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Graphics upgrade on Socket A rig. Advice needed.

Associate
Joined
14 Nov 2005
Posts
10
Location
Aberdeen
Hi,

I am thinking of upgrading my Graphics card prior to a move to PCI Express next year. Mainly because I want to build a high end rig and need to save the money! ;)

I currently have a:
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600
AMD XP2500 Barton (Socket A)
1GB of Corsair Memory (2x512)

I was thinking of upgrading the graphics card to the Sapphire X800 GTO.

Will this be a wise decision considering my current spec?

Will my processor become a bottle neck? I have it overclocked to 1.85Ghz

I am currently playing Battlefield 2 and COD2 and am hoping to get an improved graphics experience.

Thanks. :)
 
Ok. My local shop doesn't stock AGP. :mad: This why I always normally buy from OCuk - being impatient can hurt.

Should I go for the Power Colour AGP X800GTO or spend 50 quid more and go for the Power Colour AGP X850 XT?

Both are on pre order at OCUK so I will have to wait either way. Will the extra 50 pounds be worth it in the long run considering what I said at the top? I am thinking it probably will. Will it also overclock reasonably?

Thanks again.
 
I got my asus x850xt elsewhere on the net for £209 and I'm very impressed with the boost in performance over my old 9800pro so you would see a massive gain over your 9600. clocks really well too, see sig for speeds, went from about 5800points in 3dmark05 to 6420 with those clocks and still only hits 63'c under load with the stock cooler :D
 
Another question:

I have a Qtec 400w power supply (not the best make I know) and it is around 2/3 years old now. Will the X800XT work with this or will I need a new PSU?

I know that some of the new graphics cards need their own seperate power supply - will this one?

Thanks.
 
The x850xt has a molex socket on it so needs a feed from the psu. Would probably invest in a new psu aswell if you can afford one as the rails will be weak on that and the new card will eat up loads more power than the 9600 and q-tecs have a bad rep according to people on here.
When you look for a new one don't go of the wattage, ie 600w or 500w, go off the power on the rails, ie 12v+ 24a , 5v+ 35a ect. Its the +12v one that is the main one to look at get one with atleast 18-20a on it, the higher the better. Many decent named 400w models are better than cheap 650w ones so do some research first and go for the best you can afford. Remember if these things go then it can take everything else in the system with it!
 
im running my 2500+ stable at 3200+ spec and with a 6800LE its a damn good machine that copes with anything i throw at it

so with a good psu and an X850XT you will be laughing
 
As you can see from my sig, going for an X850XT is a good and significant upgrade. But as other peep's have said DITCH that QTEC. I doubt it's got the power on the rails to run much at all, and even if it has, when it goes belly up it'll take your new gpu with it. Would you want to risk it?.
 
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