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Older system, looking to upgrade for 1 game.

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Think ive decided to go with Galaxy - GeForce GT 640 GC 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card. Has the same amt of onboard mem as my current card so at least im not losing out anywhere, runs faster, is the higher line of card, has a much better HS/Fan than the 2g PNY 630 and seems to have good low power useage. Has good reviews, $99 not bad.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Galaxy+...Card/5606912.p?id=1218671142743&skuId=5606912
 
I think you'll be pleased with it. Let me know what you think after you've had a chance to try it out, and of course don't hesitate to ask if you need help with anything.

The GT 640 is actually a really big jump over the GT 630, having nearly double the performance due to the newer and more advanced architecture. The difference would be especially notable in the case of PNY's GT 630, which is actually an underclocked card with only 780Mhz core and 1070Mhz memory vs. 820Mhz and 1600Mhz on the Galaxy version.
 
Bahaha hahaha :rofl:

"Will run any game out there on ultra but must have at least a quad," on a GT 640..

I almost fell out of my chair reading this... noob :facepalm:

The 650ti is the winner for price and I wouldn't worry too much about the powerdraw on it.
 
1. The 650Ti will NOT work in my system with its listed 400w+ PS MINIMUM requirements so I have no idea why everyone is stating it would when it clearly will not....especially when im already overlocked by 1ghz on the CPU. 2. It's an Antec 900 Mix-ATX Form Factor with 9 bays so im not sure where all this "compact case" talk is coming from...its small by no means. And just to show you guys im not crazy..this case DID come with a PS installed out of the box even though EVERY website lists it as NO PS INCLUDED (weird I know)..in the the bottom. And yes ive since taken THE current PS out and measured it, and yet have not found any other 400+w PS's that will fit and still allow the motherboard to still be in the case...kinda a no brainer :/

THANK YOU GALAXY for actually knowing what your talking about and pointing me at the 640GC which is more than enough over my 9500GT & not trying to upsell me to the 650Ti which wont even work in my system to begin with OR would require getting a new PS that also WILL NOT FIT. Here are pics of my box and how close the stock PS is to the mobo to prove it. Im no genius but.....do the research folks. A (1) yellow star poster should not be disproving (8+) blue star mods imo :/

Antec900Front_zpsc3ac8460.jpg


Antec900Side_zpsb000e681.jpg


Antec900wPS_zps11cb1ecb.jpg


see the 1/8 gap between the top of the PS and the bottom of the motherboard, any other PS will not fit now that ive actually measured the PS outside the case...so not sure why all are claiming. "Any PS will fit" bc they wont.
 
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As you may notice, being current PS is in the BOTTOM of the case by default, there is only 1/16th of an inch between the top of the current 350w PS and the lowest PCI card slot...so far any other 400w+ PS larger by ANY means will not fit alone due to the PCI slot being there :/ Odd that this case came with what seems like a proprietary PS setup out of the box. :( Even with the case BARE and no MOBO inside the restricting factor is the lowest PCI slot placement :( not sure why its like that. Frustrating is all im sry. Current PS is 3.5in tall, 5in wide and 5.5in deep (from back of PS to where the power output cords are) so far every one of the higher wattage PS ive looked at have larger physical dimentions :( Maybe ive been gone toooo long and just missing the obvious? I went and picked up the Dynex 400w PS just for giggles knowing I could return it to test it out in the case..and it wasnt even close to fitting at all...much less any name brand larger PS's.

Dynex 400w ATX PS - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex&#...174091945952&skuId=8311052#tab=specifications

This is the physically smallest PS I could find and its only 400w and it still wont fit.

Here are the dimensions.
Height 3.4 inches (I only have 3.5 inches) so this MAY get tricky
Width 5.9 inches (I only have 5.5 inches) so this WONT work at all as its .4 inches wider than will fit in my case.
Depth 5.5 inches (I have 5.5 inches)

Now if I chose to get a name brand PS...they are even larger.

Thermaltake 430w TRX - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Thermal...218179698427&skuId=9827301#tab=specifications
Height 3.5 inches
Width 6.5 inches (1 full inch to wide to fit in case)
Depth 6 inches

Dynex 520w ATX - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex&#...pply/2658156.p?id=1218342638023&skuId=2658156
Height: 3.4 inches
Width: 5.9 inches (again, almost a full inch to wide to fit in the case)
Depth: 6.3 inches


..and therein lies my problem unless im just missing the TOTAL obvious :( but for whatever reason..this case/ps stock combo takes up 99.9% of the room from side to side of the case, and from the bottom of the case to ALMOST touching the lower part of the PCI slot and mobo. REALLY not leaving much of ANY room to work with :( getting upset
 
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1. Galaxy is a official company representative from Galaxy (duh). I don't think he would even be allowed to suggest another companies products if he wanted to.
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2. I did my research, thank you very much. If you actually add up the power draw of your parts along with a 650Ti, you shouldn't be anywhere near close to 400W.

E8400 = 65W (http://ark.intel.com/products/33910/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E8400-6M-Cache-3_00-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB)
650Ti = 110W (http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650ti/specifications)
Rest of system (mostly the HDD) = 40W.

That's 215W max power draw at stock settings. Unless you're telling me that OCing your CPU can almost double the power draw of your computer, you'll be fine.

And if you're quoting the NVIDIA recommended wattage, read the footnote.
4 - Not applicable to OEM or System Builder configurations - contact system manufacturer for more details. Minimum PSU requirements are based on estimated total system power. Lower power configurations are possible using lower total power system configurations (CPU, Storage, Memory).

Now there's the issue of whether that is a quality PSU and actually outputting quality power to your components. Software voltage reading is not accurate, and you can't detect the extremely rapid voltage fluctuations (called ripple) without an oscilloscope, and large amounts of ripple could harm your components in the long term.
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3. I'm sorry trying to upsell you something that cost $15 more and is SIGNIFICANTLY more powerful seems to be something wrong in your book.
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4. And yes, you are doing something wrong, because I've built in that exact case several times. Any ATX PSU should fit. Hell, if you google Antec 900 in Google Images, you'll get pictures of tons of pictures of the case with a variety of different PSUs.

Here's a Corasair TX650 V1 in there:
IMG_1990Medium.jpg
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5. Also, Blues are Senior Members. Greens are moderators.
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6. Also, you don't have a 1GHz OC on your CPU as you said, the stock frequency on your CPU is 3GHz, you have a 200MHz OC.
 
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200mhz overclock?...according to my math 9x445 = 4005 mhz vs the stock 3000 mhz per the BIOS.
4ghz_zps8597e785.jpg


and no, im not trying to be rude, just saying what im seeing is all. And yes im just going off the rated specs of the cards etc and knowing my PS is a pretty non-name brand 350w that most likely will fail when put under high stress lol


And now that I look at YOUR antec case pics, even thought I think thats the same Antec 900 case..it oddly has MUCH more room than mine does...did I get a generic rebadged Antec? :O

"That's 215W max power draw at stock settings. Unless you're telling me that OCing your CPU can almost double the power draw of your computer, you'll be fine." (well im not double the draw of 3ghz but im at 25% more if running @ 4ghz)

yes thats MAX power draw for those 2 items only though.. Not counting 1 CDRW drive, 1 200m fan, 3x120mm fans and 1 92mm side case fan all also drawing power...usb drives etc plugged in. Just saying it may be pushing it, meant no offense.
 
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CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.2ghz

That's what I went by.

Frankly, you should change your PSU anyway so you don't risk harming any parts through dirty power. Especially when you can get a PSU (that does fit) for $30-40.

Not my case pic, one of the many that just showed up on Google. It's possible that you don't actually have an Antec 900, which would explain PSUs not fitting.
 
[4. And yes, you are doing something wrong, because I've built in that exact case several times. Any ATX PSU should fit. Hell, if you google Antec 900 in Google Images, you'll get pictures of tons of pictures of the case with a variety of different PSUs.


and no im not...ive literally purchased a new PS, took my stock PS out and the 400w one does not fit...much less anything larger. :/ Not sure what to say except maybe I have a rebadged generic Antec :(

and as you stated yes I know the Antec 900 "should" fit any normal PS, but it ALSO says "DOES NOT COME WITH PS" ...yet this one did. So something is different :/
 
Not my case pic, one of the many that just showed up on Google. It's possible that you don't actually have an Antec 900, which would explain PSUs not fitting

Ah sorry, just assumed, my bad. But the freaking case even says Antec on it lol.. Figured it was well...an Antec lol and I mean..the pics show its obviously an Antec 900 case :/
 
Not all 900s have to be sold without a PSU. If I remember correctly, they sold several of their cases (I remember the 1200) specifically separately AND bundled with a PSU, you could choose either one.
 
These guys just want you to get the most performance. They wouldn't suggest a card if they didn't think it would work. As the others say, I tend to recommend solutions that are more or less guaranteed to work although I certainly don't shy away from unorthodox answers. I recommended the GT 640 because you said you were interested in playing one game well and were limited on power. The GT 640 will play that one game very well and meets your power requirements, so it's the simple answer.

There are plenty of more complicated and, it goes without saying, more expensive solutions. Some of these might be give you better performance, the option of playing more intensive games, or better future proofing, but the simplest option satisfies the objective so that's the one I recommended.

If you really are interested in getting GTX level performance, there are still a ton of routes you can go. If you want simple and don't mind paying a big premium, you can add a supplementary power supply to your 5.25" drive bay to get 300W-450W of additional power for your graphics card. These are usually around $90 though, so they're not all too cost effective, but they would in theory allow you to run even a GTX 680. If you don't have an abundance of other priorietary hardware and don't mind spending an afternoon rebuilding, you could also migrate your hardware to a decent mid tower case for fairly cheap. You'll of course then have to get better PSU if the case doesn't come with a sufficient one. You could also sacrifice your CPU OC to conserve more power for a bigger graphics card, but depending on what else you do with your PC this might be an unacceptable trade off.

You and Knufire are both correct in that a GTX 650 Ti likely may work well in your system, but then it quite possibly might not. The math adds up, but also keep in mind that PSUs usually show their max output rather than their continuous rating. We don't actually know how capable it is of putting out ~400W continuously. I personally consider the last 20% capacity to be the red zone and avoid taxing my PSU to this level. I've run graphics cards with PSUs significantly below spec myself and had it work fine, but then when any problems arise it's the first thing I suspect.
 
@ Knufire, no harm intended at ya :) and didnt know they sold some with bundled PS's but this one is labeled as an Antec 900 and from what I could find it is not to come with a PS..moving on lol. And I think you misread the 3.2 ghz while looking at 4.02 ghz in the pic lol dunno. Maybe I had a typo in a past edit, but ya..its running at 1ghz over spec.

@ Galaxy - ya I didnt mean to sound like they were vendors trying to upsell me per se, and yes best bang for the buck is always better, just with the OEM listed draw of XX card did not want to get in over my head is all, and I know the 640 would be plenty better for D3 than what I have was all, yes the Ti650 would be better for a small fraction more but if the 640 will do so be it.

And that is my main concern, with this 350w PS im sure that is MAX load not just full time idle running power, so pushing it via higher wattage additions just gets me a bit nervous, as you stated I also do not like "taxing" my PS to its max if at all possible.


I recommended the GT 640 because you said you were interested in playing one game well and were limited on power. The GT 640 will play that one game very well and meets your power requirements, so it's the simple answer.

thats all i needed to hear really, money is not a concern but dont wanna put any more than I have to in this box that only runs D3.
 
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