Hi there,
I hope you can help with a bit of a conundrum. Basically I am having some trouble in deciding what to do about my old system.
Right now I have the following components in my PC:
Intel D915PBL Mobo
Intel P4 3.4ghz HT
Sapphire X700 Pro
Couple of 160gig HDD's
XFi Soundcard (Extreme Music I think)
400w PSU (came with the case, an AOpen H700B)
DVD Drive
I am also running a naff 1280x800 monitor at the moment.
The thing is I have been "OK" to an extent with games on this rig since I bought it (back in early '04), I have been able to play most of the games up until the last few years (when most seemed to switch to SM 3.0) at a reasonable rate (low to medium settings).
I am aware that my little rig isn't all that powerful and that I am probably in dire need of an upgrade!
As I am sure you are aware, money is a little tight right now and I'm wondering what I should do in order to get some of these newer games running.
The way I see it I have two (maybe three) options:
1. Complete upgrade (New everything) - not really open to this right now though
2. Upgrade the GPU to a newer model which still runs from the PCI-Express socket on the Mobo (thinking 4650 or 4670, I have found "Ultimate" versions of both which use passive coolers)
3. Go for the latest 5xxx card and a new PSU - Could probably stretch to this.
So basically I am stuck between getting a new card that will run from the Mobo (no PCI connectors on my PSU) which would probably keep me going for another year maybe 18 months while I save up some dosh for a proper rebuild. Or go for a new PSU and grab a 5770 (or perhaps one of the new "Q1 2010" models yet to be announced which look like they might take over from the 46xx range).
As I only have a 1280x800 screen right now, would I see much of an improvement if I went for "option 3" over "option 2"? I am aware that my Mobo doesn't support PCI-Express 2.0 (or 2.1, whatever is the latest), according to the Intel Site I can support a PCI-Express x16 card... wow!
I can probably go to around £200 if I went for the "option 2" upgrade, to take into account the current 57xx pricing and a decent PSU. On the other hand, the 4670 I have spotted is around £45, which would allow me a little more time to plan an upgrade.
Basically I don't want to be throwing my money at something like a 5xxx card if it won't run that well on my system. I have read that the "Q1 2010" cards will aim to replace the 46xx range (among others) but I have no clue if they will need a separate Power connector.
I am also a little unsure on when to buy a new spec (if I get that far £££ wise), I know there never seems to be a good time but would it be worth me waiting until the new nVidia cards hit before doing anything?
Any help you folks could offer would be truly appreciated,
Cheers,
Harv
EDIT: Thanks to Phage for suggesting posting this here