a wrong title. He isn't getting a new PC, but wants to upgrade the videocard on the current PC.

Therefor he asks for help.

But if Smiles bought the PC at the supermarket, having been offered between strawberries and toilet paper, somebody had calculated the exactly required wattage for the original components before. Then an extra PSU was ordered and produced, leaving no power for any decent upgrade later. Only in these cases it is usefull to buy a low cost videocard whose chip is technologically up-to-date, but throttled to comply to the specific low wattage used in 'vegetable PCs' that are not designed for gaming but for emailing and surfing. They can't be upgraded with decent videocards to gaming PCs without upgrading the power supply.

I usually imagine my own sounds with it, like `tjunk, tupdieyupdiedee` aaa enemy spotted, ratatatataboom

Offline Smiles

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Re: Help me with my new pc
« Reply #14 on: 13-06-2011, 23:06:08 »
Smiles picked a wrong title. He isn't getting a new PC, but wants to upgrade the videocard on the current PC.

Therefor he asks for help.

But if Smiles bought the PC at the supermarket, having been offered between strawberries and toilet paper, somebody had calculated the exactly required wattage for the original components before. Then an extra PSU was ordered and produced, leaving no power for any decent upgrade later. Only in these cases it is usefull to buy a low cost videocard whose chip is technologically up-to-date, but throttled to comply to the specific low wattage used in 'vegetable PCs' that are not designed for gaming but for emailing and surfing. They can't be upgraded with decent videocards to gaming PCs without upgrading the power supply.

True, but technically everything inside it but my vid card is new so... hence new pc  ;D.
The one i got these parts from says i wont have to worry about W, i believe it ranges somewhere around 650W (if possible^^). I havnt bought them, they were a gift :). Win7 wont be a problem (indeed college rules). I also got another cooler laying around.
What im looking for now is simply a decent card, wich i can use for as many games as possible, as long as possible. my budget lies around 170 max. I could get higher, but it feels a little like a waste.
Its all .. custom.

If you need more info on my specs, im more than happy to look them up.
I'm taking my own freedom
puttin' it in my song
singing loud and strong
proving all day long
I'm takin' my freedom
puttin' it in my stroll
I'll be hop-steppin' y'all
lettin' the joy unfold