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Help me upgrade my current rig please
Hey all I am looking to do some low-cost upgrades to my desktop in order to run Rift on higher graphics than I am now (which I have them on low). My current setup is this:
Windows 7 64 Bit
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7400 @ 2.80ghz
6gb of DDR2 memory
Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT
400gb HD
Again not looking to break the bank here only $100-200 max upgrade to make this computer run better and with higher graphics. Thank you very much.
Comments
What power supply do you have, and what case?
just going off your build Im sure you can push a gtx 460. Its not that much more demanding than your current board.
Not a fan of sparkle, but this is a really good buy and comes with a lifetime warranty so you really cant beat it. Its at $150 and is the 1gig version of the 460
as far as what ATI has to offer in this price range, I'll leave that up to somebody else
Be warned that Sparkle's lifetime warranty means the lifetime of the SKU, not your lifetime. If it dies in six months and they've discontinued the card by then (as could easily happen with the GeForce 500 series out now), it's off warranty. If you do rebates, that is really cheap for a GTX 460, though.
While a video card upgrade would likely be appropriate, what your system can handle depends tremendously on what power supply and case you have. If you've got some low end machine from an OEM that only has one case fan, and only 80 mm at that, then an internal exhaust GeForce GTX 460 would be unsafe.
SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$20 off w/ promo code 34RSP9877, ends 4/10
$20 mail-in rebate
$99.99 after promo code and mail-in rebate.
The power consumption of the 9500 is extremely low. If your PSU is under 450W you may need to upgrade. I'd personally use the following for modular support. Any 550W will do just fine.
Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Don't pay $68 for an Antec Basiq. That's their low end line.
If you need a new power supply and are getting a video card that only needs one 6-pin connector, here's one that's reasonably nice and dirt cheap:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
But again, it's not possible to know what upgrades your system can handle until we find out your power supply and case. Don't just buy something, stick it in, and hope that nothing explodes.