Dimension 9100 possible upgrades?

[eliksir]

I've got a 9100 that came with a Pentium D 2.8 ghz.

A while back, I made two upgrades:

1) CPU upgraded to the Pentium D 3.6 ghz.

2) GPU upgraded to Radeon HD 4770

I want to make some cheap upgrades. I think the CPU is adequate for now, but I want a better GPU. Questions:

If I keep the stock PSU, what's the best GPU I can use considering the power requirements?

Can I upgrade to an ATX PSU with this mobo?

 

[Ken g6]

If I keep the stock PSU, what's the best GPU I can use considering the power requirements?

Probably a Radeon HD 7770.

Can I upgrade to an ATX PSU with this mobo?

Almost certainly. Can you get a new ATX PSU to fit in your case? I'm not sure, but it's likely.

 

[Ketchup]

Can I upgrade to an ATX PSU with this mobo?

Looks like standard ATX from the photos

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dim...79,d.eWU&fp=35cad626cff4e9a3&biw=1334&bih=641

 

[Termie]

I would advise against upgrading that system any further. You won't gain much benefit from new GPU. The 4770 is faster than an 8800gt, and likely held back quite a bit by your CPU.

Just as an example, take a look at how your CPU scores versus the Core 2 Duo, released in 2006: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2045/14

This is with a graphics setup similar to your current card. One can imagine that throwing additional GPU power at it will not lead to increased performance.

 

[eliksir]

I thought the GPUs were getting better at picking up the CPU slack, and even passing CPUs in performance?

The main reason I want to upgrade is to get smoother streaming of MKV files to my PS3 using PS3 media server. Since the transcoding takes place on the server side, could this work get shifted to the GPU?

 

[Termie]

I thought the GPUs were getting better at picking up the CPU slack, and even passing CPUs in performance?

The main reason I want to upgrade is to get smoother streaming of MKV files to my PS3 using PS3 media server. Since the transcoding takes place on the server side, could this work get shifted to the GPU?

What's the load on your CPU during playback? You can check it with Task Manager in Windows. If it's at 100%, a GPU upgrade may not be enough to eliminate the bottleneck. Your GPU is already quite powerful, and is probably improving the performance as much as any GPU would. It's in fact equivalent to an HD7750, which sells for close to $100, which is probably what you paid for the 4770 years ago. Not worth the upgrade.

 

[Ken g6]

Apparently, you could use CUDA for reencoding streaming video. Which would mean getting a GTX 650 or so for your current PSU.

But in general for transcoding you'd be better off getting any modern processor.

 

[AzNKiD]

I think you are going thur this the wrong way. As far as i understand, ps3 media server uses mencoder and ffmpeg to do the on the fly transcoding into mpeg2 stream for ps3. Its all CPU intensive task and does not use any GPU.

The thing is, there is something wrong with your ps3mc setting to even require more power. I currently use a old dell dimension pentiem-4 2.4ghz as my file server and ps3 server with no problems. The thing is, 99.9% of mkvs that I get online are 100% compatible with ps3 console. They all are just avc/h264 video codec with either AC3 or DTS audio. Ps3 supports these format, is just doesnt support mkv container. What you should be doing is telling ps3 media server to use Tsmuxer instead of mencoder. With tsmuxer, it will just demux the video/audio from mkv and streams the contents as mpeg container on the fly. With my setup, I stream 1080p/dts with about 100% cpu usage for the first 5 seconds as it starts the muxing, then pretty much 5% usage the rest of the way on a 2.4ghz p4.

So better hardware is not needed, fix your ps3 setting. Put tsmuxer as first on the list, and disable subtitles. Enabling subtitles will require a transcode which equals 100% cpu. try this test, locate your mkv file, goto the transcode folder, then into the movie file, here is where you can manually run the mkv file with tsmuxer option. Watch your task manger, should not use much if any cpu if done correctly.

 

[eliksir]

Thanks for the advice all.

Azn, I'll look at those settings. I'm hoping that works!

Please keep in mind that this machine is also a workstation, where I do play video games (casually) and do video conversion. If I can get better performance from a new GPU, then I'll upgrade. So from this standpoint, have I already completely maximized what this machine can do?

 

[TapWater]

I'd say so man, I had the 9150 too and the MB could only handle 4GB ram, or 3.3 even with 64bit installed. At least it was on my one. I had the 3.2 pentium D too.

 

[Ketchup]

If I remember correctly those use a BTX board, which as we all remember, was NOT the future of motherboards. If you are looking for a better machine, better to just start from scratch and get a 64-bit OS.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Hm. If you factory in the cost of a new motherboard ($70), a new PSU ($40), a new GPU ($100), and a new processor ($70 at least), you're sitting at $280 or so. Factor in the cost of new hard drives (the Dimension's won't be compatible) and a new OS (switching motherboards requires a new OS liscense), and you're basically just getting a whole new computer.

You may want to look at pre-builts from the Dell Outlet. Those are cheap, come with a warranty, and work fine. You can get a Sandy Bridge i3, a 1TB HDD, and 6GB RAM for $380!

 

[mfenn]

I thought the GPUs were getting better at picking up the CPU slack, and even passing CPUs in performance?

With the correct software, sure. The problem is that such software has yet to be written for a lot of use cases.