System Upgrade Help

Im trying to update my brothers pc to play some of the latest games at med-high setting, mostly fps: bad company 2, fallout 3

I've been looking around ebay and my budget is under £40~

the specs are as follows:

2.2GHz AMD Athlon X2 5000+ 45NM Phenom (tried unlocking but given up on it for now may try later) but it OC to ~2.6GHz on stock cooler
ASUS M3A78-t
2GB Crucial DDR2 6400
400w Silverpower SP-400P2C
500gb Samsung F3
17'' CRT

Currently using on board HD 3300. I'm very surprised with this igp, most games are playable, however it struggles at times

What would you guys reccommend? 8800gt? And which one there are so many lol

Btw I've seen a HD 4830 going cheap if I can get it. I believe it should still be okay with this PSU, unless you guys think otherwise?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sapphire-Radeo...item45f32aa29d

An HD4830 should be fine as I run a massively overclocked one off a Shuttle 400W PSU. Many HD4830 cards overclock quite well so it is definitely worth considering.

I ran Fallout 3 with my overclocked HD4830 at 1440X900 under Windows 7 RC1 with high settings.

BFBC2 does run better on a quad core so it is worth trying to unlock the X2 5000+ if possible.

the item description has no original cables, but is fully boxed. Strange? What will i need to get this card running, DVI-VGA converter, molex to PCI-E 6 pin power adaptor, anything else?

I bought my HD4830 512MB for around £50 over a year ago from Ebay. It looked new but came in the box with the card only. I suspect it must have been clearance stock or something along those lines as the seller had many examples of the same HD4830.

I thought that the Silverpower SP-400P2C comes with a PCI-E power connector?

The Sapphire card comes with a pair of DVI connectors AFAIK so you will need a DVI-VGA converter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I thought that the Silverpower SP-400P2C comes with a PCI-E power connector?

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:O_o1: Oh wait silly me, thanks cat

I also saw this XFX ATI Radeon 4830 HD 512MB

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20...CI-Express-DVI

£62.20 inc Delivery a bit over my budget but it is brand new :)

I may buy this but I was unsure about buying from this vendor

hence my other thread
http://forums.hexus.net/shopping-ret...store-com.html

The XFX HD4830 is cheaper at this retailer:

http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...d=hd-483x-ydfk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

The XFX HD4830 is cheaper at this retailer:

http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...d=hd-483x-ydfk

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Nice find cat, so at the £60 price point is this the best card to get then, if I was to buy brand new that is

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iron Sights

Nice find cat, so at the £60 price point is this the best card to get then, if I was to buy brand new that is

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ATM,it seems to be the brand new best card at around the £60 mark.

However,there is this refurbished 8800GTS 512MB for under £60:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...Dual-DVI--HDTV

This would be faster than an HD4830 although it will consume more power as well IIRC.

going back to the card that I saw on ebay I requested some pics of the box and there is a sticker that I'm assuming is from the retailer they bought it from, its called techguys. My question is who are they and do they deal with refurbs, it might explain why there are no cables I suppose.

http://co112w.col112.mail.live.com/a...D17A7782BF70||

linky: http://img156.imageshack.us/i/img0044pz.jpg/

TechGuys are the DSG Group inhouse tech support people aren't they? They sit in the corner of PC World and Currys and deal with repairs / installation / selling people add-on services they don't need...

I don't think it would suggest a reason why there wouldn't be any cables, AFAIK the techguys don't sell refurbed kit...

Maybe keep an eye out on the Hexus sale forum, seems to be a lot of people having summer clearouts atm you might pick up a bargain!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

Maybe keep an eye out on the Hexus sale forum, seems to be a lot of people having summer clearouts atm you might pick up a bargain!

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Yeah thats true I've seen a couple of 8800gt going for around here for ~£35-40 which is pretty good tbh