I need some advice with my video card.

[Knirps]

Hi everyone!
Recently i have noticed my videocard's fan making noises, and it having problems to render textures, like cars in a game would go transparent or a big pointy figure for some time, and then it would revert back to normal.

So I am thinking of upgrading my Video Card. Games is not my main criteria, but it would sure be nice to be able to play Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, World at Conflict, etc... I am not looking forward to running stuff like Crysis on my PC, but i do hope that i will be able to play somewhat recent games...

My Current PC Specs are as following:

Motherboard- Asus P4P800
Processor- Intel Celeron 2.4 GHz
Memory- Kingston 2x512 GB PC3200 184-pin DIMM
Hard drive- Seagate 80GB
Hitachi 500GB
cd/dvd drive- Lite-On DVD +/- R/RW 16x
graphic card- MSI nVidia 5600XT
sound card- SoundMax Integrated Audio
networking card- Integrated as well
power supply- 200W or 300W

Thanks in advance.

[Rick]

IF you intend to limit the upgarde to a video card and not a complete upgrade ( MB,CPU and Memory)
Then I would get the fastest CPU for that mother board. Like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116027

Then add in the fastest video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609639&name=AGP%204X%2f8X

It also wouldn't hurt to bump up the memory another notch

[webbwbb]

What's your budget? You may want to upgrade the whole system soon. If so you may want to hold off on getting a video card that you will not really use in the near future. I am not in the habbit of talking people into spending more than they want on something (when friends or people on another forum I frequent ask for advice on parts I generally try to give them an estimate that's a bit below the budget). With an athlon 3800 x2 processor, 2gb ram and a 7800gt I cannot play Call of Duty 4 with the graphics too high before my framerate drops to around 15fps.

[Knirps]

My budget for video card is under or around 100$. But if i buy that, then its a part of a new problem, because will my system be able to handle it efficiently? I dont really plan on upgrading this PC to the max, because memory+CPU+Video card will be around $350-400-ish and this PC will probably need an upgrade soon . So i am kind of perplexed now.What im thining is that i will replace the graphics card now into and struggle with this PC for another year or so and then build a new system for 700-ish which will probably be 10x better then this one. What do u guys think?

[webbwbb]

The video card you have now is an AGP card. The new standard is PCI-Express. New motherboards do not support AGP cards so if you buy a card now it will not be compatible with your new system. You could probably buy a cheap card to hold you off until you get a new system but it may not be able to play many games. If you take this route then just follow Rick's second link and choose a cheap card. Post it here just to make sure that it will be compatible with your current system.

[hockey man]

Is your card over heating? Also, can you pleas pop open your case and tell us exactly what your PSU is rated to.

[jlreich]

If you wanted to get a better video card to get you by for another 6-12 months for under $100 that's about the max I would spend on this system. If you think you could get a new system in three months I would hold off entirely.

You could probably go with something like an nvidia 6600, but anything more than that and you are really pushing the limits of your power supply as Hockey man has alluded to. Possibly already pushing it too far with a 6600.

Your current system is a dead end money pit. Best advice is to hold off and start saving for a new system. That $100 is a good start. If you just can't do that then getting a reasonable upgrade for your current system will have to do.

[mjc]

AMD has listed the 46xx series as being capable of being AGP cards...but no manufacturers have released any. The 'best' card I can find is the HD3850 in AGP for $80 from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102762

And this CPU from Starmicro...

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=112 (It doesn't look like much of an upgrade, but the fact that it has an 800 MHz FSB and a full 512 Kb cache makes it a reasonable upgrade...especially for under $20).

I wouldn't worry too much about RAM...1 GB is fine for XP.

[jlreich]

Nice picks MJC. That is a great $100 upgrade for that machine. I am still a little worried about the power supply though. I would like to see the specs on it.

[Knirps]

Thank for your advices everyone!
I believe i did have an overheating/fan problem with my video card. Then i cleaned the dust out and i try to maintain it clean, but it still comes back once in a while. As for the PSU, I dont know which W value is it so here is a picture.
http://img158.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1010192dc4.jpg

[webbwbb]

It's a 450 watt. I do not think that your current problem is a lack of power to your video card. The card mjc listed has a minimum power requirement of 550 watts.

[jlreich]

At 450w that's a lot better than you were alluding to. I think you will be fine with the upgrades MJC listed. The 3650 draws 42w at full load, so that shouldn't over stress the power supply.

webbwbb, where did you get that it has a minimum of 550W PSU? Here are the power consumption charts (http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/GFXpowerchartby3d.png).

[webbwbb]

http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4097741&sku=A271-3652

[jlreich]

That's a mistake. That would be correct if you were running two of them in Crossfire, which of course you can't do with AGP.

From ATI/AMD's website (http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd3600/requirements.html). And this is for a PCIe x16 system. The older system in question as a whole would need even less power overall.


ATI Radeon™ HD 3600 Series – System Requirements

* PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
* 400 Watt or greater power supply (550 Watt for dual ATI CrossFireX™) recommended
* Certified power supplies are recommended
* 1GB of system memory recommended
* Installation software requires an optical drive
* DVD playback requires a DVD drive
* Blu-ray™ / HD DVD playback requires a Blu-ray / HD DVD drive
* For a complete ATI CrossFireX™ system, a second ATI Radeon™ HD 3600 series graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable is required


My daughters system is a s939 4200+ x2 dual core system running with a 6800GS PCIe x16 (overclocked at that) that pulls at least 50% more power than the 3650 running on a 450w PSU without any problems. My other daughters is a 4400+ X2 with a 7900GS (both OC'ed) running on a 500W with no problems. Both have several hard drives as well.

[Knirps]

Hmm, the HD 3650 seems interesting. I looked at my local computer shop and they have a few types of 3650's at different prices varying from 60-ish $ and going up all the way to almost 100$ - so wats the difference between them? I cant give a direct link but if u go to CanadaComputers (http://www.canadacomputers.com/) and type "radeon hd 3650" in search you would see the video cards. Also, I am not really familiar with the radeon video card series. Could you guys please explain to me what does XT in Radeon mean? Is it the same in nVidia series? And also, in comparison to the nVidia video card line, where approximately does the HD 3650 stand at? ~6200's?

[jlreich]

The difference in prices have to mostly with higher clock speeds. There are standard clock speeds and some cards are sold this way, while some cards are offered overclocked at the factory and they sell them at a higher price. Faster clocks mean better performance. Not that a 10MHz will make a noticeable difference, but enough will. Find the best one in your budget.

Could you guys please explain to me what does XT in Radeon mean? Is it the same in nVidia series?
There is a list somewhere that explains what each means but I can't seem to find it right now. One thing I can say for certain is stay away from any ATI card that has SE at the end of it. They are crippled versions of better cards. And no, nVidia names their cards on a entirely different convention.

And also, in comparison to the nVidia video card line, where approximately does the HD 3650 stand at? ~6200's?
Have a look here (http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html). Pick your game and resolution and you can see where any given card stands.

[Knirps]

Thank you very much for your responses...

I got another question (srry for asking too many questions)
Thinking about getting a new PC, my friend suggested a Mac as an option. Prices for the Macs really do bite, but are they worth it? Mac Pro starts at 2800$-ish but i am pretty sure you are able to assmeble a similar or better PC for that price or cheaper. Are you even able to play any games on it? (Talking about the Mac Pro) Is it easy to get parts for it/install them?

[webbwbb]

Some would disagree with me but I hate mac. In my experience using them (I was the IT guy in an office for a NPO that had just ordered some) they are completely unreliable. They had more problems than some of the windows 98 machines that had been donated. Another thing to keep in mind is that mac hardware is extremely expensive. A motherboard can put you out $400 to $550. Mac cannot natively run windows applications; you need to have a windows operating system installed from boot camp to be able to play most games. I used a mac everyday for almost a year and was quite good at accomplishing most tasks on it but, I still do not like the interface or the terrible problems that seem to constantly come up.

If you choose to get a new system I'm pretty sure we can help you choose the parts. There is also a guide to building a PC that is hosted on PC Guide. I'm sure we can build something that is much cheaper and much more powerful than that mac.

[mjc]

If your primary purpose of getting a new computer is to play games...then definitely stay away from a Mac.

[Knirps]

Alright, Thanks a lot everyone for your input.
Seeing as this computer is going nowhere, ill wait until the current video card gives up, and then i will upgrade to HD 3650.

Last question =). Does anybody know a good, relatively cheap place to buy parts in Ontario, Canada? I liked the StarMicro place, but its US-only. Anything similar? and it doesnt matter if its online only, (i just want it to be trustworthy and not a scam) or if its a store.

[alfroogy]

For me ncix is tops, much better than Tiger Direct IMO, which seems to be what most other people on this forum recommend. I find Tiger Direct's site to be too jumbled up and such a mission to find what I'm looking for. Last time I was on their site at least which admittedly was quite a while ago. they might have fixed it up since then. Ncix's support is also really awesome. I've never had a bad experience with them.

[mjc]

Tiger was the default choice...because it usually had better prices than anyone else. But that has now changed. Newegg Canada is up and running...

[jlreich]

Newegg Canada is up and running...
That's great news for Canada. :cool:

[Knirps]

Ok, my videocard gave up.
Before I go and buy one - what's the difference between HD3650 and HD2600?

Also on the website it says that u need a 2x4 power connector. Does that mean it should connect to motherboard or connect to the videocard directly?