Need advice

[tisoy505]

Hi, new to and trying to get into "do it yourself computers" and have a question. My Rosewill X800Xl died recently, and I would like to replace it with something better. EVGA 7900GT KO is going for $199 plus Half Life 2 at Newegg and that gets one's blood excited, but that's at the high end of what I want to spend, plus I'm afraid I would need to upgrade my PSU, I have 350W standard Dell one now.

I get lost in trying to figure out what speeds, pipelines, memory, etc. etc. would be best. I play BF2, Silent Hunter III, Rome, and Il-2/Pacific Fighters. I want the best I can get but with in financial reason.

Anybody have thoughts or opinions pertinent to this?

My System Specs.

P4 3.4G
1 G Ram
160HD
and Dells standards for the 8900 purchased in early '05

Thanks for the help!

[Tazz]

That should be a good choice, I just purchased a XFX 7900GT from newegg for 179.99 after rebate a little over a week ago. Speed, pipes, memory.... The more there are the higher they are the better it will perform in most cases. Pretty much boils down to figuring out what you want as your limit and finding the best deal for that price range. The 7900 should run all those games with no problems.

[tisoy505]

Thanks MI-Tazz, I wouldn't be bottlenecking on my processor would I, and you think my current PSU can handle it?

[Tazz]

I'm not an Intel geek, nor up on the Dell side either.

Requirements
Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amp Amps.)
Minimum 500 Watt for SLI mode system.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 28 Amp Amps.)
An available 6 pin PCI-E power connector (hard drive power dongle to PCI-E 6 pin adapter included with card)

Those are the requirements for the base KO listed on EVGA's site, you would need to verify which KO (they have more than one) and check their site for the correct requirements. I would look at upgrading the PSU though.

The 7 series cards will probably be dropping in price soon with the 8's getting closer. But for the bang for the buck the 7900's with the rebates they been offering lately aren't to bad.

[CAD4466HK]

Originally Posted by tisoy505

Hi, new to and trying to get into "do it yourself computers" and have a question. My Rosewill X800Xl died recently, and I would like to replace it with something better. EVGA 7900GT KO is going for $199 plus Half Life 2 at Newegg and that gets one's blood excited, but that's at the high end of what I want to spend, plus I'm afraid I would need to upgrade my PSU, I have 350W standard Dell one now.

I get lost in trying to figure out what speeds, pipelines, memory, etc. etc. would be best. I play BF2, Silent Hunter III, Rome, and Il-2/Pacific Fighters. I want the best I can get but with in financial reason.

Anybody have thoughts or opinions pertinent to this?

My System Specs.

P4 3.4G
1 G Ram
160HD
and Dells standards for the 8900 purchased in early '05

Thanks for the help!

DTD-Ditch the Dell
That CPU WILL be a bottleneck for sure with the 7900GT KO.

My 3700+ Sandy had to be OC'ed 400Mhz just to smooth things out
Besides,if you want to be a mad modder, DTD
I'm sure your upgradability is limited with that 8900.
Don't count on being able to do much to it without gutting it

unless you can get a hold of some LN and clock that bitch up to 4Ghz+

[acegazda]

@ 3.4ghz, I don't think the cpu will be a problem, but I think you should upgrade the psu and get an x1950 pro, preferably the asus version. It has a superior cooler. It is $170 @ newegg, currently OOS, but scheduled to come back in stock on the 6th. Good deal! The x1950 pro was tested to do something like 120w on idle 160w on load, that's 10 and 14amps respectively, don't dell psus have like 18amps on one 12v rail?

[CAD4466HK]

Originally Posted by acegazda

@ 3.4ghz, I don't think the cpu will be a problem, but I think you should upgrade the psu and get an x1950 pro, preferably the asus version. It has a superior cooler. It is $170 @ newegg, currently OOS, but scheduled to come back in stock on the 6th. Good deal! The x1950 pro was tested to do something like 120w on idle 160w on load, that's 10 and 14amps respectively, don't dell psus have like 18amps on one 12v rail?

You must be insane to think that CPU would provide the much needed physics
that card needs
Mabey at 800x600
But who games at that?

Trust me, I had a 6800GT OC'ed @ 400/1100
paired with a 3.2E OC'ed @ 3.4, that CPU had to be OC'ed just to keep up with the 6800GT
Took that same video card and paired it with my 3700+ stock @ 2.2
and then the 6800GT was the bottleneck! OC'ed it to 420/1115 ,golden

The tables were turned when I got my 7900GT KO.
Had to OC the 3700+ to 2.7 so it could keep up at stock settings 500/1500
If the OP isn't into games,then he's ok.
X1950 Pro?
Don't get me started on those worthless coolers on the ASUS or any other
X1950 Pro
Their great if you enjoy making fried chicken in your rig, just the right temp

Tisoy, DO your homework, the blundernet is the best place to learn what you need to know, and watch out for the old 7900GT KO's, the 564's are bad,
the 584 "Reload" is what you want, but.......the 7900GTO is around the same price with better performance and 512mb GDDR3, it's just an underclocked 7900GTX Your choice man.


P.S---DTD

[acegazda]

A 3.4ghz prescott will perform almost as well as any 3800+ a64... so I don't see how that would bottleneck any game other than oblivion... which is the only multithreaded game really out now. All other games have virtually no difference between dual and single core perormance.

[tisoy505]

I love the conflict in opinion...

Really the only reason I thought I would do the 7900 is it was on sale and seems like such a bada** card. It was the "584" model, the one without the problems...My PSU is rated at 350W & 12v@18A, and according to the link below I should be good with power, but as previously stated it's recommended I have a 400W 12v@20A, so I am conflicted.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Also would a 7600GS,GT,etc. work well? My X800XL had 16 pipelines, 256Mem & Mem interface, running at 400 & 1000, and GDDR3. I'd like to take advantage of more advanced technology and the 7600 is 12pipes, some are GDDR3, 256 & 128 Mem, and usually around 500-600 & 700-1200 for speed, it seems like a step backwards.

And I've heard it all about owning a Dell, but in their defense it's been good, they've always helped solve any problems, and I got to learn a little Hindi while at it

[Tazz]

Every system has a bottleneck at some point. Even if you buy the latest and greatest you will find they are present.

Every one has to start somewhere, buying a Dell for your first computer isn't a bad thing. It might be expensive in some cases, but it is a starting point. Seriously though, you already stated you wanted to work your way into "DIY" computers. The best way is the way you can afford. One piece at a time is more than adequate if thats all you can afford. You got to ignore the Dell'haters out there. They see the name and just go "Bonkers".

Ok so you already made the purchase, you own the Dell. Its done. Upgrading from this point forward is where your limitation is. You can upgrade a few components but you will end up hitting snags. You need a video card now, your first goal should be the target price range. Once you know your price you will want to look for the best deal you can get in that range. Next up is you start verifying what cards are your slot type, what cards have more or are equal to what you had. Then you have the information to make your decision.

If going to a 7900 series puts the bottleneck on your CPU so be it. The next upgrade could easily solve that issue and put the bottleneck back at the GPU. I would much rather purchase the 7900 for the 199 instead of a 7600 for 139.