Best bang for buck - older midlevel system

[Bilirubin]

Hi all,

A couple of years ago I picked up a decent OEM system at a very good price to replace my 5-6 year old hand built. I wasn't gaming anymore so this computer has been excellent for work/productivity applications. Well, now Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out and I'm rethinking the system.

The system as it is now:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.34 GHz
4 Gigs RAM
GeForce 7100/nForce 630i (on-board)
Win 7 64 bit

I have 2 PCIe slots (low profile) and am considering my options to optimize this system. Obviously one can't make a purse from a sow's ear (unless its a big sow, and you like ugly purses...) so I'm not looking at putting the latest, greatest id card in this since it will bottleneck elsewhere. I'm not really up to date on the hardware side, so I was encouraged to ask here. Where is my sweet spot for upgrading the vid card for peak performance? nVidia GT 430? 210? Radeon HD 5550? Like to keep this under $80--lower the better--and I'll put the real money into the system upgrade in a couple of years.

TIA

 

[tweakboy]

Your Quad is enough for gaming and even BF3 if you overclock it to like close to 4Ghz Then gaming was the CPU is enough and will use about 60 percent of full CPU power when you play games like MW3 and BF3. However your video card is a POS. I recommend gtet a 460 1GB for 120 dollars, especially if your not going to overclock , a 5xx is a overkill and will be bottlenecked @ 2.3Ghz

So ya grab a 460 1GB for 120 dollars best bang for the buck. Spend the extra 40 dollars its worth it. and youll be flying high. gl

 

[tweakboy]

Or buy a 9600GT if your not gaming. for 30 dollars. It will do HTCP fine..gl

 

[Schmide]

Step 1 - Identify your Power Supply
Step 2 - ??? (Gather Underwear)
Step 3 - Profit

 

[Bilirubin]

Thanks tweekboy. Hadn't looked into the GTX line, but putting the GT 430 (itself already an enormous leap in tech compared with my POS) side by side with the GTX 460 and those are some pretty impressive numbers. How hard will it be on my PS? Core clock is actually lower in the 460. Surprising.

 

[Bilirubin]

PS is a 200 watt OEM no doubt POS.

 

[notty22]

Sounds like the OP, is a slim line case. So you need a card that comes with a low profile bracket. Also it probably has a 250-300 watt psu. Which should be checked and info posted.
Also what monitor /resolution do you have ?
The system probably can't be o/c.
The gt 430 is better than the 210.
With Nvidia cards, you can (partially) judge performance by cuda cores. The 430 has 96.
The 210 has 16 :thumbsdown:

Something like this should allow you to play at low settings.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500177
It's got a big rebate right now.
55.00-30rebate

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4278/amds-radeon-hd-6670-radeon-hd-6570/15

 

[happy medium]

This 6750 card will work. Its low profile, and needs very little power (40 watts?). Even your psu will run it.

75$ or 60$AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127585

You will not find a better low profile card cheaper that will run with your psu.

 

[happy medium]

Something like this should allow you to play at low settings.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500177
It's got a big rebate right now.
55.00-30rebate

I was wrong this card is faster than the 6570 with ddr3 memory.

I would grab this gt430, 25$ AR is a awesome price..Nice find Notty

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...a-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3332167&SID=u00000687

 

[notty22]

I was wrong this card is faster than the 6570 with ddr3 memory.

I would grab this gt430, 25$ AR is a awesome price..Nice find Notty

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&SID=u00000687

If the OP really has only a 200 watt psu, it might work. But there are no guarantees.

 

[SickBeast]

OP you're kind of stuck because you have a Corvette motor in that beast but it is held back by everything else.

If you could find a used motherboard that would allow you to overclock and drop something discreet in there like a GTX 460, it would be a very nice upgrade for you. You will need a case and PSU as well, though.

I don't know much about the low profile options out there. Good luck.

 

[happy medium]

If the OP really has only a 200 watt psu, it might work. But there are no guarantees.

I believe the Anand article you linked was using a overclocked cpu @ 198 watts.
He should be ok.

 

[toyota]

I believe the Anand article you linked was using a overclocked cpu @ 198 watts.
He should be ok.

there are games that use more power than Crysis. also if that is a 200 watt psu then it is only rated for about 12 amps on the 12v. chances are that cheap oem psu can probably only make about 10 amps on the 12v in real world conditions if lucky. that's not enough to safely power hardly any card.

 

[Bilirubin]

Sounds like the OP, is a slim line case. So you need a card that comes with a low profile bracket. Also it probably has a 250-300 watt psu. Which should be checked and info posted.
Also what monitor /resolution do you have ?
The system probably can't be o/c.

Slim line case correct. Acer Aspire x1899, oops its a 220 watt PS.

Monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 2043, currently at 1600x900.

 

[happy medium]

total system power consumption.. 125 watts. The gt430 uses less than 50 watts. I think he's fine.

 

[toyota]

Slim line case correct. Acer Aspire x1899, oops its a 220 watt PS.

Monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 2043, currently at 1600x900.

look on the power supply label and see how many amps are available for the 12v.

 

[happy medium]

Star Wars: The Old Republic

What are the system requirements for the game?



Processor:
•AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
•Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System: •Windows XP or later

RAM:
•Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
•Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:
•ATI X1800 or better
•nVidia 7800 or better
•Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.

A gt520 using only 29 watts should max that game for 32$AR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134133

 

[Schmide]

A little digging reveals it's a 14a 12v 220w PSU.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Acer%20Aspire%20X1800%20PSU/Dieman566/IMG_0208.jpg

So it could be doable with the 430.

 

[infoiltrator]

Figure on a new case and power supply, Than a good used midrange video card.
NZXT Source 210 is on sale thru tomorrow at $32 shipped,Rosewill Blackbone is often on sale.
Corsair cx430 on sale,OCZ Modstream Pro is $65 before $20 rebate, etc
Then llok for a used 5770 or so.

 

[Bilirubin]

A little digging reveals it's a 14a 12v 220w PSU.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/Acer%20Aspire%20X1800%20PSU/Dieman566/IMG_0208.jpg

So it could be doable with the 430.

Confirmed by opening the case just now.

I'm not really interested in getting a new PS, case (although I do have my old hand built, with its now fried system, that I could scavenge for the case/PS--think the PS is 300 watts), and mobo just to upgrade to a slightly more powerful vid card. Its probably money better put into a new system down the road. I'm hunting for the video boost a better GPU can bring to this system, within the constraints of this system, if possible. If the 430 can run fine then I think I will go with it, but if I have to go a bit slower then fine. Its still an undoubted improvement over what I have right now.

 

[Bilirubin]

What are the system requirements for the game?



Processor:
•AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
•Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System: •Windows XP or later

RAM:
•Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
•Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:
•ATI X1800 or better
•nVidia 7800 or better
•Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.

A gt520 using only 29 watts should max that game for 32$AR.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814134133

Yeah, annoyingly I only come in with 1.8 gigs of virtual ram, so the on-board card is just shy of minimum. I can confirm that the 7100 is unplayable.

ETA: going to side by side the 520 with the 430 now.
ETA2: 29 watts vs. 45 watts. I see your logic there

 

[Bilirubin]

Hmm, local store's page suggested the minimum system requirement for the 520 is a 300 watt power supply.

 

[toyota]

Hmm, local store's page suggested the minimum system requirement for the 520 is a 300 watt power supply.

its fine with 14 amps on the 12v line. honestly a gt520 is complete garbage though and does not even meet the minimum requirements for some games. even a gt430 is very slow but it blows away the gt520.

 

[happy medium]

its fine with 14 amps on the 12v line. honestly a gt520 is complete garbage though and does not even meet the minimum requirements for some games. even a gt430 is very slow but it blows away the gt520.

But it will run the game he wants to play just fine.

 

[toyota]

But it will run the game he wants to play just fine.

yes but what if he wants to play something else? if he is going to get a card then go ahead and get something better than a gt520.