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Thread: Upgrade P4 system

  1. #1
    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    Upgrade P4 system

    Hi, my cousin needs to upgrade his pc so he can play some more modern games. He will be playing at 1024x768 and just basically wants to be able to play them without destroying the graphics!

    However, there is obviously a limit on how much he can spend, his not sure on the exact ammount but not too much!

    Anyway the spec is 2.8GHz P4 with 1/2 gig RAM with an 8x AGP slot.

    Basically he needs to upgrade the GPU and RAM, however there is a very sifty looking 250w PSU in there and im not too sure about available space in the case.

    Therefore i think he will need a new PSU too, hopefully a GPU can be found which is a more normal size rather than approaching a foot long!

    Im thinking

    Antec SmartPower II 500W Modular PSU - £29.99

    Corsair 256MB DDR 400MHz/PC3200 x 2 - £19.98

    HIS X1950Pro 256MB AGP - £96.99

    Total: £146.96

    Is this a good option, im worried about bottlenecks?
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

  2. #2
    Senior Member Max Tractor's Avatar
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    • Max Tractor's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Biostar TA890GXE
      • CPU:
      • 95w 1055T@x4-3.5Ghz-1.15v
      • Memory:
      • Samsung Green 30nm low voltage 2x4GB@1.26v
      • Storage:
      • Corsair 3 60GB-Sandisk Extreme 240GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 7850 2GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic SS-1050XM
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster elite 120(Modd)
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ EW2430
    What card is he using now?

  3. #3
    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    something like a 9200 lol
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Max Tractor's Avatar
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    • Max Tractor's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Biostar TA890GXE
      • CPU:
      • 95w 1055T@x4-3.5Ghz-1.15v
      • Memory:
      • Samsung Green 30nm low voltage 2x4GB@1.26v
      • Storage:
      • Corsair 3 60GB-Sandisk Extreme 240GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 7850 2GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic SS-1050XM
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster elite 120(Modd)
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ EW2430
    Have you thought about a 7600GT? Not sure if you would get away with the current psu.

  5. #5
    Fried Chip Extremist alsenior's Avatar
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    • alsenior's system
      • Motherboard:
      • DFI Lanparty Jr x58-T3H6
      • CPU:
      • Core i7 920
      • Memory:
      • 6 x 2GB ocz Gold
      • Storage:
      • 1 TB Samsung F3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 1gb 4890 vapor-x xfire
      • PSU:
      • xfx 850W
      • Case:
      • Lian-li Pc7
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 X64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2208WFP
      • Internet:
      • 30mb Virgin media
    you might want to consider taking the computer all the way to 2gb as it would be more beneficial in current games
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  6. #6
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    • master811's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P5E
      • CPU:
      • Intel Q6600 @ 3.2GHz
      • Memory:
      • 6GB DDR2
      • Storage:
      • 128GB Crucial M4 & 1TB Samsung
      • Graphics card(s):
      • PowerColor HD5850 1GB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair 620W
      • Case:
      • Antec P182
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 64bit SP1
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung 24in LCD
      • Internet:
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    I've got the HIS X1950 Pro AGP card and it will be more than good enough running at that Res, how much Ram does he have now, 2x512MB might be a better idea should only cost you an extra £10 and will be worth it. Depends on the sort of games he'll be playing?

    The actual bottleneck could well be his CPU, as I have a feeling my cpu is holding my gpu back a bit.

  7. #7
    Efficiently lazy shadowmaster's Avatar
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    • shadowmaster's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5
      • CPU:
      • AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.6Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Corsair XMS3
      • Storage:
      • Kingston SSD V series 64GB + Samsung F3 1TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX 5870 1GB in Crossfire
      • PSU:
      • BeQuiet 1200W Dark Power Pro
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster Stacker 832 SE
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • 3 x BenQ G2222HDL 21.5inch 1080p
      • Internet:
      • BT Infinity 2
    P4 2.8Ghz is a decent processor, but it may well be a slight bottleneck for an X1950PRO, as it is a very good graphics card.

    2GB of ram will help in current games as Alsenior said, I find that 2Gb especially helps in Fear multiplayer, and Oblivion, it depends somewhat on what games your cousin will be playing.

    I dont think a 250watt psu could handle a 7600gt but I would not take the risk. Anyhow the Psu you have chosen should be more then enough for that system. And at £30 (im guessing ebuyer) its at a very good price.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Pob255's Avatar
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    • Pob255's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus M5A99X EVO
      • CPU:
      • FX8350 & CM Hyper 212+
      • Memory:
      • 4 x 2gb Corsair Vengence 1600mhz cas9
      • Storage:
      • 512gb samsung SSD +1tb Samsung HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EGVA GTX970
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic GX 650W
      • Case:
      • HAF 912+
      • Operating System:
      • W7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • iiyama XB3270QS-B1 32" IPS 1440p
    Yes I'd agree with what's been said

    grab that Antec, 500w modular for £40, cannot really fault it. ( pritty sure this is it http://www.antec.com/us/productDetai...?ProdID=26500# )

    Looking at ebuyer
    EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GS CO Copper Version 256MB AGP £111
    Point Of View 7600GT 256MB DVI AGP £65
    That ATi looks the best deal with ease.

    Although they have
    HIS X1650Pro IceQ 256MB (128bit) DDR2 AGP £66
    Hightech HIS X1650Pro IceQ 256MB DDR2 DVI TV AGP £85
    They seem to be the same thing listed twice looking at the HIS web site the cheaper one has got the correct manufactor code.
    Not 100% sure on the performance vs a x1950pro, but should be ok at 1024x768
    (check his monitor, if it can do 1280x1024 the x1950pro will be great for that)

    On the memory front find out what he has currently and what his motherboard can use.
    I'd advise a couple of the Corsair 1GB DDR 400MHz/PC3200 at £40 each or stick with the Ebuyer 1GB DDR PC3200 400MHz at £32 each, if your not going to overclock and are not too worried about the tightest CAS numbers then the extra value stuff should be fine.

    getting an extra gb to bring him up to 1.5gb will be ok for most games, however if he plays MMOs then I'd sugest 2gb as MMOs tend to be very memory hungery (City of heroes/villians, LOTR and Auto Assault ran far smoother for me with 2gb over 1gb)
    Don't worry about matched pairs so much, turn off dual channel mode if they cause problems, loseing dual channel will be less of a loss than only haveing 1gb or less

  9. #9
    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    ive just seen in the bargains section 2GB ram for £60 (same as in my rig) so maybe some of that (his board takes 4x1GB afaik - ill check later

    Thanks for the help guys!
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

  10. #10
    Senior Member Pob255's Avatar
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    • Pob255's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus M5A99X EVO
      • CPU:
      • FX8350 & CM Hyper 212+
      • Memory:
      • 4 x 2gb Corsair Vengence 1600mhz cas9
      • Storage:
      • 512gb samsung SSD +1tb Samsung HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EGVA GTX970
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic GX 650W
      • Case:
      • HAF 912+
      • Operating System:
      • W7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • iiyama XB3270QS-B1 32" IPS 1440p
    Just remember you cannot put ddr2 in a ddr1 slot

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