A return to the traditional graphics card problem

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » October 21st, 2006, 6:43

My computer is getting on a bit. It's 4 years old :S

It has 2.4GHz P4 and 1/2 G ram, which seems to satisfy most modern gaming requirements, but the graphics card is way behind (AGP GeForce 4 MX 420, err .. 64 Meg I recall)

So, question is, given that I can't really afford the wizz bang dual core liquid cooled dual SLI etc etc PC that I'd like (don't understand any of it, but it all sounds shiney);

Is it worth upgrading the Graphics card?
If so, what's the reccommendation? AGP cards seem to be a little thin on the ground these days
Am I likely to have a problem with my power supply?
Worth jamming in some more memory at the same time?

Obviously I don't want to go spending 500 Euros when I could more effectively put that towards new wizz bang etc so I guess a budget of 200 Euros is about what I'm looking at.

Ta

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » October 21st, 2006, 7:14

i'd say grab an nvidia 7600GS agp, should be pretty cheap, will bring your machine up to scratch for a fair while.

also 1 to 2 gb of ram is ideal, going on your current spec i'd grab a 1gb stick and be happy.

note: may not make sense, 3am, drunk.

Post by **deject** » October 21st, 2006, 8:21

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:i'd say grab an nvidia 7600GS agp, should be pretty cheap, will bring your machine up to scratch for a fair while.

also 1 to 2 gb of ram is ideal, going on your current spec i'd grab a 1gb stick and be happy.

note: may not make sense, 3am, drunk.

I concur. You shouldn't spend a whole lot of money on your current rig, just because it's so old Berk's suggestions should suffice until you can do a system overhaul.

Fred Woogle · Post by **Fred Woogle** » October 21st, 2006, 8:35

what both of them said ^^^^^

Hehulk · Post by **Hehulk** » October 21st, 2006, 9:48

Might also be worth getting someone in america to ship you over a new card. From what Ty just told me, apaprently the prices over there are stupidly low.

friznit · Post by **friznit** » October 21st, 2006, 11:21

Dollars for pounds normally. PITFA getting the stuff here in one piece, unless you have a mate there who can buy it and post it for you.

cashy · Post by **cashy** » October 21st, 2006, 12:14

friznit wrote:Dollars for pounds normally. PITFA getting the stuff here in one piece, unless you have a mate there who can buy it and post it for you.

the tax will kill you else

Lee · Post by **Lee** » October 21st, 2006, 14:32

Check the wattage on your power supply, you'll need about 300w for a 7600GT. If you dont have that then you might aswell spend £10 more on a 7900GS since you'll need a better PSU anyway, a 500w one will cost around £50, thats what I plan on doing soon.

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » October 21st, 2006, 16:01

Thanks folks

Bubble's folks live in Canadia so I'll consider getting one sent to them. asking them to go out and get me an 7600GS AGP is bound to end up with an amusing result.

Now ... to check the power supply

/me logs

Lee · Post by **Lee** » October 21st, 2006, 17:10

bomberesque wrote:7600GS AGP

Its not a 7600gs you want btw, they arent very good, get 7600gt or 7900gs, although I'm not sure there is an agp version of the 7900gs...

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » October 21st, 2006, 20:03

Lee wrote:Its not a 7600gs you want btw, they arent very good, get 7600gt or 7900gs, although I'm not sure there is an agp version of the 7900gs...

Sorry, but it *IS* the 7600gs he wants, given it's the best AGP card that can be had.

there's no AGP 7600gt or 7900gs.

eion · Post by **eion** » October 21st, 2006, 20:09

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
Sorry, but it *IS* the 7600gs he wants, given it's the best AGP card that can be had.

there's no AGP 7600gt or 7900gs.

Assuming Berk means the 7800GS, then yes, it's the best AGP card that can be had. Kinda pricy, though - mine was ~$300 back in February. For less money, there's the 6800GT or the X850, both of which can be had in AGP flavour as I recall.

Power supply-wise, you may not have to upgrade. I'm running my card (and a bunch of other fairly hefty hardware - as much as will fit in my case) on a (decent) 250W PSU. I'd say a 300W from a known manufacturer would be fine. As always, your mileage may vary.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » October 21st, 2006, 20:11

eion wrote:Assuming Berk means the 7800GS, then yes, it's the best AGP card that can be had. Kinda pricy, though - mine was ~$300 back in February. For less money, there's the 6800GT or the X850, both of which can be had in AGP flavour as I recall.

Eion Right. berk wrong.

eion · Post by **eion** » October 21st, 2006, 20:12

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
Eion Right. berk wrong.

There's a first time for everything.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » October 21st, 2006, 21:00

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
Sorry, but it *IS* the 7600gs he wants, given it's the best AGP card that can be had.

there's no AGP 7600gt or 7900gs.

Ah ok, I thought there was an AGP 7600gt. I didnt point him at the 7800gs because it seems to be a bit of a rip off, around £200 for a card that isnt as good as the 7900gs for £130.

Post by **FatherJack** » October 21st, 2006, 22:49

You shouldn't spend too much, as the guys have said, you can get a 7600gs for less than 80 notes, and a gig of RAM for less than 70.

Even cheaper would be a 6600 and half a gig both for around half those prices - would be a big improvement over your current setup, but only really limp along until you can get a new box.

Edit: I don't think power will hurt you with those two, I'd be less sure about 6800gt etc. But at least the PSU could be used in the new box.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » November 2nd, 2006, 8:14

This may be handy

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/31/ ... index.html

Post by **ProfHawking** » November 2nd, 2006, 18:47

im disappointed that's not a horse link

bomberesque · Post by **bomberesque** » December 9th, 2006, 15:45

*casts thread revival

OK OK OK I know it took me 2 months to do anything about it ... I was drunk, OK?

So, I took the memory out of my PC and trundled it down to my local PC shoppe. He scratched his head and said "this is very rare, it is expensive and you will only find it on the internets".

"Is it that good?" I hoped out loud

"no, but it is that obsolete."

"What can be so rare about it, it's only RAM, afterall"

"This isn't RAM, it's RIMM"

local internet site quotes over 1,000 Euros for 1G of this stuff. Last seen on EBAY for about 100 GBP / Gig.

Now I'm exhausted and think I should just buy a new PC and stick this one in a landfill somewhere.

Thoughts?

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » December 9th, 2006, 15:46

launch and nuke probably