• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Old system update - X1950 Pro gone bang!

maaaaaartin

maaaaaartin

maaaaaartin

Associate
Joined
15 Jul 2004
Posts
173
My graphics card has stopped working so I am looking to replace it with a new card that is a good fit for my spec below. I would like a boost in graphics but I don't want to pick a card that is then limited by the rest of the old components in the system. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Spec as below -

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
Asrock 939NF6G-VSTA
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ 3 V2 TURBO SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
250gb HDD
 
Sorry mate but I am struggling to recommend an upgrade to any modern graphics card that would give you a boost, given the spec of your system. I'd also be worried about that generic power supply as even a modest modern graphics card has 400W as a minimum and although your Psu says 450W, its probably nearer 250-300. Also your cpu would bottleneck any modern reasonably specced graphics card. Start saving for a new build if I were you.:(
 
jimbob27 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

Something like this would give an amazing performance boost.

Pretty much any card is going to be limited by your cpu in certain multi-threaded games. Not much you can really do about that, some games just require 3+ core to run well. Anything that doesn't, will get eaten for breakfast by the 5850.
Click to expand...
You clearly have no idea how bad the CPU bottleneck is going to be. With that system, the 5850 would be no faster than a GTS250/4850 level card, so why spend £125 on the graphic card, when he can get the same performance by going 2nd hand GTS250/4850 for around £40?
 
Last edited:
If you are going to upgrade the rest of the system in the very near future, then you can certainly consider that 5850 (but I don't think your current PSU can handle it). But if you are still gonna be stick with that Athlon 64 X2 for a long while, then just get a 2nd hand GTS250/4850 512MB for around £40.

Actually taking your current generic PSU into consideration (you really should change it to a better quality/brand PSU before it blows up and take your entire system with it), it'd probably be best you just look for 2nd hand 9800GT 512MB for around £30-£35, as that has lower power consumption.
 
Last edited:
jimbob27 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-103-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

Something like this would give an amazing performance boost.

Pretty much any card is going to be limited by your cpu in certain multi-threaded games. Not much you can really do about that, some games just require 3+ core to run well. Anything that doesn't, will get eaten for breakfast by the 5850.
Click to expand...

It certainly would, and blow up his psu and everything else in his system.:eek:
 
I'd probably be looking for a secondhand 8800gt. Power wise I wouldn't worry too much as a x1950 was hardly low powered and Antec make decent psu's.
 
Gribs said:
I'd probably be looking for a secondhand 8800gt. Power wise I wouldn't worry too much as a x1950 was hardly low powered and Antec make decent psu's.
Click to expand...
While the 450W PSU is Antec, it is certainly not as good quality one as what they sell individually...I honestly wouldn't risk using any graphic card that require more than one PCI-E 6pin power connector with that.
 
I think a HD5750 HD5770 would be give the best balance for the system, but that HD5850 for £125 is hard to get away from. I would go for the HD5850 and ramp up the eye candy for the hell of it, it should see you through another full system upgrade least.
 
Last edited:
Although the 939 socket based system is old(ish), I can't see why the OP won't get a nice boost in graphics performance by adding a HD5850 or a 5770.

Upgrading CPU/MB/RAM can be done at a later date. Yes, some games will be bottlenecked by the CPU etc, but surely there`ll be quite an improvement to be had by upgrading the graphics card.

I`d agree that changing the PSU should be a priority. In fact, I`d probably advise going for GFX/PSU upgrade at the same time. Save up for CPU/MB/RAM upgrade at a later date.
 
rolypolyman said:
I'd also be worried about that generic power supply as even a modest modern graphics card has 400W as a minimum and although your Psu says 450W, its probably nearer 250-300. :(
Click to expand...

Look if you're going to post at least know the facts.

That PSU is an ANTEC 450W Smart Power PSU that came with the sonata.

Its a quality PSU
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom