Ageing, decrepit mobo seeks new lease of life

[Time Bandit]

I am hoping to get getting a new pc soon and want to pass the current one onto the kids so they can have a computer in their room. They are more likely to be using it for games than me so I thought I'd spice it up a little for them by sticking a graphics card in. The system is about 4yrs old with the following spec:

mobo: ASUS A7N8X-VM/400 (1.5V AGP 8X slot)

cpu: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (~2.00 GHz)

80GB Maxtor HD

RAM: 2GB

GFX: Integrated GeForce4 MX GPU

PSU: 300W (hec) in ATX mini tower

1 optical drive

CRT monitor (for the time being)

Its a bit weedy I know but I put extra RAM in last year to help it out with some of the stuff I was doing and I am hoping it will keep the kids happy surfing, emailing, Bebo-ing for a couple more years. They are < 16 and are not necessarily going to be playing the very latest games (suggestions?).

I don't know if there is any advantage in terms of compatibility with the current Nvidia setup but I have been looking at these:

Nvidia 7600GS 256MB DDR2 £27.64

Nvidia GF 7300GT 256MB DDR2 £26.32

or the more modest

PNY GeForce 6200 / 128MB DDR2 £17.99

I reckon on spending 'around' £50 but don't want to waste money if the system is not man enough for the card and if I can get away without replacing the PSU that would be a bonus. Utimately I am hoping that anything will be better than the current on board set up.

Any opinions, advice or alternatives welcomed.

 

[Riotpoll]

I have a similar system to that; with a 6200 128mb, it runs source stuff at 1024*768 at med/low settings with OK framerate, Company of Heroes and Oblivion also chug along on low settings. Nothing spectacular though, but if they're not going to be playing anything more intensive than that then there's probably no need to spend the extra money.

(And my system only has 1GB RAM)

 

[deathwish]

get the 7600 as its newer technology

 

[ionicle]

not to mention the most powerful

7600 FTW!

 

[Time Bandit]

Thanks for the input,

Its encouraging to here that even the 6200 would allow you to play Oblivion, I shyed away from that one some time ago and got Morrowind because I thought it would be easier on the cpu (havent actually had time to install it though).

Does anyone know if there are likely to be power issues with a card like the 7600? We may also be doing some video stuff.

 

[ionicle]

get a good 400+ W power suply

i recomend somthing like the corsair 450W psu

 

[Time Bandit]

get a good 400+ W power suply

i recomend somthing like the corsair 450W psu

thanks, but probably pushing the budget a bit on this particular machine what with the card and all. I am gathering info for a home build though and like the look of the 550W version to go with a Core 2 Quad setup, v.quiet and efficient by all accounts.

Although not a substitute for decent power maybe a bit of extra cooling might help to keep things stable or will this just be an additional drain?

 

[ionicle]

my recomendation would be to get the 7600, and get the 450W psu, the psu can then be used with a future system, its futureproof against more modern hardware

think of that as more of an investment

the 7600 will improve gaming spectacularly

and yes, aditional cooling will drain the psu more, but not so much that you need upgrade psu just for that one purpose

hope that helps

 

[Time Bandit]

It does and I am learning all the time!

TB