Planning on upgrading video card and power supply ..any suggestions?

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g
so you guys think i should get 4770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/..._-14-150-369-_-Product

instead of 4870?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150436

Oh yeah i also i want to buy another psu so i can overclock my cpu a little bit.....i forgot about that lol

I overclocked your system to 2.6, and with the psu calculator it pulls 238 watts . remember thats with all of your components at 90% power. Thats almost impossible.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

 

[happy medium]

Are you gonna build a new system in the next 2 months?
If not just buy the 4770.

If you are, get a 500 watt psu with at least a 34 amp 12v+ rail and 80% efficiency rating. Also make sure it has at least 1 pci-e 6 pin and one pci-e 6+2 pin. The new cards (5870) are using them. Or at the very least 2, 6 pin connectors. Try to buy a name brand such as Antec,Enermax,Corsair ect ect.

And the fastest videocard you can afford.

Let us know and we can help you.

Edit ne more question .What resolution do you use and what kind of games do you like or looking to play. Do you plan on buying a new monitor anytime soon?

By the way you can get a 4770 for only 95$ shipped . Why do you keep linking the exspensive one?

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: happy medium
Are you gonna build a new system in the next 2 months?
If not just buy the 4770.

If you are, get a 500 watt psu with at least a 34 amp 12v+ rail and 80% efficiency rating. Also make sure it has at least 1 pci-e 6 pin and one pci-e 6+2 pin. The new cards (5870) are using them. Or at the very least 2, 6 pin connectors. Try to buy a name brand such as Antec,Enermax,Corsair ect ect.

And the fastest videocard you can afford.

Let us know and we can help you.

Edit ne more question .What resolution do you use and what kind of games do you like or looking to play. Do you plan on buying a new monitor anytime soon?

By the way you can get a 4770 for only 95$ shipped . Why do you keep linking the exspensive one?

My Max Resolution is 1360 x 1024....So i guess i really dont need an 4870 right?

I just want to run some games to the max...sports games like need for speed shift or something like that and maybe gta iv..


Another Question though.....Ive see your post about the overclocking of my x2 3800+....so i cant overclock it?

Nope i really don't plan to build a system in the upcoming months but if i do, ill just buy the 5870 and start fresh...

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g

Originally posted by: happy medium
Are you gonna build a new system in the next 2 months?
If not just buy the 4770.

If you are, get a 500 watt psu with at least a 34 amp 12v+ rail and 80% efficiency rating. Also make sure it has at least 1 pci-e 6 pin and one pci-e 6+2 pin. The new cards (5870) are using them. Or at the very least 2, 6 pin connectors. Try to buy a name brand such as Antec,Enermax,Corsair ect ect.

And the fastest videocard you can afford.

Let us know and we can help you.

Edit ne more question .What resolution do you use and what kind of games do you like or looking to play. Do you plan on buying a new monitor anytime soon?

By the way you can get a 4770 for only 95$ shipped . Why do you keep linking the exspensive one?

My Max Resolution is 1360 x 1024....So i guess i really dont need an 4870 right?

I just want to run some games to the max...sports games like need for speed shift or something like that and maybe gta iv..


Another Question though.....Ive see your post about the overclocking of my x2 3800+....so i cant overclock it?

Nope i really don't plan to build a system in the upcoming months but if i do, ill just buy the 5870 and start fresh...

No what I meant by immposible is the calculator gives you what your system would pull if everything in your system was running at 90% all at the same time. There are little to no cases where your computer will run your memory,hard drive,dvd rom,cpu,and gpu at 90% for more then just a few seconds. So this is good news. 238 watts would be your peak watts. Your system will pull less watts (under 200) in day to day use.
I believe you will have enough juice to overclock your cpu also. You 4800x2 should easily bump up to 2.6 without a voltage bump.

I would grab the 4770 for that resolution. Believe me my 8800gt (which is slower) runs most modern games at high settings @1280x1024.
In fact I just played Need 4 Speed shift @ high settings just fine. I also play Left 4 Dead,Call of duty 4/5 at high settings just fine.

Save yourself some money and just buy the 4770 and try it out without buying a power supply. Your cpu is a little slow but will give you enough power to push a 4770 in modern games. Just don't exspect 90 fps but you should easily not drop below 30fps. I believe you will thank me. :thumbsup: Remember get the 95$ one shipped I linked earlier.

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g

Originally posted by: happy medium
Are you gonna build a new system in the next 2 months?
If not just buy the 4770.

If you are, get a 500 watt psu with at least a 34 amp 12v+ rail and 80% efficiency rating. Also make sure it has at least 1 pci-e 6 pin and one pci-e 6+2 pin. The new cards (5870) are using them. Or at the very least 2, 6 pin connectors. Try to buy a name brand such as Antec,Enermax,Corsair ect ect.

And the fastest videocard you can afford.

Let us know and we can help you.

Edit ne more question .What resolution do you use and what kind of games do you like or looking to play. Do you plan on buying a new monitor anytime soon?

By the way you can get a 4770 for only 95$ shipped . Why do you keep linking the exspensive one?

My Max Resolution is 1360 x 1024....So i guess i really dont need an 4870 right?

I just want to run some games to the max...sports games like need for speed shift or something like that and maybe gta iv..


Another Question though.....Ive see your post about the overclocking of my x2 3800+....so i cant overclock it?

Nope i really don't plan to build a system in the upcoming months but if i do, ill just buy the 5870 and start fresh...

No what I meant by immposible is the calculator gives you what your system would pull if everything in your system was running at 90% all at the same time. There are little to no cases where your computer will run your memory,hard drive,dvd rom,cpu,and gpu at 90% for more then just a few seconds. So this is good news. 238 watts would be your peak watts. Your system will pull less watts (under 200) in day to day use.
I believe you will have enough juice to overclock your cpu also. You 4800x2 should easily bump up to 2.6 without a voltage bump.

I would grab the 4770 for that resolution. Believe me my 8800gt (which is slower) runs most modern games at high settings @1280x1024.
In fact I just played Need 4 Speed shift @ high settings just fine. I also play Left 4 Dead,Call of duty 4/5 at high settings just fine.

Save yourself some money and just buy the 4770 and try it out without buying a power supply. Your cpu is a little slow but will give you enough power to push a 4770 in modern games. Just don't exspect 90 fps but you should easily not drop below 30fps. I believe you will thank me. :thumbsup: Remember get the 95$ one shipped I linked earlier.

ok thanks really encouraging, but i still feel i may need a new psu, i've had this for 4 years.

 

[Rezist]

Corsair CX400W will run a 4850 w/o any issues. For a 4770 you'd need probably 350W from a quality brand (check rail ratings)

I picked one up for $53 CDN. However if you want a future proof PSU that is NOT it. Since it's limited low mid range cards at best. .

 

[happy medium]

Heres a Antec 550 watt with 3 ,22 amp rails with 6 pin and a 6+2 pin pci-e connectors. 85% efficient for 70$ shipped. Excellent deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817371016

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Ok its just strange because my friends are saying i should get the 1gb xfx 4870 instead of the 4770 and get a 600+ watt psu so i can overclock my cpu and gpu.

 

[crisium]

Get the $95 4770. No need to start humping XFX's leg unless you really, really want a great warranty.

Happy medium is right. If you don't plan to upgrade your whole system (CPU, Mobo, RAM, PSU) then just get the 4770 and ride with it for however long you need. Getting a 4870 with an Athlon X2 is not needed. It's likely you'll see no appreciable performance increase over the 4770 with your CPU. Since the 4770 should be able to go with your old PSU it is the cheapest option.

If you are gonna upgrade your whole system before the end of 2009, then you might as well get a new PSU now. Than Antec happy medium linked is way more than enough for a 4870, and your friends don't know what they're talking about if they are telling you to buy based on watts instead of combined amps on the 12v rails. Anyway, if you gonna build a whole new system in a couple months then you might as well grab a 4870 and PSU now, if only because you'll have to spend $ in a few months anyway - might as well spread it out. But if you plan to upgrade in 2010 or later, just get the 4770. Even if you build a new quad core Phenom II 3GHz+ system in 6 months you'll still be able to use that 4770 pretty good at 1360x1024.

 

[TemjinGold]

You guys are wasting your breath. The OP has clearly made up his mind to get a monster gfx card that will be crippled by his pc and to get a monster PSU that will be way too much for his system. Sounds like he just wants validation as reason seems not to be effective at changing his mind.

So OP, it's your money. Go ahead and get that 1000 watt PSU that you're itching to get.

 

[Malcolm3000g]

DELETE/Overpost mistake sorry

 

[Malcolm3000g]

DELETE/Overpost mistake sorry

 

[Malcolm3000g]

I'm sorry if i asked too many questions. I'm going to get the 4770.I'm just cautious about the psu

system requirements:
PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX? technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products
Minimum 1GB of system memory
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
DVD playback requires DVD drive
Blu-ray? playback requires Blu-ray drive
For a complete ATI CrossFireX? system, a second ATI Radeon? HD 4770 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (not included) are required

isn't 450w the minimum requirement for the card?( I want to get another psu because the one that i currently have is 4 years old)

I'm really sorry if i annoyed you guys, i just don't want to buy the wrong psu and my system ends up crashing all the time.

 

[TemjinGold]

The reason they post that as the minimum is to account for all the crap PSUs out there that say 450watt but can't give you anywhere NEAR that in reality. If you buy a quality brand PSU, you won't need anything close to 450w.

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: TemjinGold
The reason they post that as the minimum is to account for all the crap PSUs out there that say 450watt but can't give you anywhere NEAR that in reality. If you buy a quality brand PSU, you won't need anything close to 450w.

ok thanks ... i think im going to pair the 4770 with this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139003

what do you guys think about that?

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g
I'm sorry if i asked too many questions. I'm going to get the 4770.I'm just cautious about the psu

system requirements:
PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX? technology in dual mode)
Certified power supplies are recommended. Refer to http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU for a list of Certified products
Minimum 1GB of system memory
Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
DVD playback requires DVD drive
Blu-ray? playback requires Blu-ray drive
For a complete ATI CrossFireX? system, a second ATI Radeon? HD 4770 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (not included) are required

isn't 450w the minimum requirement for the card?( I want to get another psu because the one that i currently have is 4 years old)

I'm really sorry if i annoyed you guys, i just don't want to buy the wrong psu and my system ends up crashing all the time.

Your system is a basic one. One hard drive,dvd drive,ram motherboard,cpu. Your 300 watt 22amp 12volt rail should be good to go with a 4770. It only uses 80watts fully loaded. I'd say give it a go.
Or if you have the money ,the psu I linked you will power any single graphics card out there including the new 5870.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[crisium]

If you wanna upgrade, you might as well get that OCZ 500w that was linked earlier. Doesn't cost anymore but has more juice in it so it'll help in the future.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g

Originally posted by: TemjinGold
The reason they post that as the minimum is to account for all the crap PSUs out there that say 450watt but can't give you anywhere NEAR that in reality. If you buy a quality brand PSU, you won't need anything close to 450w.

ok thanks ... i think im going to pair the 4770 with this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139003

what do you guys think about that?

Thats a good psu for your needs now ,but if you upgrade your system later down the line and want a higher end card its always good to have 2 pci-e connectors.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Crisium
If you wanna upgrade, you might as well get that OCZ 500w that was linked earlier. Doesn't cost anymore but has more juice in it so it'll help in the future.

Thats also a good deal and a good psu.:thumbsup:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...0&ref=dynamitedata.com

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln

Originally posted by: dguy6789
The 4770 is indeed a great card and if you can fit it in the budget, you might as well get it. That said, the 4670 uses even less power than the 4770 and is a much better match for your CPU than the 4770.(A lot of the 4770's extra performance over the 4670 will go wasted due to not having a powerful enough CPU) I would suggest getting a 4670 and a better PSU over getting a 4770 and a worse PSU. If you get a good PSU now, you could probably use it for your next several computers.

I disagree. I think the 4770, even when paired with the 4800+, will still provide tangible benefits over the 4670. Will it run at it's full potential? Of course not. But the 4770 would be a good investment, allowing him usage of higher levels of AA at higher resolutions. At most it will only use 20W more power than the 4670. 20W is not really significant when trying to match appropriate power supplies. And a 650W PSU, like the Corsair you linked to, is totally unnecessary for a single card setup right now and for the future. The Radeon HD5870 can be run, easily, on 500W power supplies.

Originally posted by: Narynan
And .... THIS .... is why he's intimidated about PSU's. I mean you could get some 450ishW psu, but I just reccomended that 600W because, its pretty good for the cash he's paying, and it would still allow him to get the 4770 he WANTED to get. Thats what I was shooting for.

I have the 600W StealthXStream, and if I were buying a power supply right now I would not get it again. It's not a bad PSU at all, but the wattage it provides is totally not necessary. I've also read some (older) reviews and these units seem to have high ripple and noise when nearing the 600W limitation, meaning it's not that great for higher load setups. Although OCZ could have made some revisions to correct this, I really doubt they have done so considering the price of the unit. For power supplies, in general, you get what you pay for. Another nuisance with this PSU is that all of the SATA connectors are on the same line, so it can be a real pain in the ass to connect multiple SATA devices without the use of molex adapters. Otherwise, a positive for the StealthXStream is that it is indeed virtually silent (stealthy).


Yeah i thought about getting the 600w stealthxsteam but after reading that above, i backed off.

 

[nicnas]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g
I'm sorry if i asked too many questions. I'm going to get the 4770.I'm just cautious about the psu

Thumbs up! The HD4670 is a good card but the 4770 is much superior (even for your system). And the 4770's cooler should be much better (quieter) than the stock 4670's tiny cooler with a small fan.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g
i have a xbox 360 so theres only a couple games i would play my pc ..maybe Call of duty 4,Gta Iv,Need For Speed ,Hawx,nba 2k9 to name a few.

edit: if i end getting the 600+watt psu, should i get a better vid card like one of the radeon 's 48xx?

If you plan to play GTA IV on PC, you really should upgrade your whole rig to a quad-core. Playing that game on a dual-core is slow.

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g
i have a xbox 360 so theres only a couple games i would play my pc ..maybe Call of duty 4,Gta Iv,Need For Speed ,Hawx,nba 2k9 to name a few.

edit: if i end getting the 600+watt psu, should i get a better vid card like one of the radeon 's 48xx?

If you plan to play GTA IV on PC, you really should upgrade your whole rig to a quad-core. Playing that game on a dual-core is slow.

really? my friend has an duo-core intel computer with the 4670 and only has 2gb of ram and hes able to run it on max on 1280x1024

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
If you plan to play GTA IV on PC, you really should upgrade your whole rig to a quad-core. Playing that game on a dual-core is slow.

really? my friend has an duo-core intel computer with the 4670 and only has 2gb of ram and hes able to run it on max on 1280x1024

Hmm. Maybe I'm wrong. All I've heard on these forums is that GTA IV is a crappy port, and really requires a quad-core to play. But if your friend is playing it with good settings on a dual-core, then I guess I'm mistaken.

Edit: here is a combo deal from NewEgg, for a Rosewill 550W PSU and a 9800GT, for $145.

Yeah, the 4770 is supposed to be a pretty good card. Benchmark-wise, it's a tiny few percentage points below the 4850, which is itself a few percentage-points above the 9800GT.

 

[Malcolm3000g]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: Malcolm3000g

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
If you plan to play GTA IV on PC, you really should upgrade your whole rig to a quad-core. Playing that game on a dual-core is slow.

really? my friend has an duo-core intel computer with the 4670 and only has 2gb of ram and hes able to run it on max on 1280x1024

Hmm. Maybe I'm wrong. All I've heard on these forums is that GTA IV is a crappy port, and really requires a quad-core to play. But if your friend is playing it with good settings on a dual-core, then I guess I'm mistaken.

I have it for xbox so its not really a big deal..i just want to run games smoothly, hope the 4770 can do that

(upgrading from x1600 pro)