Posts by Michael Reed72

What kind of price we talking about here?

Of course it's a total gamble that just isn't worth it! You're way better off saving your cash somewhere else instead of skimping on a power supply, especially since decent ones aren't even that pricey... But man, people always get sucked in by those huge wattage numbers, totally ignoring the fact that the actual power delivery is sketchy and the build quality is basically zero. Honestly, sometimes I feel like people think every cheap unit is just gonna blow up instantly and take the whole rig with it, which isn't always true, but hey, why take the risk of being that one unlucky person?

Look, that MS-ov isn't such a piece of junk that you need to swap it out immediately. Sure, keeping everything on it is a bit risky, but the odds of it actually failing aren't nearly as high as everyone makes them out to be...

If you aren't planning on upgrading your power supply, maybe check out an Nvidia GeForce GT 430, you can find them for just over $333. The 5750 is a little cheaper, but honestly, I don't think it's worth it compared to the 5770. Another solid option would be the ATI Radeon HD 4850, though it does run a bit hotter and pulls more power than the others...

In that price range, you'd be better off grabbing an ATI Radeon HD 4850 since it's way faster than those other options. Honestly, unless you're playing on a massive screen higher than 1900x1200, you don't even need a card with 1GB of VRAM... and even then, more memory doesn't really help much on those specific cards, so it's not worth the extra cash. You're better off putting that money toward another 2GB of RAM instead!

You can pop in any PCI Express card, since that's basically the universal standard nowadays. Your old card is clearly an AGP model, so there's no way you're plugging that into a modern motherboard.

Don't sweat the GDDR2/3 stuff when it comes to compatibility—any of them will work! Usually, cards with (G)DDR3 are faster than the DDR2 versions, though there are weird exceptions (like an Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT with DDR3 vs. an Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT with DDR2) where other specs make the slower memory card actually win. And honestly, just ignore the VRAM amount, whether it's 512MB or 1GB... those cards are way too slow to even make use of that much memory anyway, so that extra gig is just marketing fluff.

As for a GPU for $100, the options aren't exactly huge. If you can swing a few extra bucks, I’d definitely suggest grabbing an Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 512MB (or 1GB) DDR2 128-bit. Just make sure it's the 128-bit version, because those cheaper 64-bit ones are super slow...
Otherwise, if you need to stick strictly to your budget, you could go with the Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT with DDR3 memory.

If money isn't an issue, I'd definitely go for the 5750. That 4770 is just a bit too weak... The GTS 250 and the ATI Radeon HD 4850 are pretty much in the same ballpark as the 5750—sometimes faster, sometimes slower—but since they usually run hotter and pull more power, I’d personally stick with the 5750!

Just make sure your cousin actually needs something that powerful. I've seen cases where someone bought an Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT 512MB DDR2 as a gift for a kid who already had an Nvidia GTX 260 sitting right there...

That one'll get the job done just fine, no sweat...

Do you even have a PCI-E slot on that board? Honestly, forget what I said about that 5670 card... it’s way too much for the rest of your setup anyway. Your CPU is definitely the bottleneck for anything modern. A total rebuild is really your only move here. Or maybe just grab a used GPU like an x1650 or a 7600GT... buying anything new right now just isn't worth it...

I’d definitely tell you to steer clear of that one. Honestly, 1GB of slow DDR2 memory is just a waste... If you can swing an extra couple of bucks for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 430, it would be totally worth it! But if your budget is super tight, then the classic NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT is still a solid move—just make sure you grab the version with (G)DDR3. Seriously, 512MB of DDR3 blows 1GB of DDR2 out of the water. There is a 1GB DDR3 version too, but the clock speeds are slower than the 512MB model, so it’s really not worth the headache...

That’s a tough one to call since I don't know what else is in your rig or how high you want your settings... You could probably limp along on something weak like a 9500GT or a 4550 if you drop the details all the way down, but for a decent experience, you really want at least an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT.

Susan Ward4 said:Thanks! 😉
So what happens next?
Does the PC just freeze? Is everything still good to go? Or does something else happen?👍

If you've got an original key, just right-click on "This PC," hit properties, and then look for the Activate Windows Now option at the bottom... it's pretty straightforward in the US version...