Teach an old card a new trick???

[sheldonleigh]

Hey there guys and girlz.I know that this is a very old card, but....

I have a new pc now, much faster (with the Gtx580 i7 950 and 12gb ram).

I'm looking to give my old pc (Amd PhenomIIx4 940 BE@3ghz, 4GB 800mhz ram, 1gb HD4850) to my partner as she is partial to some RPG fun. For which she has, till now, played on my old laptop (Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz, 8800mGTX, 2GB ram)

Would you suggest putting another of there HD4850s in Xfire to give it a boost or a single newer card. ~£120?? Would it make a diff or would I need new ram etc??

Thanks for any input in advance.

Cheers Ron

 

[Tortuga]

Id look for a 768mb gtx 460. Would be perfect for rpgs, or SCII. The 460 is at least DX11 compatible, and you have somewhat of an upgrade path if she wants to play a real game with ya...and Sli them. Ive seen them on the egg for $119 before mail in rebate. Idk how much they cost where you are.

 

[murphy7801]

Hey there guys and girlz.I know that this is a very old card, but....

I have a new pc now, much faster (with the Gtx580 i7 950 and 12gb ram).

I'm looking to give my old pc (Amd PhenomIIx4 940 BE@3ghz, 4GB 800mhz ram, 1gb HD4850) to my partner as she is partial to some RPG fun. For which she has, till now, played on my old laptop (Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz, 8800mGTX, 2GB ram)

Would you suggest putting another of there HD4850s in Xfire to give it a boost or a single newer card. ~£120?? Would it make a diff or would I need new ram etc??

Thanks for any input in advance.

Cheers Ron

If you can find another £30 or sell the old card for that get this http://www.videocardshop.co.uk/view...fault.aspx?cat=0&order=0&size=1&page=1&view=0 Iv used them before its real site its just small

 

[sheldonleigh]

Id look for a 768mb gtx 460. Would be perfect for rpgs, or SCII. The 460 is at least DX11 compatible, and you have somewhat of an upgrade path if she wants to play a real game with ya...and Sli them. Ive seen them on the egg for $119 before mail in rebate. Idk how much they cost where you are.

Great

I'll look into it. The full specs of this pc are;

1gb ATI 4850

4Gb 800mhz Dual Channel DDR2 RAM

ASUS M4A78 Pro Hybrid CrossFireX Motherboard

XGS Gaming Chasis 550W PSU

AMD Phenom IIx4 940 Black Edition@3ghz

P.S. Does the fact that its a CrossFireX board restrict me to only ATI cards?? Or am I correxct in thinking it limits only running ATI in dual card setup??

Thanks again

 

[I Hunta x]

it just limits you to dual ati/amd cards, single nvidia cards will be fine,

 

[sheldonleigh]

thanks 4 the help

So looking at the spec of that pc (listed above) where would I be able to improve it on a limited budget?? I cleaned the 4850 today so it is not overheating anymore. I will still be looking to get a HD 5850 for it. At what point does the RAM frequency limit the PC??

Sorry for the seemingly silly questions (",)

I'd like to make the pc last till my new pc is ready to be replaced

Thanks again

 

[Tortuga]

I didn't know you had an xfire board, so scratch that 460 sli suggestion lol. Although one will run beautifully on it.

I wouldn't think that ram frequency would have a huge impact on your gaming. I would think the amount of ram would be more important. Looks like you have 4gigs that should be plenty for the games she likes to play. I would say the important part of the rig as far as games go will be your graphics card, spend a little more money there, as that Phenom x4 will be good for whatever card you choose. Also its a BE so you can bump up the multiplier and OC some. With a good cpu cooler of course

 

[sheldonleigh]

I didn't know you had an xfire board, so scratch that 460 sli suggestion lol. Although one will run beautifully on it.

I wouldn't think that ram frequency would have a huge impact on your gaming. I would think the amount of ram would be more important. Looks like you have 4gigs that should be plenty for the games she likes to play. I would say the important part of the rig as far as games go will be your graphics card, spend a little more money there, as that Phenom x4 will be good for whatever card you choose. Also its a BE so you can bump up the multiplier and OC some. With a good cpu cooler of course

I didn't know you had an xfire board, so scratch that 460 sli suggestion lol. Although one will run beautifully on it.

I wouldn't think that ram frequency would have a huge impact on your gaming. I would think the amount of ram would be more important. Looks like you have 4gigs that should be plenty for the games she likes to play. I would say the important part of the rig as far as games go will be your graphics card, spend a little more money there, as that Phenom x4 will be good for whatever card you choose. Also its a BE so you can bump up the multiplier and OC some. With a good cpu cooler of course

Awesome

As it stands I'm still an ubernoob in the realm of overclocking

Read my hello for more info on that )

With the memory I was considering putting in 1033mhz ram. Was under the misconception it'd make a difference

I think then that I'll wait a few months and get the HD6950 for her pc. If that much isn't a waste on that old a system. I'm hoping my new pc finally arrives this week. Mesh have been rubbish on this build ;(

I'm lucky that the missus doesn't complain about me buying shiny toys in fact she buys a lot of them for me

Thanks again for the input mate

I didn't know that old pc was much good

more evidence to my noobishness at computers

If I'm looking for a single card inside say £200 then do I go for a GTX

 

[Tortuga]

Yeah I mean to be honest. Its a decent rig as it is. The way I think of it, instead of throwing money at dead technology (DDR2) use the money you would use to upgrade it, and put it towards a next build, or maybe a new mobo. But its exactly solid for your partner and her uses. But yeah you nailed it with the 6950, a video card will make worlds more of a difference than your ddr2 Ram freq. Too be honest, its a good rig still lol. AM3 socket, the only hindrance is that ddr2 mobo. I would be perfectly happy with her pc to be honest lol. The 6870 is also barley over $200 after mail in rebate on the egg.

But you have to try not to start down that "if I spend 20 more dollars" path lol.

 

[I Hunta x]

You can pick up 5870's for £200 on overclockers uk at the moment they might be worth looking into.

 

[murphy7801]

You can pick up 5870's for £200 on overclockers uk at the moment they might be worth looking into.

I think this cheap as a 5870 gets http://www.videocardshop.co.uk/view...fault.aspx?cat=0&order=0&size=1&page=0&view=0

also 5870 are more powerful than a 6870

 

[murphy7801]

Yeah I mean to be honest. Its a decent rig as it is. The way I think of it, instead of throwing money at dead technology (DDR2) use the money you would use to upgrade it, and put it towards a next build, or maybe a new mobo. But its exactly solid for your partner and her uses. But yeah you nailed it with the 6950, a video card will make worlds more of a difference than your ddr2 Ram freq. Too be honest, its a good rig still lol. AM3 socket, the only hindrance is that ddr2 mobo. I would be perfectly happy with her pc to be honest lol. The 6870 is also barley over $200 after mail in rebate on the egg.

But you have to try not to start down that "if I spend 20 more dollars" path lol.

new egg dont send to the uk

 

[I Hunta x]

heh, 165 for a 5870, may have to think about that instead the 768mb 460 i have been eyeing up.

EDIT: re reading it its the graded ones that are 165, and they have none in stock im guessing they would be open box returns?

 

[sheldonleigh]

Does this not seem like a better deal?? I have read a few reviews that have said some posative things about it. The price isn't bad either http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/...ds/atihd6900series/sapphire/hd-695a-cnfc.html

It's the company I've bought a few bits and bobs from, good service and fast delivery from my experiance

I was chatting to my missus last night and she thinks it's fine as it is, but the card has started playing up and I think it's got something to do with the fan setup. Or heat, I took it out and cleaned it yesterday and the gunk that came out of the fins could explain it.

Thanks again to all of you for your input.

I will be sure to put up a review on my new pc when it finally arrives. I think I'll make do for now with the 1x GTX580 and get another GTX580 and a GTX480 for PhysX after our wedding.

I gotta keep the priorities right now don't I

 

[adicool96]

Dude do not get a gtx 480 with 2x gtx 580 sli unless u already have one. Just save up for another 580 trust me on this i have the experience.

 

[sheldonleigh]

Dude do not get a gtx 480 with 2x gtx 580 sli unless u already have one. Just save up for another 580 trust me on this i have the experience.

The new pc will be

I7 950@4ghz

GTX580

12gb G.Skill Tri Channel 1600mhz Ram

3D Screen 120hz

Titanium Fitality Champin Sound

Then after our wedding in Aug I'll get a second GTX580 and a GTX480 for PhysX.

Want to futureproof it as best I can. Can't afford to splash out once a year on a new rig.

I can't wait to play games in 3D.

The PC we are talking about for the new ATI card is my old rig that is going to my better half

She is happy with my hand me downs

 

[sheldonleigh]

Dude do not get a gtx 480 with 2x gtx 580 sli unless u already have one. Just save up for another 580 trust me on this i have the experience.

Oh wait , did you mean get 3xGTX580?? is that even possible? Wouldn't that be a form of overkill??

 

[Tortuga]

Yeah once a year is way too much. Even every two years is pushing it for me. I wish I could hit that one a year mark. I'm wondering is the computer with the 950 already ordered? Or are you building it or what? Because that 2500k sure looks nice for games

 

[sheldonleigh]

Yeah once a year is way too much. Even every two years is pushing it for me. I wish I could hit that one a year mark. I'm wondering is the computer with the 950 already ordered? Or are you building it or what? Because that 2500k sure looks nice for games

Hey there guys. Well unfortunately I have been forced to cancel my order of my shiny new PC. The service was appalling and it dawned on me, i had opted for the 3year service plan.

I couldn't bare to be stuck with the same poor service for 3 loooong years.

So now I need to decide what I do next. I will probably just put a 6950 in this old pc and wait till SandyBridge is available.

Really quite disappointed.

Bye Bye 3D gaming ;(

Hello £2200 refund.....

 

[killablade]

Hey there guys. Well unfortunately I have been forced to cancel my order of my shiny new PC. The service was appalling and it dawned on me, i had opted for the 3year service plan.

I couldn't bare to be stuck with the same poor service for 3 loooong years.

So now I need to decide what I do next. I will probably just put a 6950 in this old pc and wait till SandyBridge is available.

Really quite disappointed.

Bye Bye 3D gaming ;(

Hello £2200 refund.....

Well, sandy bridge is better than what you originally ordered, soo... nice one

Mobo: MSI P67A-GD65

CPU: i5-2500k / i7-2600k depending on your budget

Memory: 4Gb Mushkin Ridgeback

GPU: GTX 580

Something like that and you'll be amazed by the performance it delivers (especially when OCed.)