Which PC to upgrade?

Broncbuster

Hey folks, been out of the hardware scene for 3-5 years. Curious on opinions on which to upgrade as the gaming rig, I am not particularly worried about RAM since most of it is full (minus 1 slot), I essentially need to upgrade the video card in one of these. Computer 1's died, curious if I should replace it, or go with Computer 2 and upgrade the video.

Computer 1.

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Basic (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.101014-0432)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Vostro 400
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.2GHz

Computer 2.

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.091208-0542)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: KZ852AV-ABA a6560t
BIOS: BIOS Date: 06/16/08 11:02:10 Ver: 5.25
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9300 @ 2.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz

Obviously, processor speed is greater on Comp 1, but I don't know the speed differences in Duo Core vs Quad CPU.

Robes

I'm going to need the motherboard info before I can tell you. If all you want is a video card, you need to find a video card that's compatible with one of these motherboards.

Broncbuster

can I find that under dxdiag or no? Computer 1 is a vostro 400. Computer 2 is a HP pavilion.

Robes

umm I'm 90% sure this is the motherboard for computer 1 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-RN474-GN723-G679R-Vostro-200-400-SMT-Motherboard-/320727410216?pt=Motherboards&hash=item4aacd7e628

Looks like your motherboard is capable of supporting a PCI-e 16x 2.0 video card.

So you'll want one of these video cards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709 600007855&IsNodeId=1&name=PCI Express 2.0 x16

Update: Both your motherboards support a PCI-e 16x 2.0 video card. I would put the video card into whatever computer had the most RAM.

Broncbuster

So Computer 1 is the one to run with? Duo Core > quad?

Robes

Broncbuster wrote:

So Computer 1 is the one to run with? Duo Core > quad?

Which computer has more RAM?

TheCanMan

The other thing that's vitally important is the exact manufacturer and model of the PSUs. If you take the side panel off, there should be a sticker on the side of the PSU with this information.

Which GPU you can get depends heavily on whether your PSU can generate the required output.

Broncbuster

Broncbuster wrote:

So Computer 1 is the one to run with? Duo Core > quad?

both the same. 4 gigs.

I"ll check out the PSU in a bit, watching my 10 month old right now and opening a case could be terminal with a side of peanut butter on the CPU.

Robes

TheCanMan wrote:

The other thing that's vitally important is the exact manufacturer and model of the PSUs. If you take the side panel off, there should be a sticker on the side of the PSU with this information.

Which GPU you can get depends heavily on whether your PSU can generate the required output.

Agreed ^. I haven't used a store bought PC in like 4 years. I have forgotten how bad they are for upgrading XD

TheCanMan

Worst case scenario would be you'd need to also upgrade the PSU to something like an Antec Neo Eco 520W

Broncbuster

Comp 1 PSU - PS6351-2 (LiteOn) DC output 350W
Comp 1 used to have a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT.


Comp 2 will have to get later. plugged in and when baby free.

Also, thats about when i bought these PC's about 4 or so years ago.

Broncbuster

Also, thanks a lot guys.

TheCanMan

Also, what's your budget?

Robes

CanMan is right. With a new videocard, you'll want at least a 500w power supply. I would go with upgrading the quad core.

Bullio

I mentioned this another thread, but there is a chance with the Dell that whichever PSU you end up buying may not fit in the case. I bought an OCZ a couple months ago and it was too small to fit into my XPS 420. I can't speak to the HP, though.

I'll echo the sentiment of upgrading the quad, but I think your specs aren't high enough to warrant getting a high end video card. Something like a 1gb Radeon HD 6870 or the next step up is probably the highest you'd want to go. Otherwise the rest of your rig will bottleneck the card. And for that card you'll probably want at least 500w as mentioned, but I would look for a 600w PSU at minimum. PSU's aren't real expensive and the safety of having a little extra power is better than frying your whole rig because you're just barely getting enough power to everything. I recently installed this and it's been wonderful.

Oh, and to save a possible headache later on that I went through upgrading from an 8800GT, these beefy new vid cards tend to require 2 power cables.

Broncbuster

TheCanMan wrote:

Also, what's your budget?

Nothing outside 300. But since it sounds like Power is going to be my problem, I just may upgrade the card for the current hardware for now. I know I've run into the PSU is too big for the case issue years ago.

So I guess I really need to dig out the PSU in the Quad and finger out which card will work under the power I have.

Edit: Part No# PS-6301-02

http://h20141.www2.hp.com/Hpparts/Search_Results.aspx?mscssid=67086D41CC264130AED87351E94E7BD9&SearchIn=Product
5188-7601 In stock
Active Power Factor Correction power supply (Chardonnay) - Rated at 300-watts , 80+ efficiency - Support for Parallel ATA (PATA) and Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives
RoHS: Modified

Looks like thats it from HP's site: I'm assuming the highest I can go is one suggested there, a 512.

KT636-69001 In stock [View a picture of this part.]
PCI Express x16 graphics card (Seaking) - nVidia GeForce 9500 GS, 512MB memory - HDMI, DVI, and VGA support using applicable adapters
RoHS: Modified
158.34 0.00 158.34
KT636-69001 In stock [View a picture of this part.] Exchange 2
PCI Express x16 graphics card (Seaking) - nVidia GeForce 9500 GS, 512MB memory - HDMI, DVI, and VGA support using applicable adapters


Other than that, I guess I can use suggestions for cards that will fit my PSU.

Donovan Puppyfucker

There's better cards than that that don't need a power connector. I think there might be some 6750s around that are powered from the PCI-Ex slot only?

Donovan Puppyfucker

Example.

Broncbuster

chrishallett83 wrote:

Example.

I would buy that if you think it would work. I've replaced all my hardware knowledge with advance math teachings and baby knowledge.

Edit. Bah, Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.

Think I'm going with:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gt_220_us.html
says on Nvidia, 300w minimum, So I should be covered.

Thanks for all the help Folks.

Donovan Puppyfucker

The bit on Newegg where it says "minimum 450W power supply" is a crock of shit.

A PCI-E slot can only supply 75 watts of power, so for that card to need a 450 watt PSU, the rest of the system would have to be pulling 375 watts. Which it definitely isn't. You'd probably be lucky to break 150-175 watts draw under load. For example, the hugriest thing in that build at the moment by far is the CPU, and that has a max draw of 95 watts. RAM, HDD, mobo and all the other gear (fans etc) probably add up to 90 watts at the most...

TheCanMan

chrishallett83 wrote:

The bit on Newegg where it says "minimum 450W power supply" is a crock of shit.

Well, specifically it's a crock of shit because it's vastly overrated to compensate for people using crappy PSUs. Which is a category pretty much every PSU used in a pre-built falls into.

Broncbuster

It also says it on Radeon website. Keep in mind, I'm not arguing, just reading what it shows.

TheCanMan

Broncbuster wrote:

It also says it on Radeon website. Keep in mind, I'm not arguing, just reading what it shows.

*points to my explanation directly above your post*

Donovan Puppyfucker

The PCI-E standard specifically calls out 75 watts as the maximum possible power supplied through the slot. So a card with no additional power connections cannot physically consume more than 75 watts. Your average prebuilt whatever p.c. doesn't have a lot of crap to run from its PSU besides the CPU. A standard budget Mini-ATX mobo, 4 gigs of RAM, an HDD and an optical drive all together don't chew up very much power.

Broncbuster

Thanks for the advice gents, I think i'm going to bite the bullet and pick a stronger PSU.

Probably this:
http://www.cpusolutions.com/store/pc/Ultra-Lifetime-Series-Pro-650W-ATX12V-EPS12V-Power-Supply-p1598.htm
Same dimension as the current.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Not keen on that brand, what about this one instead?

Broncbuster

looks like it'll fit unless i'm crazy.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Yeah often Dell prebuilts have a weird sized PSU, but it seems like yours is the standard ATX format.

If you only want to run one video card off it, you don't even nedd 650 watts. A quality 450 or 500 watt supply will run most single cards.

Broncbuster

Yea, I figured I'd buy a bit more power since I'm buying one. I have an Tuner card, Wireless card, card reader, couple USB devices. All things that don't need to be plugged in while I game but or could be pulled but I figure if I'm doing it, I'll give myself some room.