Looking for upgrade advice :)

R

Ramza

New Member
Hello everyone, I have joined this forum to try and get some advice on upgrading my current computer. I have a lot of questions and queries so hopefully you guys can help me out ^_^

I recently bought a new desktop PC for Xmas. It set me back 200 euro, which is not bad for the spec. I already have KB, mouse and monitor. Anyway, I bought it with hopes of upgrading in the future. The guy who sold me the PC said he had just upgraded the graphics and everything else was stock. Here are the specs

AMD 3800+ 1.99GHZ Dual Core
2GB DDR Ram
Nvidia 6600 256MB


The computer model is HP DX5150MT (MT standing for micro tower afaik)

Here is a link : http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF10a/12454-12454-64287-321881-3328896-457124.html

Now, all I use the PC for is mainly my video editing, e-mail, light gaming and HD video streaming and it works perfect for that. Recently I have been contemplating upgrading my graphics card. the game I want to run says it needs a minimum of 512MB VRAM (it recommends a 8600GT or higher). The game runs fine on low settings on my 6600 but I want to run it comfortably and enjoy it at mid-high.

A friend of mine has same specs as me but owns an 8600GT and he says he runs the game at 1280x720 with all mid to high settings. I'm kind of clueless as to what I need to look out for when buying

1). I'm going to go for an nvidia 9 series or something a bit higher than an 8600GT, just to be comfy. I only have one PCI-E slot and its being used by my current card so I know I have nothing to worry about then. Basically, will it fit in my machine? I know my current 6600 is pretty big as it is and there's still some room so just curious on that

2) How does GFX VRAM work exactly? I heard that 256MB DDR3 owns 512MB DDR or DDR2?

3) What other factors do I need to consider? I heard that PSU power is key, but I can't find out how much mine is, I think it's 250. Is it important?

Also a question on RAM. How do you know if your MOBO supports DDR2/3? Also what's the difference between the two?
 
DDR3 is a newer standard than DDR2. It's almost always clocked faster and it is better overall. To find out what type of ram your motherboard supports, you just need to look at the specifications. A motherboard can only take one kind of ram though. For AMD motherboards, it's usually really easy to tell what kind of ram it needs. If you see "AM3" in the name, then it uses DDR3; "AM2" or "AM2+" use DDR2. If you see both in the name like "AM2+/AM3," then that means it uses DDR2 ram but can use either an AM2 compatible processor or an AM3 processor.

[edit] Your motherboard might be old. It may only support DDR (which is the same as DDR1).

[edit2] I think this is the same computer http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12105_na/12105_na.html

[edit3] Unless he put a new motherboard in there when he upgraded it, it looks like your computer only supports DDR.
 
Last edited:
Ramza said:
Hello everyone, I have joined this forum to try and get some advice on upgrading my current computer. I have a lot of questions and queries so hopefully you guys can help me out ^_^

I recently bought a new desktop PC for Xmas. It set me back 200 euro, which is not bad for the spec. I already have KB, mouse and monitor. Anyway, I bought it with hopes of upgrading in the future. The guy who sold me the PC said he had just upgraded the graphics and everything else was stock. Here are the specs

AMD 3800+ 1.99GHZ Dual Core
2GB DDR Ram
Nvidia 6600 256MB


The computer model is HP DX5150MT (MT standing for micro tower afaik)

Here is a link : http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF10a/12454-12454-64287-321881-3328896-457124.html

Now, all I use the PC for is mainly my video editing, e-mail, light gaming and HD video streaming and it works perfect for that. Recently I have been contemplating upgrading my graphics card. the game I want to run says it needs a minimum of 512MB VRAM (it recommends a 8600GT or higher). The game runs fine on low settings on my 6600 but I want to run it comfortably and enjoy it at mid-high.

A friend of mine has same specs as me but owns an 8600GT and he says he runs the game at 1280x720 with all mid to high settings. I'm kind of clueless as to what I need to look out for when buying

1). I'm going to go for an nvidia 9 series or something a bit higher than an 8600GT, just to be comfy. I only have one PCI-E slot and its being used by my current card so I know I have nothing to worry about then. Basically, will it fit in my machine? I know my current 6600 is pretty big as it is and there's still some room so just curious on that
Click to expand...


It depends on how much space you have - 2 available slots / and the length of video card can be limiting factor. Measure how much space you have between back of case - and the drives that would be near your video card.

2) How does GFX VRAM work exactly? I heard that 256MB DDR3 owns 512MB DDR or DDR2?
Click to expand...

You'll want 512MB or 1 GB for a 9xxx series card. For gaming - you wont' notice much of a difference in current games - but there are a small handful of games that will show 1GB performance difference. For video editing - I have limited experience. it's more CPU intensive than GPU intensive - so I don't think you have much to worry about there.

3) What other factors do I need to consider? I heard that PSU power is key, but I can't find out how much mine is, I think it's 250. Is it important?
Click to expand...
Pick out a GPU - and it will tell you the power requirements in the specs. 250W is on the low side though.

Also a question on RAM. How do you know if your MOBO supports DDR2/3? Also what's the difference between the two?
Click to expand...
It only supports one type. If you have DDR2 - it'll support DDR2 and nothing else.

You can tell what kind you have by looking at the pin configuration - or sometimes you will have a paper sticker on your stick of RAM with details

DDR2 vs DDR3 photos. DDR is pretty old - but you can check out DDR Ram
 
The guy who sold me the PC said he had just upgraded the graphics and everything else was stock.
Click to expand...

That means that other than the graphics card, everything else should match up with the specs located here: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12105_na/12105_na.html (I'm pretty sure this is the same computer)

Standard Memory – One of the following
256-MB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (1 x 256 DIMM)
512-MB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (1 x 512 DIMM)
512-MB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (2 x 256 DIMM)
1-GB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (1 x 1024 DIMM)
1-GB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (2 x 512 DIMM)
2-GB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (2 x 1024 DIMM)
4-GB DDR Synch DRAM PC3200 (400-MHz) Non ECC (4 x 1024 DIMM)

For your purposes, you may not need more than the 2GB you already have.
 
Only 250W power =[

That's abd now if I want to upgrade to a decent card. Any decent cards support a 250W PSU?
 
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