What card should i look into help update this setup?

[Jangomytango]

Hey first post here.

Was looking for a bit of opinion on what i would need to get the most resolution and performance on this dated setup?

Whats a recommended or descent video card? Or anything else that could optimize this pc for gaming?

Im pretty much a novice as it comes to building custom pc's, but im getting into it. So what i got is this set up:

VELOCITY MICRO ProMagix E2215
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (Dual 2.4 GHZ Cores 4MB L2 Cache)
Asus P5N-E SLI nForce 650i Motherboard (SLI Motherboard with DDR2)
512MB eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT (Velocity Micro Edition Video Card)
2048 MB Corsair High Speed Memory ( DDR2 PC5300 DDR867)
320 GB WESTERN DIGITAL HARD DRIVE ( 7200 RPM SATA/150, 8MB CACHE)
500W Velocity Micro power supply
16X LITE-ON DVD+/ RW/CD-RW
ON-BOARD HIGH FIDELITY AUDIO

This is a pic of the same model tower too. If it helps at all. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Knufire]

Oof, that's a bit aging. Depends on your budget, as you can always pick up a new card now (that's going to be bottlenecked by your CPU), and then upgrade the CPU when you have money.

 

[Jangomytango]

Hey knufire. Thanks for the reply.

It was a hand me down gift from a buddy, so im not complaining.So basically this rig needs a whole new updated cpu, gpu, memory and power supply then?

Guess ill just play stuff on low settings then LOL until i can afford all that.

Think it will be able to handle a 1080 res monitor though? or should i not use hd with this rig?

Maybe Ill use the tower to make a new pc with it in the future at least, eh?
It is kinda good solid aluminum and the see-thru plexiglass side is kinda cool.

 

[Knufire]

You can do it in steps though. First upgrade would be a new video card and a CPU cooler to overclock. A used GTX 460 should be under $100, and a Hyper212+ $20.

 

[Jangomytango]

Its just the mobo on this setup, I'm coming to find out, is rather limited for a new cpu or even a new Vid card. All the decent processors i see by intel dont even run the LGA 775 interface or even use ddr2 memory anymore. Also it uses Pci express x16 not the 2.0, 2.1 or 3.0 interfaces a lot of the recent cards do. So like you said it will be bottlenecked.

Being its a 5 year old build and all and was purchased in 07' or 08'.

On the plus side it does have a nice aftermarket heatsink cooler already that came with it. Its a:

Arctic Cooling® Freezer 7 Heatsink, Ultra Quiet Fan

Basically this card is what you were referring to?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130749

Thanks again for the tip.

But still not too sure on anything if i cant update the cpu to something worthy of a descent card.

 

[txus.palacios]

You're obviously gonna get bottlenecked. But, that's not the point.

The point is that if you're low on cash but can upgrade something, you should upgrade your graphics card first. You will be bottlenecked. Fine. It's just to hold on before you upgrade all your "core system" (CPU, mobo and RAM).

Of course none of the new Intel chips run on LGA 775 sockets. That plaform received EOL. No more 775 processors are being manufactured. DDR2 is also a little bit old. Now everything is DDR3, and 115x.

The board being PCIe 1.0 is nothing to worry about. PCIe is retrocompatible. You can install a 680 there if you want to. It will work! With a serious loss of bandwidth, but, meh.

Arctic Cooling coolers aren't something I'd call nice, but that's just my humble opinion. Get the 20 bucks H212. It seriously is the best bang for the buck. Or any 120mm tower heatsink in that price range.

After you upgrade your cooler and your GPU, we will start overclocking that little piece of silicon, and you'll start a piggybank. Then, when your piggy is fat enough to afford a new power supply, you'll buy that. Then, the huge motherboard, CPU and RAM upgrade, will come.

 

[Jangomytango]

Thanks txus. That helps put it in perspective on how you can do it in steps. And yeah that makes sense on the pci 1.0. I did hear its backwards compatible just that explains it better. Retrocompatible thats a cool term.

Actually looking more forward to getting the most out of this rig now.
Guess i was just sorta taken back how fast tech progressed from what components are on this system. Its a bit daunting.

Guess I'm in the market for a gpu then and a heatsink. Any other recommendations on Nvidia cards or is gtx 460 about the best?

Side note. Should i use thermal paste kit on the replace with the H212?
I was watching a tech and the dude said it helps alot.

Ill check back in later with what i get.

 

[Knufire]

You need thermal paste, or it's not going to work.

And there won't be a major loss of bandwidth. PCIe 1.0 x16 is pretty equal to the speed of a video card.

And yeah, there's been 4 new sockets since them (1366, 1156, 1155, 2011). 1155 is the modern not ridiculously expensive platform.

All good cards to get right now

• GTX460 (used, want under $100)
• Radeon 6950 (used, want under $200)
• Radeon 6870 (New's fine, this is one of the best deals: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561)
• Radeon 7850 (new, about $250)
• GTX670 (new, about $420)

 

[txus.palacios]

Thanks txus. That helps put it in perspective on how you can do it in steps. And yeah that makes sense on the pci 1.0. I did hear its backwards compatible just that explains it better. Retrocompatible thats a cool term.

Actually looking more forward to getting the most out of this rig now.
Guess i was just sorta taken back how fast tech progressed from what components are on this system. Its a bit daunting.

Guess I'm in the market for a gpu then and a heatsink. Any other recommendations on Nvidia cards or is gtx 460 about the best?

Side note. Should i use thermal paste kit on the replace with the H212?
I was watching a tech and the dude said it helps alot.

Ill check back in later with what i get.

Thanks to you for joining OCF!

How fast tech has progressed. Heh! An amazing over-a-grand rig today can get bested by a 750 rig just after six-eight months. Oh, this technology thingy...

As far as for the heatsink you don't need more than the H212 for now. For GPUs, check Knufire posts!! Even though new aftermarket TIM would be nice, you can use H212's stock TIM to save some pennies.

PCIe 1.0 x16 = PCIe 2.0 x8 = PCIe 3.0 x4 IIRC.

Most cards can't fill PCIe 2.0 x8. My SLi is running at PCIe 2.0 x8 because of architecture limitations.

You need thermal paste, or it's not going to work.

And there won't be a major loss of bandwidth. PCIe 1.0 x16 is pretty equal to the speed of a video card.

And yeah, there's been 4 new sockets since them (1366, 1156, 1155, 2011). 1155 is the modern not ridiculously expensive platform.

All good cards to get right now

• GTX460 (used, want under $100)
• Radeon 6950 (used, want under $200)
• Radeon 6870 (New's fine, this is one of the best deals: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561)
• Radeon 7850 (new, about $250)
• GTX670 (new, about $420)

1155 is the "Desktop" platform, while 2011 is the "enthusiast / workstation-ish" platform.

 

[Knufire]

1155 is performance, 2011 is enthusiast, I think is Intel's nomenclature.

 

[Jangomytango]

You guys are gonna

I just took off side casing cause i wanna clean it up and upon further inspection i noticed it doesnt have the 7950 gt.
There is a eVGA E-GeForce 8800 GT. Which my buddy failed to mention.

http://www.evga.com/articles/378.asp


Still though a update is needed i agree on the heatsink. Because he did mention he was having issues with the card needing to be rebooted or something along those lines.

Maybe ill add a fan later on to the glass side to help get more air to the GPU. Seems like the case could use more ventilation.


What does TIM stand for? I'm a lowly noob remember. HAHA

Thanks Knufire for the recommendations too.

 

[MongGrel]

Thermal Interface Material, thermal paste basically, there are kits out there but it usually comes in a tube you put on the CPU when attaching a cooler for heat transferal.

Like someone mentioned the stuff that comes with the cooler should be fine for it, look in the air cooling section here you'd find tons of stickies and guides for that.

You don't need a lot of it, usually the thinner the better, and there are various ways people apply it with a cooler.

 

[Jangomytango]

I saw a nice tech on new egg that mentioned the kit has a remover for getting the old paste off the cpu before reapplication. So i just assumed that was best. Ill check into that too though. Thanks mongrel.

 

[MongGrel]

Doesn't hurt I guess, Ive always just used isopropyl alcohol myself and redone them, and lapped a few CPU's before hand but doubt you'd want to go there

I know I lapped the TRUE on here, not sure if I did the 920 but I imagine I did, Don't worry about that one.

Whatever you feel comfortable with, you just want the back of the CPU clean at least when you reapply new TIM and the cooler.

 

[Jangomytango]

So Im thinkin of getting this model. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

That is the model you were refering knufire? The evo looks better model too and its the same price as the regular h212.

Whats up with having to take out the mobo to add the backplate though? That seems like its gonna be quite a task. Any good links to techs on removing the mobo? I'd hate to damage anything or have any issues when i reassemble it all.

 

[wingman99]

That cooler is good, it's the newer version of the 212.
+1 get a new video card and overclock your CPU.

 

[Knufire]

Gotta take out the motherboard for most decent coolers. The 212+ and 212 Evo aren't the same price either. The Evo is $6 shipping, while the 212+ is free shipping and has a $10 MIR. They're almost the same heatsink as well, the Evo is just the new revision. The differences in performance are tiny, so I'd just go with the cheaper one.

Unplug everything, unscrew the motherboard, put the heatsink in, then screw it in and plug everything back in exactly the way it was before.

Most people just use Isopropyl Alcohol (cleaning alcohol, get it at your local drug store, and a cloth that won't leave anything behind).

 

[wingman99]

With the heat pipes close together on the base of the EVO it spreads the TIM better.

 

[Jangomytango]

Gotta take out the motherboard for most decent coolers. The 212+ and 212 Evo aren't the same price either. The Evo is $6 shipping, while the 212+ is free shipping and has a $10 MIR. They're almost the same heatsink as well, the Evo is just the new revision. The differences in performance are tiny, so I'd just go with the cheaper one.

Unplug everything, unscrew the motherboard, put the heatsink in, then screw it in and plug everything back in exactly the way it was before.

Most people just use Isopropyl Alcohol (cleaning alcohol, get it at your local drug store, and a cloth that won't leave anything behind).

Good points. I didnt think about the MIR. I guess the hole point of fixing this rig up is not to overspend and make a decent useable rig. So 15 bucks is 15 bucks. Very Yoda like thinking there knufire, HAH.

Plus I'm picking up a new monitor for this rig. That and a vid card, it all adds up.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the one you mentioned because i want a medium grade gpu considering I'm at 500w PS and i cant afford anything more then the aforementioned at this time.

So this is the card i am pretty sure i am gonna get. But i still may go with a GTX 460. Im gonna so to speak "sleep on it for a few days".

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561

But this one looks a bit better. Opinions on if its worth it over the regular version?

XFX Double D Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521


BTW do you guys think AMD radeon are a better quality or option over nvidia or ati? Because that is the feeling I'm kinda getting.

Thanks again you all too. Lots of good advice on this site. Cheers

 

[Knufire]

There's been thousands and thousands of posts about NVIDIA vs AMD, and for all intents and purposes they're equal. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. You just have to look at your specific price point and see which one has the card that's higher performing.