my 3870 is broken what next??

[Behemoth]

OK
After reading a few reviews I've come to the conclusion my PSU is old hat....but I got my multi meter out and all the power outs are with in 0.05V of what they say they should be so I'm stuck again??? I did monitor them for a few minutes each and they held true

Do PSU's realy make that much of a differance????? if I don't have to spend another £40 that would make me very happy.
As for cards I'm leaning towards the amd 5770 as I've had a minor wind fall but I'm assuming you'll tell me to upgrade my PSU....
so what do you recon??

Just to echo what Cat has been saying, but yes, a good PSU makes the world of difference.

For years, and I think many users here did the same, but I skimped on the PSU because it wasn't in my view an overly important part of the PC. I could never see the value in buying an expensive PSU over a cheap one.

I'm sure many of us here will know what I mean when I say Q-Tec. The gold, cheap time bombs. Or later to be known as Q-Bombs.

The 400 watt one that I had let go and thankfully all it took out was an old IDE hard drive, with no data on it. Other however were less than fortunate, motherboards, CPU's, even GFX cards were casualty's to these quite honestly shoddy supplies !

Spend a few more quid now, so you won't have to later on. We all learn the hard way some sooner than others too.

Look at what Cat has suggested. Personally I like OCZ, I currently have a 600 watt Stealth Stream 2 and it's a cracking bit of kit, very near silent

[PowerPie5000]

My apologies, id assumed 'case com' was a cheap brand as id never heard of them

You are correct... Casecom equipment is extremely cheap and their PSU's are abysmal! 500W Casecom PSU'S retail at around £15-20 and i dread to think how many Amps it can supply on the 12V rails (not many i would say).

I would suggest getting a 600W Corsair CX PSU (one of Corsair's cheaper units but far better than that Casecom junk)... Or maybe get a one of the Cooler Master GX PSU'S (at least 550W). Both the PSU's i mentioned are relatively low in price but will be fine running a single GPU PC

Ok as for a new GPU, I would personally recommend at least a Geforce GTX 460 (1gb model) or a Radeon 6850. I've personally just bought a Radeon 6870 (XFX dual fan edition) and it runs anything i throw at it! My old Sapphire Radeon 3870 is still going strong in my brothers PC and it's over 3 years old... So you can't blame ATI because you had one bad board, I've had Nvidia cards die in less than a year (thankfully within warranty) but i don't put down the whole company over a couple of dead boards... Anything electrical is bound to fail at some point.

[lovegod710]

Thank you, for answering. But this method works for me only with .. In all other cases I get only strange results, like those below

[Fishboy]

OK Power Pie
I get the message..... Sorry ATI I didn't mean to diss you man your card was good while it lasted.....

Well down to business, I'm going to order a Cooler master GX RS650-ACAAE3-UK 650W Power Supply and a 1GB Palit GTS 450 Sonic, which will take me 25p over budget including tax and postage (£150.25).... so any views on my chose???

thanks to all for the info I (will never look at PSU's in the same light again) whent over the anandtech page loads and scan will be getting more business from me in the future I'm sure....

Nice One All

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

OK Power Pie
I get the message..... Sorry ATI I didn't mean to diss you man your card was good while it lasted.....

Well down to business, I'm going to order a Cooler master GX RS650-ACAAE3-UK 650W Power Supply and a 1GB Palit GTS 450 Sonic, which will take me 25p over budget including tax and postage (£150.25).... so any views on my chose???

thanks to all for the info I (will never look at PSU's in the same light again) whent over the anandtech page loads and scan will be getting more business from me in the future I'm sure....

Nice One All

The GTS450 is around the same speed as an HD5750 and the overclocked GTS450 cards are around the same speed as an HD5770 1GB. OTH,an HD5770 1GB consumes less power at peak than a GTS450.

Also the Coolermaster GX 650W is not that great either.

You can get an HD5770 1GB and a Be Quiet 530W or OCZ StealthXStream II 500W PSU for under £150 delivered:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/248749

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189741

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190751

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204355

However,I would get this PSU if you can spend a few more quid:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/245671

It is made by Seasonic and should be fine with even an HD6970 2GB IMHO.

Once you get 20 posts you will be able to get free postage from Scan:

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...-delivery.html

I would also check these web-pages for special offers too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/index.aspx

http://www.scan.co.uk/shopoffers/index.aspx

[Fishboy]

OK
I've weighed up my options and I'm going to sick with my order, OK the PSU might not be great but I think the card will be what I'm after and as long as it runs it maybe I'll up grade when i can afford it.

Looking at the anandtech web page for the gts450 again the card I'm getting is the palit sonic model which matches or out ranks the 5750 and the 5770 (apart from the CF model) in all the tests. theres also the PhysX tech which a few of my games told me I couldn't use so I'm looking forward to that....

The other thing is I've been without a card for ages now and it will turn up tomorrow

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

OK
I've weighed up my options and I'm going to sick with my order, OK the PSU might not be great but I think the card will be what I'm after and as long as it runs it maybe I'll up grade when i can afford it.

Looking at the anandtech web page for the gts450 again the card I'm getting is the palit sonic model which matches or out ranks the 5750 and the 5770 (apart from the CF model) in all the tests. theres also the PhysX tech which a few of my games told me I couldn't use so I'm looking forward to that....

The other thing is I've been without a card for ages now and it will turn up tomorrow

Why are you spending over £50 on such an overpriced PSU?? It is based on an old design and it is not that great.

Here is a review of the PSU:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/...upply_review/1

The Antec HCG 520W is made by Seasonic who make PSUs for servers and they are among the best OEMs. Seasonic makes units for companies like Corsair too.

The GTS450 Sonic Platinum is the card you are looking at and this is around £10 more than an HD5770 1GB. The normal GTS450 Sonic is slower as the core is running at 880MHZ and not 930MHZ.

TBH,if you are spending nearly £110 on a GTS450 you might as well look at getting a GTX460 768MB,GTX460 1GB or an HD6850 1GB for around £120 to £130.

If you are looking at using PhysX a GTS450 is a bit on the weak side as the card is around the same speed as a GTS250.

At least a GTX460 has more 75% more stream processors meaning there will be a much lower performance hit when PhysX is enabled.

[Fishboy]

hi cat.
Ok I give you the PSU doesn't look great under scrutiny and I'll probably get a different one,mabey one you recomended, it was only £45 not over £50....

But I'm not sure where you get the card info from though the gts450 i'm looking at is £95 and the core clock is 880mhz but all the 5770 I've looked at have a clock speed of 850mhz and is £98 min.
£95 is my ultimate limit for a card I really can't spen more than that.....

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

hi cat.
Ok I give you the PSU doesn't look great under scrutiny and I'll probably get a different one,mabey one you recomended, it was only £45 not over £50....

But I'm not sure where you get the card info from though the gts450 i'm looking at is £95 and the core clock is 880mhz but all the 5770 I've looked at have a clock speed of 850mhz and is £98 min.
£95 is my ultimate limit for a card I really can't spen more than that.....

On Scan and Ebuyer the GX 650W is over £50 but for under £50 you can still get the Be Quiet or OCZ PSU.

Scan a while back had the GTX460 768MB for around £110 but prices seem to have risen. I suspect the overclocked GTS450 will have similar performance overall to an HD5770 at stock clockspeeds.

However,it does seem that the retail Palit GTS450 does lack VRM cooling like the retail Palit GTX460 768MB. This lead to some issues with the latter card although the GTS450 does consume less power so hopefully this won't be a problem.

TBH,I would try and see if you can save up another £30 or so.

Even a GTX460 1GB or HD6850 1GB at stock clockspeeds is considerably faster than a GTS450 or HD5770:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...450_OC/28.html

[Fishboy]

On Scan and Ebuyer the GX 650W is over £50 but for under £50 you can still get the Be Quiet or OCZ PSU.

Scan a while back had the GTX460 768MB for around £110 but prices seem to have risen. I suspect the overclocked GTS450 will have similar performance overall to an HD5770 at stock clockspeeds.

However,it does seem that the retail Palit GTS450 does lack VRM cooling like the retail Palit GTX460 768MB. This lead to some issues with the latter card although the GTS450 does consume less power so hopefully this won't be a problem.

TBH,I would try and see if you can save up another £30 or so.

Even a GTX460 1GB or HD6850 1GB at stock clockspeeds is considerably faster than a GTS450 or HD5770:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...450_OC/28.html

When I ordered the GX 650W it was on a today special at £45 inc Vat........
AS for the card I really wish I could spend another £30......

OK instead of giving me options "IF" you had £150 and needed a new gpu and psu what would you buy???
All these options are giving me a headache, I need a graphics card as I'm getting withdrawl......

[MSIC]

Sounds to me like your options are a 5770, or 460.
That said, the truth is that a 450 will play games well, as will a 5770 or indeed less, it's just about giving you more graphical eye-candy, and since you are playing in the ballpark (price-wise) where competition is fierce then you get lots of choice.
Under £70 and the graphics cards get rubbish quickly... over £200 and you get much less relative to your spending, but the £90 to £150 range is a good place to be.

[Fishboy]

ok
how does this sound....Sapphire HD 5770 1GB with the Be Quiet 530W Pure Power PSU.....for ebuyers
is that better???

Or what about the 5770 with a 500w corsair from scan????

OK I couldn't wait any longer so I have ordered form ebuyers......

Thanks again for all your help....

[Fishboy]

Hi All
Fired Crisys up for the first time last night and what a difference....running most things at High and a few at Very High and I'm loving what I'm seeing.....

The 5770 rocks

Thanks again all

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Glad to hear that!

[kellock]

Hi All
Fired Crisys up for the first time last night and what a difference....running most things at High and a few at Very High and I'm loving what I'm seeing.....

The 5770 rocks

Thanks again all

good man!

crisys any good?

[cazman]

they make a huge difference a bad psu can damage even destroy other pc components you want a psu in the plus certified categories from a reputable maker, i build gaming machines for a living i consider the psu the most important part if you want a long lasting and health machine. theres gold , silver, and bronze standards. if your psu is bad it will ruine your psu even if its under powered it will effect performance.