So should I get a new video card or psu?

[Copilot]

Right now I am having a problem with my video card, when it gets too hot it causes DPC's( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferred_Procedure_Call ) to spike which cause game "lag" spikes.

Now i know its a cooling issue since when I put a housefan beside the video card it will run games for hours without having one of these spikes. I also know the reason it is doing this has something to do with my current hardware (cpu,mobo,ram) since it worked fine with my old set up.

I just bought an antec 900 case and have all 4 fans hooked up and set on high, after 2 hours the spikes started occurring. There is still 2 more places for fans, one on the side panel which blows directly into the GPU and one just behind the HD racks, I want to install 2 120mm fans there but my PSU only have 5 molex connectors, 4 are being used for the current fans and 1 for the DVD drive. I do have the chassis fan 3 pin connector available but that still doesn't allow me to use all the fans.

This is a 400watt sparkle PSU, its was bought in june 2006. Do modern PSU's have more molex connectors?

So I have the options of buying a new CPU and buying 2 more fans for my case, 6 in total, just to try and stop this card from overheating, or buying a new video card.

The issue with the new video card is most new video cards have a PSU connector in the back, such as the 8800GT, and I really doubt my PSU even has connectors for that, or free ones.

I will be eventually upgrading both of these, but it won't be for 2 months or more.

It just seems absurd that it takes more than 4 fans just to cool this card, I know its conflicting with the hardware somehow but I don't have the disposable cash to try upgrading each part 1 by 1.

Here are current specs.

AMD athlon XP AM2 6000+ 3.0ghz dual core
Asus M2N-MX SE
1gig ddr2 kingston ram
geforce 7600GT
400W sparkle PSU (it might be 450w but the system only demands around 250W)
160gig seagate HDD


Sorry for the long post but I had to lay it all out.

Just so you also know, the only gaming being done is World of warcraft and counterstrike source, so this video card is fine for those, the upgrade card would probably be an 8600GT or maybe an 8800GT is I save the cash.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Looks like you need both. Even if you don't upgrade the video card you'll want a new PSU. But to help with the heating problem you may want to open things up and clean out the card's heatsink. That should help. If its a passivly cooled card adding a fan to it would help allot as well. But the video card upgrade would require you to get a new PSU.

 

[Copilot]

Yeah that looks like what going to have to be done, I just don't know if I should consider a new motherboard. The current one is a pretty bad gaming board, it only has 2 dimm slots.

What wattage for psu are we looking at here? I can probably just get a 450-500W and be fine right? No OCing will occur anytime soon. I have $160 on me right now, can probably stretch that to $180 or so, that might be able to get me an 8600GT and a psu but it may be cutting it close, also that $180 includes shipping and taxes.


What are some decent AM2 socket mobos out there? Preferably not something over $100 but I really don't know if a new mobo will even fix the issue. Also I hope there is a smaller size one, my m2n-mx SE isn't a normal size mobo its a smaller size and the cables are tight even in my antec 900.

 

[Copilot]

Well I just realized I am going to have $200 now, and I still need to choose new parts. Can anyone put together a little list of exact parts I need?

The video card will only be used for playing World Of Warcraft and Counter Strike: Source

No overclocking will be done so I probably don't need a PSU thats over 500W

Maybe a new mobo is in order, might be the reason my video card is having this problem in the first place, need one that is socket AM2.

 

[Slugbait]

I would suggest a PSU that will follow you to your next video card, and/or your next machine, otherwise you'll just buy another one later. There's a nice $110 deal AR on a very highly rated PP&C 750 (825 peak). If that's way more than you think you'll need later, spend only $80 shipped AR for a 610W (670 peak). I think the number of molex connectors these things have is about equal to a shitload. And if you're still having issues, you can easily rule out the PSU as the culprit.

Since you're having cooling issues, you might consider spending an additional $10 for the Akimbo Edition over a vanilla eVGA 8800GT. With Akimbo, you probably won't even need tons of external fans.

So basically, for just over $200 AR, you've got a PP&C 610W PSU and a heavily cooled 8800GT that can be easily overclocked.

 

[Slugbait]

Oh, one more thing...wait until Monday to order the PSU. You only have 12 days to submit the PP&C rebate, including weekends.

 

[Copilot]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am in canada so no newegg for me. Only ncix.com I can't believe I forgot to mention that because usually I do.