Time to upgrade-- But a little confused..

[DylnCox]

I had hopes of building a nice beastly gaming rig, but with the lack of patience and funds I'm just going to upgrade my current PC so I can run some better games.

I have a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop, equip with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and a Nvidia GeForce (can't remember exact model no. but it's 8 series).

What I'm wanting to do is upgrade my CD/DVD drive (as it's toast), upgrade my RAM to about 8-10GB, and I found a decent graphics card, IMO, that is suitable for my current gaming needs.

The reason for the graphics card update, is mainly for the game ARMA 2. I've owned it for a while, but with my current configuration my gameplay has been severely poor. Said graphics card is, EVGA GeForce 9500GT (512MB DDR2, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Support (not needed for me), DUAL DVI, HDTV, and VGA Support)

Now, my monitor only has a VGA and DVI port, one of each. Now, with the dual DVI ports on the graphics card, how will I hook up to my monitor. I've found some adapters, but I'm skeptical on if it will take away from my graphic card's performance or work improperly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[SolMiester]

9500GT is NOT a gaming card!, its low spec and 2 generations old!

 

[happy medium]

Why not just hook 1 dvi port to your monitor? You have no need for the dual dvi or vga.
Hook said dvi cord from card to said dvi port on monitor and go, simple as that.


Wecolme to the forums.

 

[DylnCox]

9500GT is NOT a gaming card!, its low spec and 2 generations old!

It's also better than my current card, and meets minimum requirements and is also in my price range rather than what you may consider a "gaming card"... Their too expensive..

 

[DylnCox]

Why not just hook 1 dvi port and 1 vga port to your monitor? The card has both right?

Wecolme to the forums.

No, but I see now why you would think that, and apologize for my wording. It does say VGA, but there are 2 DVI ports, and no VGA ports.

 

[happy medium]

No, but I see now why you would think that, and apologize for my wording. It does say VGA, but there are 2 DVI ports, and no VGA ports.

ok gotcha, Does your monitor have a dvi port? If it does just use ONE of the dvi ports on the card and connect it to the DVI port on the monitor. Don't let the dual dvi thing confuse you, unless you have a 2500x1600 monitor it does not apply to you.

Does it look like this (your card) 2 DVI ports and 1 hdtv port?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageG...20Video%20Card

 

[happy medium]

Now, my monitor only has a VGA and DVI port, one of each. Now, with the dual DVI ports on the graphics card, how will I hook up to my monitor. I've found some adapters, but I'm skeptical on if it will take away from my graphic card's performance or work improperly.

I think I see what your saying now.

You only need to hook 1 of those up. In your case you need to hook the dvi from video card to the dvi on your monitor. The vga is not used. You will not lose any performance or picture quality.

Edit: You also have no need for 8-10gb of ram. 4gb is plenty enough for any game out there.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

It's also better than my current card, and meets minimum requirements and is also in my price range rather than what you may consider a "gaming card"... Their too expensive..

How do you know it's better? If your current card is an 8800, then a 9500 would be slower.

You've got money to waste on 8gb of ram but you can't spend a few more bucks to get a proper graphics card?

 

[Bateluer]

It's also better than my current card, and meets minimum requirements and is also in my price range rather than what you may consider a "gaming card"... Their too expensive..

Not to be rude, but a 40 dollar Radeon 5450 today will likely out perform that 9500GT easily, while boasting a much better feature set. The 9500GT may be a step up from your current card, but that doesn't mean its going to suit your needs.

I've two Inspiron 531 machine, the AMD version of your tower, using AMD 64 X2s and Nvidia 6150SE IGPs. When paired with a decent card and with a slight RAM bump, they're not bad.

Happy Medium's post addressed the DVI/VGA question and commented on the RAM as well. You could also likely stick with only 2GB of RAM and be alright as well. If you intend to do a major rebuild in the future, I wouldn't want a stack of DDR2 RAM on hand when everything moving forward will be DDR3.

 

[happy medium]

How do you know it's better? If your current card is an 8800, then a 9500 would be slower.

You've got money to waste on 8gb of ram but you can't spend a few more bucks to get a proper graphics card?

It a good upgrade from the 8300gs that was in there. It may not be great upgrade but mabe the guy has a limited budget. He is new, so lay off a little.

 

[toyota]

DylnCox, a 9500gt ddr2 is junk for modern games. a great deal of what little gpu power it has is butchered by the ddr2. essentially it would be slower than a 8600gt which is laughable for most modern games on decent settings and res.

you don't need 8-10gb of ram either. 4gb is plenty and if you have 32 bit os then there is no point in more than 4gb anyway because not even all of that will be recognized.

what is the exact cpu that you have?
what res do you want to play at?
what are the exact specs of that power supply?

 

[happy medium]

his original 8300gs is a weak ass card

8300 GS
24 sp's
500 core clock
1000 memory
<256 mb of memory
128bit

9500gt specs. 32 sp's
600 core
1000 memory
512 mb
128 bit

Not a great upgrade but its a upgrade.
I'm under the impression he allready bought the card?

 

[CVSiN]

ARMA2 is a hardware hog of a game it really needs alot of power both GPU and CPU to run well. that card of choice will not help in this case at all in fact may be worse than a high end 8 series.

its actually one of the few titles that will perform better on a 6 core proc mind you its only 5&#37; over a quadcore but it's at least utilizing 6 cores now.

ArmA 2: Under certain conditions up to 5 per cent plus compared with Quad core [Source] http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...340&image_id=1400058&article_id=794274&page=2

 

[happy medium]

DyINCox, If you havent bought the 9500gt yet, the ATI 5550 (320sp's) card is worlds faster then the 9500gt and 5450 (80sp's). ANd only cost 60$ and 45$ with rebate. If you can afford a 9500gt ,you can afford it.
Not many know about this card, but for the money its a great card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150492

 

[Attic]

Gotta scratch out eighty to a hundred bucks for a graphics card if you want to be able to play games with any details/speed. Used might be the best option. Personally i've only had poor experience with used/refurb'd graphics cards.

 

[DylnCox]

Thank you all.. To re state everything. Thank you, yes my monitor has only one DVI port as well as one VGA port, but you've answered that, thank you.

And, yes, I am new and a bit confused, still..

My current card I'm still not certain on, it's been taken apart because I'm doing an overhaul, as I said. I took the fan off the graphics card and it is a G86 so it's either a Nvidia 8500 or 8600GT. I'm not positive on which one though.

I'm not on a set budget, and I haven't purchased it yet, but I'd like to have it sooner than later, meaning money on hand versus putting money back to get one (I'm still in high school so money that comes my way goes towards gas )

I'm more external computer savvy, as you can already tell. And this is my first "project" internally. So... The models confuse me, and I'm not sure how to tell what's better than what.. I know the whole debate over.. Keep shooting details, I'll find something eventually.. Also, I'm keeping my Dell motherboard, so PCI graphics card, the different types of PCI confuse me also, lol... I'm learning though..

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Don't get the 9500GT. There are faster cards available for the same price. Or better yet for a little more you can get even faster cards still.

You should give us details about where you are buying from and where you're willing to buy from, as well as your budget for these upgrades.

 

[DylnCox]

Edited below.

 

[happy medium]

My current card I'm still not certain on, i

Give us a budget and we will get you the most performance for your money. 50$,? 75$? 100?$\

Will you buy off the internet, at a store?

 

[DylnCox]

Don't get the 9500GT. There are faster cards available for the same price. Or better yet for a little more you can get even faster cards still.

You should give us details about where you are buying from and where you're willing to buy from, as well as your budget for these upgrades.

I'm wanting to buy from TigerDirect and/or Newegg; although, I'm willing to hit up some local stores, if need be. As for my budget, to be optimistic, I'd say, roughly, a little under $200 MAX.

 

[happy medium]

I'm wanting to buy from TigerDirect and/or Newegg; although, I'm willing to hit up some local stores, if need be. As for my budget, to be optimistic, I'd say, roughly, a little under $200 MAX.

Now 160$ will buy you one hell of a card compared to what your used too. 5x faster then your current card.
Problem is your stock power supply will not handle it.
Are you willing to upgrade your power supply or just get you the best card your current power supply will allow?

 

[DylnCox]

Now 160$ will buy you one hell of a card compared to what your used too. 5x faster then your current card.
Problem is your stock power supply will not handle it.
Are you willing to upgrade your power supply or just get you the best card your current power supply will allow?

Which ones, for example?

And my current PSU tops at 350W so definitely upgrading that, probably max around 550w-600w..

The only thing that I absolutely DO NOT want to upgrade is my CPU, they're too expensive for me, right now.. And the Intel Core 2 Duo is fine with me..

 

[happy medium]

Which ones, for example?

And my current PSU tops at 350W so definitely upgrading that, probably max around 550w-600w..

The only thing that I absolutely DO NOT want to upgrade is my CPU, they're too expensive for me, right now.. And the Intel Core 2 Duo is fine with me..

ok 1 more question. AT what resolution is your monitor? 1600x1050? 1440x900? 1900x1080? 19 inch? 22 inch? 24 inch?

 

[DylnCox]

ok 1 more question. AT what resolution is your monitor? 1600x1050? 1440x900? 1900x1080? 19 inch? 22 inch? 24 inch?

22" and 1440x900, this is current.. I don't know if it changes when hooked to a different machine (it's plugged into my laptop right now, via VGA) Hope that didn't make me sound stupid... :\

 

[toyota]

Which ones, for example?

And my current PSU tops at 350W so definitely upgrading that, probably max around 550w-600w..

The only thing that I absolutely DO NOT want to upgrade is my CPU, they're too expensive for me, right now.. And the Intel Core 2 Duo is fine with me..

you still never said what the exact cpu is. if you are playing at a lower res you can get a decent card that will be fine with your psu.