Rookie with questions. Please advise...

K

KMojo

New Member
I'm looking for a video card so my computer can run Counter-Strike: Source at higher levels. Running the "Video Stress Test" in the game's menu results in an FPS around 13-14. I'm assuming I need a new video card, but here's my set up in case there's something else I need:

Acer Aspire X3200
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ 2.9GHz
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9200

I've done some looking around at video cards and found one that seems to work with small form factors like mine, and has great reviews on Newegg. What I'm wondering is if this card will work in my tower, and will it allow me to play Source at better than 13-14 FPS?

Here it is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133356

Please let me know if there's any more information about my system that you would need to answer my questions, and thank you very much in advance for any help.

Here's a picture I found of what we're working with:

5498310408_384dec3bdc_z.jpg
 
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You would be better off getting a new computer. It's very outdated.

And the problem with getting a new video card is you also need to get a new power supply. You have an unusual case and a normal power supply wouldn't fit in it. And you'd have to do some rearranging with that cable right by the PCI slot. And your case might not even be wide enough.
 
I actually had that card myself, loved it for not very system intensive stud, It SHOULD draw power from the pcie slot, so a new PSU is not absolutely necessary, but overall, that system is kinda outdated, get a new computer I'd you can.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I think I'll just start looking into getting a new computer. I'm assuming building a custom PC is better/cheaper than buying one already built, correct?
 
KMojo said:
Thanks for the help everyone. I think I'll just start looking into getting a new computer. I'm assuming building a custom PC is better/cheaper than buying one already built, correct?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you use it for, yes. Plus you'll get quality parts. To play CSS, you can build a pretty cheap one. Post a thread in the desktop section with your budget, location, and what you want to do with the computer and we'll help you.
 
claptonman said:
You would be better off getting a new computer. It's very outdated.

And the problem with getting a new video card is you also need to get a new power supply. You have an unusual case and a normal power supply wouldn't fit in it. And you'd have to do some rearranging with that cable right by the PCI slot. And your case might not even be wide enough.
Click to expand...

You do realize he's talking about CSS and not Crysis right? So what if ihis system is outdated, if the only reason he needs to upgrade is to play CSS, why spend more money than you have to?

Also, who says he needs a new PSU? He may, he may not. But it's pretty silly to simply say he needs one out of hand, just because he wants a new video card. CSS remember? If he decided NOT to build a new, affordable system and simply wanted to upgrade his GPU, his current PSU may very well be fine. The distinct impression I got GPU-wise (if upgrading only that to improve FPS), was that it WASN'T going to be something high-end.

I know what you're saying, and the OP may very well want to build a new system rather than upgrade his video card, but it irritates me when people totally disregard context and the specific situations people have and simply say "Well...that's an old system, your best bet is to just build a new one. I got a list for ya even!" That shit is irresponsible to many people who come in here and have little knowledge about computers. At least SOME of the times, I'm sure these people could have saved a ton of money by NOT going with a whole new system, since for their specific situation, it really wasn't needed.

Just something to think about. Try reading between the lines a little bit and at least attempt to cater your answer/solution towards that specific individual and their needs.
 
^thats what i was looking at: CSS can play on lower end hardware, so i think hes ok just upgrading the GPU. low end gpu + that hardware = i think hes ok, ive seen machines on more hardware run a 350W supply, fine, as long as their not being super stressed all the time, he will be okay.
 
I went ahead and bought the card I linked to in the OP. I found multiple reviews for it from people with PSUs putting out less than the 300W that is supposedly "required". None of them seemed to have any real issues, so I'm going to give it a shot. I know my system is outdated (I got it right before college about 7 years ago), but I'm not planning on getting into any graphically intensive games like Skyrim, BF3, etc. I found in on TigerDirect for $10 cheaper than Newegg, so I can afford to gamble at that price. Thanks for all the help, and I'll be sure to let everyone know what happens.
 
Got my PNY GeForce GT 430 in today, and once I got the LP bracket on there it fit pretty well in my tower. I booted it up and entered the BIOS to switch from onboard video chipset to PCIe (as explained in the instructions that came with the card). I started up CS:S and everything ran really smoothly. I ran that stress test again (that I had gotten about 14fps average on) and I got ~160fps average. I didn't know that was possible, but I was very pleased with the results.

I did run into one snag though. Now that I'm using an HDMI cable from the card to the monitor, my speakers no longer work (were connected with an audio jack into the back of the PC). Is there anything I can do to get them to work?
 
Are these speakers part of the monitor? As in built-in in some way.

HDMI does support audio and video, but unless your speakers are in some way attached or plugged into the monitor they will not work. If you plug them back into the built-in sound card they should work fine.


I personally had issues when adding a new video card to my old Emachines W3052, everything installed fine but it would not boot up. Therefore I wrote it off as a PSU problem and in under a year purchased my current system, then upgraded it's PSU and added in a 5770 which for me is good enough to play new games at decent settings.
 
Currency said:
Are these speakers part of the monitor? As in built-in in some way.

HDMI does support audio and video, but unless your speakers are in some way attached or plugged into the monitor they will not work. If you plug them back into the built-in sound card they should work fine.
Click to expand...

I have some old Logitech speakers with a sub, and the only connection between them and my PC is through an audio jack (the light green one) on the back of my tower.

Does anybody know if there is some kind of an adapter out there that will split out the audio from an HDMI and be able to send it to the speakers? It's not a make or break thing, but it would be nice to be able to use the speakers without diverting back to the onboard gpu everytime.
 
All you have to do is change the audio output to go back to your onboard audio instead of the hdmi.
 
Nope, that would be in the conrol panel. Are you running XP? if so then do this.

Start, settings, control panel, sounds and audio devices, audio tab, change sound playback device to your onboard audio or dedicated sound card.

Will be similar if running vista or windows 7
 
Mishkin said:
You do realize he's talking about CSS and not Crysis right? So what if ihis system is outdated, if the only reason he needs to upgrade is to play CSS, why spend more money than you have to?

Also, who says he needs a new PSU? He may, he may not. But it's pretty silly to simply say he needs one out of hand, just because he wants a new video card. CSS remember? If he decided NOT to build a new, affordable system and simply wanted to upgrade his GPU, his current PSU may very well be fine. The distinct impression I got GPU-wise (if upgrading only that to improve FPS), was that it WASN'T going to be something high-end.

I know what you're saying, and the OP may very well want to build a new system rather than upgrade his video card, but it irritates me when people totally disregard context and the specific situations people have and simply say "Well...that's an old system, your best bet is to just build a new one. I got a list for ya even!" That shit is irresponsible to many people who come in here and have little knowledge about computers. At least SOME of the times, I'm sure these people could have saved a ton of money by NOT going with a whole new system, since for their specific situation, it really wasn't needed.

Just something to think about. Try reading between the lines a little bit and at least attempt to cater your answer/solution towards that specific individual and their needs.
Click to expand...
I didn't say he *needed* to build a new one, I'm saying he would be better off doing so, which I stand by. Just a suggestion.

I cannot just suggest to get a new graphics card. He needs a new power supply, no question.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gt-430-review/5

242w for the whole system, at load. I'm guessing his liteon is "rated" around 250-300w. But the actual output would be much lower, since its rated at a much lower temperature in the testing facility, and I doubt that PSU will get to 40c in that case. May be fine for now, but just be warned.

And to get that, he needs a new case. Even if he didn't get a new power supply, he still is probably going to need a new case, anyways. The card will overheat. The fan will be pointing towards the top (from the picture perspective) and will have no airflow whatsoever.

Sure, he doesn't need to build a new computer, but he could easily sell that computer as a small home computer for the average user and build a new one for cheap and play that game, and at the same time, opening his world to other games.

But if the OP is happy, I'm happy.
 
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@johnb35: Thanks very much. I got it sorted and now my sound is coming out of my speakers.

@claptonman: I'm aware my system is out of date, and that this new card will be pushing the limits of of my PSU. I'm also aware that my case prevents me from doing much in the way of upgrading, but taking a risk on a $35 card (after rebate) is more affordable than building a new system.

Thanks to everybody for the help.
 
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