upgrading graphics card.......power supply

[harryh31]

Hello,
I am considering upgrading my graphic card; being a novice, would be obliged for some advice please.
Am interested in digital photography and playing flight simulator 2000 ( may upgrade F.S. later on).
I had considered upgrading to a radeon 9550 256 MB, but after reading the comments in this forum about this card have now decided to go for something slightly better ie......N. Vidia G. Force 7600gt,....7600gs,...or cheap Radeon X1300.
My decision has been based not on any technical reason, but because they where recommended to someone else in similar circumstances, and being on a low fixed income, cost to me, is a prime consideration.
The main question I ask, is, will my power supply (250 watts) be sufficient to run these proposed graphic cards.
Also.... would there be any appreciable benefit from any upgrade.
Many thanks in advance, for any suggestions.

Harryh31...........

COMPAQ PRESARIO MODEL S 5500 UK
PROCESSOR AMD ATHLON XP-3000+(2.17GHz)
H.D. 120 GB SEAGATE
RAM 1.00GB ( 2 x 512 )
POWER SUPPLY BESTEC ATX 250W OUT PUT MAX
MOTHERBOARD ASUSTeK COMP. INC. A7N8X-LA REV1.xx 1.66MHz
GRAPHIC CARD ATI RADEON 9200 128 MB
( LATEST DRIVER SP26454.EXE INSTALLED)
SOUND CARD AUREON 5.1 PCI.
O/S WINDOWS XP HOME

[PatioFurniture]

The 7600GS will do just fine for all flight sim versions up to and including 2004 (i had one for a while and i got no less then 25fps with all effects turned on and in weather) but as far as fs X goes...i got about 4fps on medium settings. A would also recommend a more powerful power supply, say 300W at least.

[harryh31]

Will upgrading the wattage in a power supply unit,from 250 watts to 300 or 350watts, have any adverse effect on my existing motherboard or processor ?
harryh31

[deddard]

Upgrading the power capabilities of your supply won't harm your PC.
The system draws as much power as it needs, so if it only required 100 watts, that's all it would draw, even from an 800 watt supply.

If you were considering an upgrade, I'd go for a 500 watt unit. The only reason I say this is that a 300 watt is likely to be inadequate in the future.

...............oops - I just saw you have a compaq. Just check before buying that it doesn't have proprietary connections (I think it's just dell that have non-standard stuff but have a look at your manual to see if it says anything about non-standard supplies)

I'd go with something like an antec truepower II 500watt unit. This will give you a good, stable supply that will be usable for many years. Of course, if you want to go for a smaller budget model, then just look for a decent make (no point messing your system up for a PSU) like antec - check overclockers.co.uk for the sort of PSU s you may need. (this isn't an endorsement, just a good place to start!)

With regards to any graphics upgrade (or any other) Saphalline is the top dog here for advice - hopefully he'll pop along later and give you some info.

[harryh31]

O K, thats good news. thank you !.

However, if I upgrade this computer to a 500 watt. power supply (the reason being to upgrade to a better graphics card), are the rest of the components in my pc ie. motherboard, processor etc., of sufficient efficiency for future moderate use, to warrent spending money on these two items in my pc., at this time.

In anticipation of your next question.." what do I want to use the pc for..?"

lets say........ Flight simulator X.......eventually.
Digital photography
Creating slide shows with (Proshow Gold)

Ive been reading some of the other forum discussions, and it would appear that with the advent of Vista we shall soon be needing nuclear power to run some of the games and stuff........I am not a serious gamer myself.

Any advice would be greatfully appreciated, please allow for the fact that I am on a low fixed income.

regards
Harrh31

[PatioFurniture]

Those two are probably the post pressing upgrades you need, but another Gb of memory would probably be nice if you have the cash. And yes...a 500W psu will be fine for everything you mentioned EXCEPT Flight Sim X. With a P4 3.0Ghz and 2 gigs OCZ DDR2-667 and a 7600GS I got a very poor 4fps.

[harryh31]

Consideration to all previous discusions have now been taken, and I am now able to narrow the field of proposed upgrades possible.

1) Forget Flight Simulator X.

2) Psu upgrade is possible only up to 350 Watts owing to restrictions by larger physical dimensions of any higher wattage unit

3) Existing mother board will only support up to 1GB ram, which is what I have at present

4) My budget will allow me to consider graphic cards up to.......
a) Radeon 9550 256mb agp
b) Radeon X 1300

Would an upgrade to a 350watts psu and either of the two graphic cards be worth considering and would there be any appreciable difference in todays performance of my PC.

I am aware it is not a very ambitious outlook, i'm not thinking too far ahead for now ...just trying to improve what Ive got, and stay within budget.

PC spec....
COMPAQ PRESARIO MODEL S 5500 UK
PROCESSOR AMD ATHLON XP-3000+(2.17GHz)
H.D. 120 GB SEAGATE
RAM 1.00GB ( 2 x 512 )
POWER SUPPLY BESTEC ATX 250W OUT PUT MAX
MOTHERBOARD ASUSTeK COMP. INC. A7N8X-LA REV1.xx 1.66MHz
GRAPHIC CARD ATI RADEON 9200 128 MB
( LATEST DRIVER SP26454.EXE INSTALLED)
SOUND CARD AUREON 5.1 PCI.
O/S WINDOWS XP HOME.

Regards

Harryh31

[jlreich]

Would an upgrade to a 350watts psu and either of the two graphic cards be worth considering and would there be any appreciable difference in todays performance of my PC.

A Radeon 9550 would not really make much difference from your current 9200 and would be a waste of money.

An X1300 would definitely make a difference as it's generations ahead of the 9xxx series. And your are right at the power requirements if you upgrade to an 350W PSU.

I am aware it is not a very ambitious outlook, i'm not thinking too far ahead for now ...just trying to improve what Ive got, and stay within budget.
That's about all you can really do with this system. I wouldn't even try to get more life out of it than this. Actually if you think you might be able to purchase a new system in the next six months I would save the money for that. But if that's isn't in the near future than this upgrade is not bad at all.

[harryh31]

Many thanks for helping to sort out my problems........
Think I'll start saving !!!
ps. Albert Einstein was quite right.
Regards
Harry

[harryh31]

fresh development.....further to all the foregoing.......
my computer is running ok for general use at present which includes editing photos.
I now want to play Flight Simulator 2000....this lacks some scenery detail and is rather sluggish with slow response to commands.

I have a software program called "Tune up utilities" wthin which one can determine the processor usage for any peice of software being played.
When Flight Simulator 2000 is running, the graph in Tune Up Utilities, shows the processor usage at 100% usage and there is a continuous red line along the top of the graph.

Does this signify that the programme requires a better processor....or would an upgrade of the graphics card and power supply unit. (Radeon X1300 & 350watt)help in any way to lower the processor usage during Flight simulator 2000.

[jlreich]

A better graphics card will make a big difference in any game. After all that's what they are made to do.

The minimum specs for the CPU for that game is 166MHz or higher. So the CPU shouldn't be a problem.

Your system can only take up to an Athlon 3200+. So there isn't much point in upgrading the CPU from a 3000+ anyway. There wouldn't be any noticeable improvement.

[harryh31]

Many thanks for your valued assistance

[jobe44]

i have been looking everywhere trying to find answers, i am very simple when it comes to my pc and my needs are little, i have a ADVENT 3316 and a Geforce 440-SE and all i want is to buy a graphic card that will run on my PC and has a pixel shader so that i can play Emiper Earth 2 a little better. my PSU as i am told is only 250V, can any tell me what they think i should do?