Video upgrade worth it? Please help new member :)

[Pwntcomputer]

I have an old Dell system
1Ghz Coppermine (upgrade from 800)
mx440 (upgrade)
200GB Seagate ATA100 (upgrade)
Dell 2005FPW (obvious upgrade)
512MB pc133
bla bla
I would love to upgrade to a whole new system, but this works fine for most things.
I play UT2004 occationally and would like to play on higher settings

Would upgrading my video card from the MX440 to a ti4400 help out much if any?
Thanks guys I really appreciate it!

 

[ITPaladin]

you say 4200 in summary and 4400 in post...

 

[Corporate Thug]

4200 would be a decent upgrade from the MX

 

[ColossusX]

back in the day, I upgraded from a GF2 MX400 to a Ti4200 and was quite pleased. You should see a noticeable improvement.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer


Would upgrading my video card from the MX440 to a ti4400 help out much if any?
Thanks guys I really appreciate it!

Yes Or you could buy a 9500 pro from here: Text

 

[Pwntcomputer]

Doesn't this card need to be connected to the internal power supply? I think my PSU is pretty weak.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

You are correct...my bad. But i'm wondering if the power supply can be upgraded...

 

[ITPaladin]

used to have a 4600ti. Loved it then it died.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Doesn't this card need to be connected to the internal power supply? I think my PSU is pretty weak.

Going from an Mx420 to a Ti4400 was a huge boost... But I still don't know how well you're going to be able to play most games with the rest of the system as it is.

 

[Pwntcomputer]

Thanks for the input guys! I came about 1 click from the following system
AMD X2 3800
DFI SLI nF4
74 GB Raptor
300GB Seagate SATA150
EVGA 7800GT
4X sticks 512MB Crucial Ballistix
NEC 3540A DVD
Antec Sonata II

Though the system makes me drool. A ti4400 used for 20-30 bucks seems slightly more reasonable. Who needs to pay a mortgage anyway

 

[forumposter32]

I went from Celeron 667 MHz & GeForce2 MX200 to Duron 1.8 GHz & Ti4200 and was not totally impressed. I could play demos of Far Cry and Doom3 etc but UT2004 would not play at good frame rates on some maps.

I finally got a chance to compare the ATI Avivo and the Nvidia Pure Video and it looks like the Nvidias have the edge. So, I would say the 6600 GT and something like a 3400+ or 3700+ depending on what price you can get for them. The X700 Pro is still acceptable however.
I'm satisfied with my performance and got great prices.

 

[ScrewFace]

I'd definatley go for the GeForce4-Ti4400. I had one and I managed to get from its stock speed of 275/275 to 330/325 and I paid almost $400 Canadian with 15% tax! I say do it and enjoy!

 

[imported_Kiwi]

There is a huge difference between an MX VGA card and any of the "Ti" Adapters. Either a 4200 or a 4400 would probably offer more than enough capability to outrun the CPU's own performance. There are a great many 4200's available very reasonably today, compared to what they cost new. There are still some being sold new in the retail channels. I have one still in use myself (and mine has no separate power input jack on it, but I do have a 350 Watt Antec True Blue in that PC)

The first time I had to connect a power plug to a video adapter was either for an FX 5900 card or Radeon 9700 Pro (neither of which can be found for quite the reasonable price that those GF 4 cards can).

 

[hooflung]

I would go for a TI 4200 because the TI 4400s and TI4600's are littled with bad capacitor's that result in them dying after a year and a half. Its only a matter of time a used part, or new back stock goes. You could also go for a ATI Radeon 9000 ( not SE, LE or any suffix ).

Although, I recommend getting this FX 5200 w 128bit Memory Interface @ 50$

EDIT : Oh yeah.. you cannot upgrade dell powersupplies unless you swap motherboards too. They don't use the same ATX pin layout so you will fry a mobo using the wrong PSU.

 

[Marsumane]

Originally posted by: hooflung
I would go for a TI 4200 because the TI 4400s and TI4600's are littled with bad capacitor's that result in them dying after a year and a half. Its only a matter of time a used part, or new back stock goes. You could also go for a ATI Radeon 9000 ( not SE, LE or any suffix ).

Although, I recommend getting this FX 5200 w 128bit Memory Interface @ 50$

EDIT : Oh yeah.. you cannot upgrade dell powersupplies unless you swap motherboards too. They don't use the same ATX pin layout so you will fry a mobo using the wrong PSU.

Dont u ever think of buying a 5200 for $50! That my friend is a waste of cash. You should probably get the gf4 card (dont pay over $25) and save for an entire new computer instead of wasting more money on a card which is just about the SAME in fps as the gf4 card in ut2k4. Actually, your weakness is your processor anyways. That game is mostly processor bound, though a better video card will help u some. So yea, take my advice, get the gf4 and save up for a new computer. The gf4 wont draw that much more power as compared to the gf4mx so i wouldnt have too much concern.

 

[fishbits]

Originally posted by: Pwntcomputer
Thanks for the input guys! I came about 1 click from the following system
AMD X2 3800
DFI SLI nF4
74 GB Raptor
300GB Seagate SATA150
EVGA 7800GT
4X sticks 512MB Crucial Ballistix
NEC 3540A DVD
Antec Sonata II

Though the system makes me drool. A ti4400 used for 20-30 bucks seems slightly more reasonable. Who needs to pay a mortgage anyway

You know, there's a whole world of systems you could have between what you've got now and the exceptional system you were considering. Howzabout an Athlon 64 single core 3000 or better, 1 gig value ram and a 6600/ 6800/ x700/ x800? Get a decent 939 board with PCIe and you should be able to upgrade it further a bit down the road.

Or maybe (and I don't mean this in a derogatory way) a current or next-gen console? Although you only mention UT 2k4 and consoles are weak in the fps dept. Dunno, only you can decide what you want/need, good luck man.

 

[Cruise51]

Yes a 4200 would be a good improvement over a MX but you can only do so much with that system. The pc133 is pretty slow and 1gz is pretty low. You could overclock it if the motherboard supports it, you might get another 400 Mhz out of it. Not a bad boost for $30-40.

 

[blckgrffn]

A 4400 will be a nice, nice boost that you can maybe even keep into your next upgrade. Go for it! :thumbsup:

 

[KoolHonda]

Originally posted by: hooflung
I would go for a TI 4200 because the TI 4400s and TI4600's are littled with bad capacitor's that result in them dying after a year and a half.

Then why is my Ti4400 still going strong after 3 1/2 years? You will notice a improvement in older games going from MX440>Ti4400, but in newer games it's still gonna be weak along with that "ancient" cpu

 

[ColossusX]

slightly off topic...

Originally posted by: hooflung
EDIT : Oh yeah.. you cannot upgrade dell powersupplies unless you swap motherboards too. They don't use the same ATX pin layout so you will fry a mobo using the wrong PSU.

You can upgrade dell PSUs, PC Power & Cooling makes replacement Dell PSUs. Also, I forget exactly when, but for a while Dell did use standard ATX PSUs. Im not sure when they went to a proprietary ATX PSU though...