Computer Advice Please

[Chrisisiced]

Hey guys I’m in need of some comp. help that I’m sure somebody here will know the answer to. I just ordered an HP Pavilion Phenom Triple Core desktop a6430f. I would like to upgrade to a decent video card. I’ve read in some different places that when you add a new card or upgrade an old one that you need to upgrade the power supply. My questions are how do I know what wattage power supply to go with and what vid. cards would people recommend? I was thinking that a 1gb card would be good but then I’d still be clueless about what power supply to use. The games I’m most in to right now would be MS flight simulator and command and conquer.


Any and all help is appreciated!

Specs can be seen here if needed: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883107655


Thanks

[Chan_Man]

Open your case and look on the side of your power supply or you can check in Bios. You don't need to upgrade your power supply unless you have a low wattage one or the video cards needs to be plugged in to the power supply.

[AbsurdNY]

Open your case and look on the side of your power supply or you can check in Bios. You don't need to upgrade your power supply unless you have a low wattage one or the video cards needs to be plugged in to the power supply.

X2. I have never had to upgrade my power supply for a graphics card before. Only reason I upgraded my power supply is because of all the hard drives and sound equipment I have.

[Chrisisiced]

Well from what i've been looking up it seems that this computer has a 300w power supply and the cards that im looking at say i need 400+w or need a direct connection to the power supply. For example there's the SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP is $100 on newegg however it says i need a 450w power supply. So my question is how would i know what power supply will fit and work properly. Are they brand specific or model specific. I'm clueless on picking out a power supply other than knowing i need x amount of wattage.

Another issue im wondering is how much memory on the video card i should be shooting for? Is the above card with 512mb decent or do i need at least a gig? I need to be able to play flight simulator on decent settings as well as some command and conquer.

Thanks again!

[Masamune]

I don't play flight simulator but I have seen the game in action. It's pretty drawing-intensive and the extra video card memory will certainly help you. For that reason I would recommend using a 4850 or even 4870 for an upgrade. If you did go this route I would recommend a power supply that sits around 550-650 watts. Try to get a decent brand-name like Thermaltake as a powersupply. Even if you're dead-set on the 4830, I would still recommend picking up a power supply in that range.

Also, power supplies are mostly universal fitting, the exception being massive power supplies that push 1000-1200 watts of power.

Finally, I would like to bring up one of the most commonly overlooked parts of a power supply; the 12v rails. Most low-end, low-watt powersupplies only have 1 12v rail for delivering power. This is fine since power draw is low and constant. Mid-range power supplies tend to sit around 2 12v rails which is good for basic system power draw + video card or other power draw that fluctuates. Some mid-range and all high-end power supplies have 4 or more 12v power rails. Again, the bigger and greater the power draw and fluctuation, the more rails you would need. For the 4800 series of cards, you should be fine with 2 12v rails, the exception being the 4850 X2 and 4870 X2.

So to sum up, go for a 550-650 watt power supply with at least 2 12v rails from a reputable company.

[Chrisisiced]

I don't play flight simulator but I have seen the game in action. It's pretty drawing-intensive and the extra video card memory will certainly help you. For that reason I would recommend using a 4850 or even 4870 for an upgrade. If you did go this route I would recommend a power supply that sits around 550-650 watts. Try to get a decent brand-name like Thermaltake as a powersupply. Even if you're dead-set on the 4830, I would still recommend picking up a power supply in that range.

Also, power supplies are mostly universal fitting, the exception being massive power supplies that push 1000-1200 watts of power.

Finally, I would like to bring up one of the most commonly overlooked parts of a power supply; the 12v rails. Most low-end, low-watt powersupplies only have 1 12v rail for delivering power. This is fine since power draw is low and constant. Mid-range power supplies tend to sit around 2 12v rails which is good for basic system power draw + video card or other power draw that fluctuates. Some mid-range and all high-end power supplies have 4 or more 12v power rails. Again, the bigger and greater the power draw and fluctuation, the more rails you would need. For the 4800 series of cards, you should be fine with 2 12v rails, the exception being the 4850 X2 and 4870 X2.

So to sum up, go for a 550-650 watt power supply with at least 2 12v rails from a reputable company.

Thanks! I was starting to think people here weren't into PC gaming.

You got to my thread a little late though. I've already made my picks and just waiting for everything to arrive which should be tomorrow from the looks of all my tracking numbers.

Anyway I ordered an EVGA 9800GT 1gb version but not overclocked
For powersupply I bought an Antec earth watts 650 PSU. Model number is Antec EA-650. I was a little worried though because the card says it needs a 12v rail with 28a however that psu has 3 12v rails but only goes up to 25a. I was talking to a guy in the geek squad at best buy and he assured me that everything would be ok. I am still a little nervous about it though because clearly the numbers don't match up.

On a side note i read in a couple pc forums that the thermaltake wasn't too good. From what i've read up on Antec and Corsair were supposed to be good bets.

[Masamune]

Thanks! I was starting to think people here weren't into PC gaming.

You got to my thread a little late though. I've already made my picks and just waiting for everything to arrive which should be tomorrow from the looks of all my tracking numbers.

Anyway I ordered an EVGA 9800GT 1gb version but not overclocked
For powersupply I bought an Antec earth watts 650 PSU. Model number is Antec EA-650. I was a little worried though because the card says it needs a 12v rail with 28a however that psu has 3 12v rails but only goes up to 25a. I was talking to a guy in the geek squad at best buy and he assured me that everything would be ok. I am still a little nervous about it though because clearly the numbers don't match up.

On a side note i read in a couple pc forums that the thermaltake wasn't too good. From what i've read up on Antec and Corsair were supposed to be good bets.

People have mixed results with products, but personally I've never run into any issues with any thermaltake product out there. But yes, Antec is a great company for a power supply. That's a great choice for a video card though. The 9800 GT is identical to the 8800GT I have except you have 1 GB of memory where I have 512. Believe you me though, this is a monster of a card that will last you a long time.

As for the 12v rails, if you have three then at the MINIMUM it should push 36v (12v x 3 rails). The 25v rating is max per rail, so 75v max. Yes, you are perfectly fine. Good choice in components

[WilliamW]

I just got my new desktop last week. It came with a dual core AMD chip, and a Nvidia 9800GX2. It has 1GB of memory but one of the down sides is it gets hotter than cooked spam in there. My card requires 580 watts at 40 amps. With a higher amp supply, a lower wattage can be used. So 580 is MUCH less than 650 at 72 amps. It's just a matter of matching up parts.


If you want, there is a case from Antec called the P190+1200 It's a nice quiet P190 case with 1200 watts in the form of 2 power supplies. it's about 350, but it's definitely worth it.

[Chrisisiced]

If you want, there is a case from Antec called the P190+1200 It's a nice quiet P190 case with 1200 watts in the form of 2 power supplies. it's about 350, but it's definitely worth it.

Well you see i wanted a decent system that i could do some casual gaming with but i didnt want to spend more than 7-800 bucks. With everything that i got im just over 700. If i go with a new case though that would take me far beyond what i'd be willing to spend. If i was going to spend over a 1000 then i could have just bought a pre-made gaming system for that much. So ill work with what i got and ill post back how it all works out.

Does anyone test their pc performance with like 3dmark, or pcpitstop or any other performance measure?

[foamypirate]

Good choice on the Antec PSU. I'm running an old Antec TruePower II 550W PSU, and it's been chugging along for 3+ years, and my system is heavily overclocked with fairly current hardware in it. Definitely a good brand/PSU.

[Chrisisiced]

That's a great choice for a video card though. The 9800 GT is identical to the 8800GT I have except you have 1 GB of memory where I have 512. Believe you me though, this is a monster of a card that will last you a long time.

Yes, you are perfectly fine. Good choice in components

Thats good to hear. Im glad to know that ill have good stuff. From what i was looking at though most peeps were complaining about how the 9800gt was old news and that the newer models were better. I dont recall exactly which one but i think it was a 260 that they said you'd be better off with.

One other issue that got me a little nervous was that i read that this was a very large card and many had difficulty getting it to fit so thats something else im not looking forward to wrestling with....

[f22a4bandit]

Well you see i wanted a decent system that i could do some casual gaming with but i didnt want to spend more than 7-800 bucks. With everything that i got im just over 700. If i go with a new case though that would take me far beyond what i'd be willing to spend. If i was going to spend over a 1000 then i could have just bought a pre-made gaming system for that much. So ill work with what i got and ill post back how it all works out.

Does anyone test their pc performance with like 3dmark, or pcpitstop or any other performance measure?

Believe me, you'd be hard pressed to find a pre-built gaming system for anywhere close to $1000. I built my complete system with monitor, keyboard, mouse and case for under $1000 from newegg six months ago. I have the Phenom 8650 and Radeon 4850. Actually with what you're running, your system is probably what mine would cost now.

Make sure you have Vista for 3dMark because it isn't compatible with XP (at least the free online version isn't).

[Chrisisiced]

Believe me, you'd be hard pressed to find a pre-built gaming system for anywhere close to $1000. I built my complete system with monitor, keyboard, mouse and case for under $1000 from newegg six months ago. I have the Phenom 8650 and Radeon 4850. Actually with what you're running, your system is probably what mine would cost now.

Make sure you have Vista for 3dMark because it isn't compatible with XP (at least the free online version isn't).

Here's a system under 1000: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883227128

The only complaint i'd have with that is that the graphics memory is only 512 as opposed to the gig card that i bought. That setup there is probably a little better than what i have and would be cheaper overall with the sacrifice of video memory. But cheap game systems are available.

The setup will have 32 bit vista.

[Chrisisiced]

Hey guys. I finally got everything in and up and running. A minor issue that im having is that in vista my windows experience index did not go up. In that window it says that new hardware is detected and that the experience index needs to be refreshed. No matter how many times i hit refresh and update my score it wont recognize my upgrade. For 3d business and gaming graphics performance my score is a 3.0

Im am sure the card is in and is working properly i have my monitor hooked up and i was just running flight simulator so technically everything functions correctly just this one screen wont give me my true score.

I also tried looking through menus to see if maybe i needed to disable my integrated graphics but i was unable to find it. WHen i look under display adapters in hardware only the 9800 shows up.....

anybody have any ideas...?

Thanks

[EJX_Michael]

Hey guys. I finally got everything in and up and running. A minor issue that im having is that in vista my windows experience index did not go up. In that window it says that new hardware is detected and that the experience index needs to be refreshed. No matter how many times i hit refresh and update my score it wont recognize my upgrade. For 3d business and gaming graphics performance my score is a 3.0

Im am sure the card is in and is working properly i have my monitor hooked up and i was just running flight simulator so technically everything functions correctly just this one screen wont give me my true score.

I also tried looking through menus to see if maybe i needed to disable my integrated graphics but i was unable to find it. WHen i look under display adapters in hardware only the 9800 shows up.....

anybody have any ideas...?

Thanks

Ok, so you have your power supply all hooked up and everything? the 6 pin to the gfx card?

In the bios, you will need to disable onboard video.

During startup it will say something like "press f1/del/esc for setup" press it and go through the menus looking for an option that says something about video. I had an hp and basicly I just had to switch the video output to PCI-E in one of the options.

Ok now don't screw around with anything else. It should say at the bottom "press F10 ect. to save and exit" press that key and press y than enter.

Also, is your video cord plugged into the card? (I had a friend who put a card in his and plugged it in the onboard)

I've been building gaming machines for years.

My system.