Quick Upgrade advice

[arkkanewow]

Have a Pavilion elite m9350f:

Comes stock with a 460w PS and a nvidia 9800gt, also using a HP w2408h monitor, 6 gig of RAM and want to upgrade the video card. The only video game I play is WOW. need better performance from this aging card. The suggestions i received are the GT240, GT220 and the GT210. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

[Schmide]

GT240, GT220 and the GT210 are all less than a 9800gt. Well they do have better power/performance but in raw performance they can't compete.

 

[happy medium]

How much you wanna spend?
A gt240 would be a downgrade.

For a 24 inch monitor I'd suggest a 5750 or 5770.
It depends on how much you want to spend and what other games you play or wanna play..

 

[arkkanewow]

Would like to keep the upgrade under $250 if possible.

Only play World of Warcraft, and am not opposed to radeon or nvidia, would just like to not have the hassle of removing/replacing the PS

 

[cusideabelincoln]

An HD5770 is probably the best bet.

 

[Sniper82]

do you know if it has room for a dual slot cooler video card? Also does your current PSU have a PCI-E 6 pin power connector or are you using the adapter?

IDK if you can get by with anything other than a 5750/5770(if your lucky). Both require exactly the specs your PSU claims to put out. If you push that PSU to its limits and any upgrade probably would you might find that you will be replacing it once it blows anyway and just hope it doesn't take other stuff with it.

 

[happy medium]

An HD5770 is probably the best bet.

yes 5770 for about 165$ or a gts 250 for 130$ or less.

 

[Schmide]

The OP Phenom X4 9850 is not exactly power friendly, probably around 100w loaded. The power supply seems to have a spec of two rail 16A 15A 12v.

If the 5830 comes in at 10-20w less than the 5850 (125w) it could be the best option. For what you have you probably want to keep the VC power usage under 120w.

Reality is the size of your case will probably determine what card you get.

 

[MrK6]

I'd like to say go for the 5830 or 5850, but given the PSU, I think a 5770 is a safer bet. I just don't place a lot of faith in OEM PSUs.

 

[happy medium]

The OP Phenom X4 9850 is not exactly power friendly, probably around 100w loaded. The power supply seems to have a spec of two rail 16A 15A 12v.

If the 5830 comes in at 10-20w less than the 5850 (125w) it could be the best option. For what you have you probably want to keep the VC power usage under 120w.

Reality is the size of your case will probably determine what card you get.

5830 has a tdp of 175 watts,more then a 5850.

 

[v8envy]

I'd like to say go for the 5830 or 5850, but given the PSU, I think a 5770 is a safer bet. I just don't place a lot of faith in OEM PSUs.

Depends which OEM, but even Dell and E-machines use solid (if low rated) PSUs. My HPs came with Delta PSUs for instance. You can expect them not to explode when asked to deliver rated wattage, unlike many add-in PSUs.

OP, look up the manufacturer or UL number of your PSU. Also ratings. Chances are you've got enough oomph for a 5770, possibly a 5850.

 

[Schmide]

5830 has a tdp of 175 watts,more then a 5850.

HUH? It hasn't been released yet. Whatever you gleam from rumors will only be settled when the tests are done. 2 days?

BTW TDP (thermal design power) != actual power usage.

 

[happy medium]

HUH. It hasn't been released yet. Whatever you gleam from rumors will only be settled when the tests are done. 2 days?

BTW TDP (thermal design power) != actual power usage.

SUcks! I'm dissapointed also.

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17781/1/

I thinked they upped the voltage and clocks.

 

[v8envy]

OP, just looked up your machine. The biggest problem with it cited over and over is heat. Turns out there's no space, poor ventilation and cable management exacerbated by a power hungry, inefficient CPU.

Adding a high performance graphics card would not be a good idea. In fact, you may have fitting issues seeing as the original is a single slot design. Just keep the box as is; these machines are not designed to be improved. Besides, it's not like WoW demands the latest in graphics hardware, that 9800 should be good enough.

 

[blanketyblank]

If it can handle a 9800 it can handle a 5770. In fact you might benefit quite a bit from the lower power consumption and lower temperature of the 5770.
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...4-xfx-radeon-hd-5770-1gb-gddr5-review-20.html

Then again it's a significant, but not huge upgrade over a 9800. However at your resolutions the 1 gig of memory and faster speeds are well worth it. Check out the benchmarks on the link I posted it compares the 5770 to the 9800 GT.

 

[bruce0916]

I upgrade to HD5770(1G) from gts250(512MB) and quite enjoy it.
One of the reason I pick up 5770 is that I wouldn't like to get a new psu so far. I finished bioshock2 for a couple of days. It works well and very quiet when playing video game.^_^