Help - Possible new Card?

[-Aura-]

Hi all, firstly, kudos to this place.

I have recently become quite hooked to PC gaming. I`ve had all the consoles et al since the ZX81 and Commodore 64 spurt in the 80s so please don`t ask why the hell it`s took me so long to get into PC gaming!

I don`t benchmark, I figure if it`s good for me then it`s OK, but I`m playing Halo and COD2 at the moment. Having a great time but would like to play them at 1024x768 with some features enabled (not everything, I know this can`t happen) but at present, am playing at 800x600 because of my hardware limitations.

I have (please don`t laugh, it`s nearly 4 year old!):

P4 2.2Ghz on a skt 478 (4x AGP) (fan mounted directly)
2Gb PC3200 RAM
Geforce FX5200 Ultra
250W PSU
2 x 80GB HDD
SB Audigy2
WinXP Home
15" TFT (1024x768) Analogue Input
100Mbps LAN (onboard), DG832N Rangemax Next connected

Onboard USB is v1.1 but I have installed a v2.0 PCI card: Connected to this is:
Webcam
Microsoft Ergonomic 4000 keyboard
Opy Mouse
Sometimes an MP3 player/Phone/Camera (to download/upload only, not permanently connected)
Epson RX520
mATX tower has 1 additional fan, surrounding area is well ventilated.

I would like a new system but can`t afford it yet ... just bought my daughter a laptop for Xmas so I have to wait. I will be upgrading to Vista next week (already spotted Ultimate version here at OC!) so I`m looking for at first, a graphics card upgrade. Remember, I`m not looking at anything spectacular, I had my eye on a 7300 or 7600 on shopping page, I`m just simply looking for an upgrade that will, until I get a new system will suffice in the meantime.

Secondly, I`m wondering if the PSU is in need of an upgrade if I do indeed upgrade to a 7000 series card. I wonder if anyone knows the difference in power demand between a 5200Ultra and a 7300 or 7600? I have no power issues at present but obviously wary of increasing demand on such a small PSU!

I really don`t want to upgrade anything at all bearing in mind I will be buying new in (hopefully) the near future, but I realise that I must at least upgrade in the short term. Thank you ever so much in advance for any input

 

[Quixote]

You have plenty of RAM so that's not a problem. Your CPU is aging but not too badly, should certainly be able to run recent games given your modest requirements.

That said, on an AGP 4* the 'best fit' for your system would probably be an Nvidia 7600gs or 7600gt. I would go for the cheapest one you can find unless the difference is about £10 & one has a fair bit higher GPU or Memory clock speed, in which case you should choose that one.
You have a low-end card from a poor series (5XXX) so almost any modern card will be a big boost.
A 7300GT is worth considering on a tight budget too but be aware they vary more than almost any card in performance. The best ones feature GDDR3 memory & are significantly faster than others but I'm not sure if they are available in AGP. Aside from that, some models are significantly higher clocked & if the price difference is not too great, are the ones to go for.

 

[mishima]

If its only to last you until you can upgrade, why not buy a second hand 7600GS or something? Would seem more sensible, as when you do upgrade you can then get something that is most current.

Have a look @ this for power consumption on a few graphics cards you have been speaking about - http://xtreview.com/review134.htm

 

[-Aura-]

Thank you for your advice guys.

Yep, I don`t think the extra power consumption from a card upgrade will be much over the top from what I`ve got.

I certainly would consider buying a second hand 7600 series (or higher for that matter), though the 7300 series (not the 500mhz GDDR3 version) are surprisingly cheap brand new, so if anyone wants to get rid of an old card, I`ll certainly consider it!

Once again, thank you ever so much for the good advice

 

[melbourne720]

7600 GT, but that PSU is a worry. I'd get a new one of those to be on the safe side, at least 400W from a decent brand (Not QTec or unbranded).

7600 GT you'll be able to put res up to 1280 x 1024 with detail to max without AA and AF on most games.

 

[-Aura-]

Update

Hi guys, just thought I`d drop an update in

I bought a new 7300GT on ebay, received today ... 51 quid

Mel, yes, the PSU ain`t coughing enough power out as we all suspected. However, the NVIDIA sentinal app has automatically kicked in and dropped the power requirement. AFAICT it has only dropped the core frequency down 100 to 400, memory clock remains at 666MHz.

Practically though, I`m chuffed. COD United Offensive and COD2 are playable at 1024x768 with absolutely everything turned up to the max. I can even have the sound quality up to the max too! I can`t go above 1024x768 Mel, 15" TFT only :\

I`m very happy to be getting such good results with what I have, but I`m looking at a new case with a 450W psu included. Looks bonny, and will house my mATX board and eventually probably a new mobo/processor combo. Case is about 40 quid so basically, a canny system upgrade for less than £100.

I can even play Battlefield 2142 at 1024x768 but the settings I have to leave at medium. I couldn`t even load a map with GF5200.

Hey, thanks again for the help guys

 

[melbourne720]

Happy for you - Seasonic, Corsair and Enermax are all good brands of PSU and will stand you in good stead for all future system upgrades.

 

[-Aura-]

Thanks Mel, will keep that in mind

 

[-Aura-]

Update

Mel, I did indeed take your advice and plump for a Corsair 520W PSU and thank you for helping me make a good decision! New system is up and running, spent under 250 quid on a new P4 Prescott 3.2Ghz, ASRock Mobo ... a lad at work bought a SATA2 HDD in err (250Gb) which he sold me for 20 quid so I stuck that in, new case with 6 fans (supplied 450W PSU didn`t power card sufficiently hence the PSU purchase, whole thing only cost 40 quid so I wasn`t too bothered). I include the RAM and graphics card in the sum figure so I`m well chuffed

I did however upgrade to Vista. I bought a laptop for my daughter for Xmas which came with an "express" upgrade. The "express" upgrade arrived a few days ago ... better late than never I suppose :\. She didn`t want it so I stuck it on, I like it but Prescott runs way hotter when gaming so I`ve just bought a Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower here at OC which should kick him into touch

Have I got the quickest and therefore best system in the world? Hell no ... but I can play Battlefield 2142 and all the CODs at 1024*768 on my 15"TFT with everything absolutely full on, which I wanted in the beginning. Hehe, I even bought a USB device which allows me to use PS2 controllers via USB. Doesn`t work for all games though but worth a sky diver Plays PE6 tho ... I`ll need a joypad and joystick at some stage, suggestions more than welcome, I dont suppose I`d be quite as happy without the excellent advice thus far from you guys ... thanx fellas