How Much Faster???

[boondokk]

Heya. This seems like a good place to drop this question since i can't find it on the web by searching. I have a decent computer built right now and I'm looking to upgrade it a bit. Here's my current specs:

Athlon 64 3700+ Socket-939
DFI LANparty NF4 SLI-DR mobo
2gb OCZ DDR400 2-3-2-5 (With the cool new heatspeaders)
2 80gb traditional 7200rpm IDE harddrives
MSI Nvidia GeForce NX6800 256mb videocard (only 1, no SLI)
Thermaltake TR2-500w PSU

I have about 600 or so $ to throw around... anyone have any suggestions of what i should upgrade first. I was thinking the hard drives because.. well... they are really quite old and the SATA stuff looks attractive.

[Mr.Ferrari]

The psu and card.

[boondokk]

Why the PSU? I am hardly using any of the power right now. Yeah... the card... maybe. It's getting kinda old. Any idea what i should upgrade to? The Geforce 7900GTX 512MB looked attractive, but someone told me that Nvidia Cards don't support Anti-Alias and HDR lighting at the same time. I play a lot of oblivion, and that stuff counts to me.

[clroberts]

Go with the 7950 Nvdia card. That has SLI on a single card.

[boondokk]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127212

That one looks good.

Okay, so what about my hard drives... these things suck. haha. Is SATA really that much better in the loading time area? I was thinking of purchasing x2 raptors and placing them in RAID 0, but what if i just get a single 150mb raptor. would the raid show that big a difference? or not noticeable?

[Mr.Ferrari]

That is not the kinda psu that I would put my whole hearted trust on. No its not horrible, its decent. But since your upgrading, mind as well upgrade to a nice quality psu that will last and serve you well.
If you want you can give me a budget..

And check DFI's site before useing that 7950GX2. Some boards have been needing a bios update before reconizing it.

I would suggest something like a 7900GT or a X1900XT right now for bang for the buck. I would rather save the extra for a later upgrade.

By putting 2 raptors in raid 0 you risk alot of data. I suggest you either get 1 raptor or get a Seagate 7200.10. Almost as fast.

[boondokk]

I was originally looking at that very Seagate, then thought about the raptors. But now that the HDD thing is figured out... About the power supply. Any Brand Suggestions or specific products in mind?

My budget is about 700 bux or so at the moment. im really just trying to figure out what part would give me the biggest boost in performance for the time being. I'll add in additional parts when the cash comes in.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Well for a none Sli or crossfire setup these would be the psu's of my choice as far as bang/buck quality is concerned:

Enhance 500W

Enermax Noisetaker 485W

FSP Blue Storm 500W

I would personally go for the Enhance..Cheapest and awesome quality for the price.

[DarkPacMan77]

that gpu should be able to run elder scrolls oblivion, one of the most demanding games. Some reviews say that it doesn't so well. I am unsure of whether you should buy one of those dual-gpu cards or two 7900gt's or something. Still, a good choice.

[boondokk]

The 7900's look like a much better "bang for the buck". I just don't have the extra cash for the 7950 at the moment. I'm lookin at a New Videocard and Faster Harddrive. That ought to boost my framerates and lower my loading times i think. Anything else come to mind?

[jfk]

Vid card, PSU, hard drive in that order. I too would prefer you to get a better PSU, especially if you're going to run a new video card. Mr. Ferrari gave you several good choices.

[boondokk]

I'm going to snag me one of those 7900gtx's when i see a really good deal (probably that one on Newegg right now). Then perhaps i'll use the rest of the money to obtain a better PSU. Shame since i just bought this one and it's 500W as well and has plenty of lil connectors and it doesnt seem to be strained at all. Is there any way to test how much power your system is taking from the PSU?

[flanzig1]

PSUs are tested on specially made test rigs(very pricey). A quick way of testing current draw of a system is to use an AC clamp-on Amp meter. This will give the total current used but not what each rail is providing and doesn't tell you how much power is lost due to heat produced.

[boondokk]

Ahhh ohkay. Looks like am gonna have to find one of those meters.

[artushka24]

I don't know if i'm too late or not with the advice but instead of the 7900gtx I would get a 7950GT not GX2. It has 512MB GDDR3 256-bit and depending on the brand pretty high core and memory clocks. It's about $80-$100 cheaper than the 7900GTX and about $280 cheaper than the GX2. As for psu I would get an Antec True Power 2 550Watt Dual 12V rails with 19A each and very handy 6-pin PCI-E connectors. Plus it's SLI certified, not for GTX or GX2 though lol. That leaves you about $200 or your $600 budget to spend on hard drives or whatever else you need/want.

[nicolaus corelius]

some would say that the thermaltake is a semi-crappy brand but they produce a auxilary 12V 250 W PSU. i'd take a look link

[boondokk]

auxillary... like installing a 2nd power supply? I have the spot for a 2nd power supply in my case tower. It's a Coolermaster stacker. Maybe a 2nd PSU would work?

[Mr.Ferrari]

As long as you go with one of my choices you dont need a extra psu.

Wiring/Modding a 2nd psu is totally different from adding of othose additional psu's from fsp or thermaltake that come with a adapter cable to your 24pin connection. By modifying double psu's yourself you will slowly degrade the life of your components and even kill some of them. Thats why the mod is rarely used.

But like I said those additional psu's only come in handy if you already have one quality psu and need a booster for an additional high end video card such as in sli or xfire. I personally would prefer to get one quality psu and not worry about it.

However the only additional psu attachment that I would look into is the FSP Booster. Its 80 bucks. Not worth it.

Yoursetup isnt that demanding. I suggest the Enhance 500W or the Antec tp2 550. You DONT need more then that.

[boondokk]

i know, i was just "gettin crazy" in response to that fella's post. haha... anyways. alright i'll check out one of those power supplies. Should I chuck out the extra change and get the 7950gt2? or just go with a normal single-card set up? the dual card thing is very appealing to me because its not as expensive as getting 2 7950s and almost has the same level of performance.

[nicolaus corelius]

you dont have to mod the PSU. the thing comes with the plugs. just plug it- no splicing or soldering involved. booster will prolly last u couple of years cuz i dont see gpu's consuming 200W+ in the near future(3years)

[Mr.Ferrari]

Originally Posted by boondokk i know, i was just "gettin crazy" in response to that fella's post. haha... anyways. alright i'll check out one of those power supplies. Should I chuck out the extra change and get the 7950gt2? or just go with a normal single-card set up? the dual card thing is very appealing to me because its not as expensive as getting 2 7950s and almost has the same level of performance.

The 7950GX2 is a great card. will be plenty performance for a while. But..A X1950XTX is cheaper and outperforms it. Suprsing thing is, its a single card outperforming a double card. Its a possible choice you might wanna consider.

you dont have to mod the PSU. the thing comes with the plugs. just plug it- no splicing or soldering involved. booster will prolly last u couple of years cuz i dont see gpu's consuming 200W+ in the near future(3years)

Yes as I did say, it doest come with a simple 24pin adapter cable that just extends to the modular unit. But he should first get a single QUALITY power supply. And a 500w quality supply should more then power his setup. Then if he ever wants to go crossfire or high end sli, he might think of adding that. Otherwise its not necessary.

[nicolaus corelius]

got it . im myself waiting for Dx10 to buy a vid card and waterblock it.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Originally Posted by nicolaus corelius got it . im myself waiting for Dx10 to buy a vid card and waterblock it.

[boondokk]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari The 7950GX2 is a great card. will be plenty performance for a while. But..A X1950XTX is cheaper and outperforms it. Suprsing thing is, its a single card outperforming a double card. Its a possible choice you might wanna consider.

Outperforms it? Do you have a link to the benchmarks? My system is SLI, so if i get that card, then i cannot get a 2nd one without buying a X-fire board. I know the card will work in my system... ya know what... I'd probably never get around to getting a 2nd card. haha. Id like a link to the benchmarks anyhow.

[glc]

I think we are being just a bit too critical on power supplies around here. Thermaltake is a decent quality brand, and that model is a true ATX 2.0 unit with dual rails. It sure beats the usual junk we find around here - Aspire, Ultra, Coolmax, etc.

The only way I'd replace it is if you pick a video card that comes with a recommendation of more than 29 amps on the +12v because that unit has 14 amps on one rail and 15 amps on the other. It may not be the strogest 500 watt unit around, but it's far from being junk.

[boondokk]

Yeah, if the Card requests more power, than I'll surely upgrade, but I dont want to buy stuff that i dont need to.

Now i just have to solve the Video Card question.

[boondokk]

Now for the Videocard, what do u think? 7940GX2 or the X1950XTX? The X1950XTX IS cheaper but if the other one is only a bit more and provides more power, i dont wanna cheap out.

[newbuilder14]

The X1950XTX is cheaper and more powerful, but choose which one YOU like.

[boondokk]

I guess the ATI one's lookin good to me. I like keeping cash in my pocket.

[boondokk]

My powersupply does not appear to have sufficient enough amps to run a new card. Well, i guess i gotta get a new PSU. the FSP looks nice.