Another "Will this specs work" thread (sort of)

[Maddey_Linqs]

Instead of asking if my specs works without trying it on my own, I'm actually hesitating to whether or not buy items that are within my reach/available options to get.

My specs are on my sig but here's what might get changed:
-Proc: Athlon II x4 620 @ 2.6ghz (should I overclock it and buy another heatsink/cooler for it?)
-Videocard: Geforce GT 520 2GB DDR3 (should I go for a better one?)
-Generic Case: Either put fans on it (it has none) or buy a new branded but cheap one
-PSU: Buy a better one

I'm not asking what's better or what (that's already pretty obvious). What I'm asking is, what's good enough, I'm on a tight budget so.. yeah.. poor.. I'm also freaking out a lil cause it pretty much heats up fast. (I just bought a new motherboard :| )

Trying to have it play No more Heroes 1 & 2 (2 runs pretty well, a lil bit sluggish on the cut scenes) and Monster Hunter Tri.

[silveruniverse]

you can get a program that measures the temp of the CPU (coretemp i think) and check the temps if it gets too hot when you OC. if it does then get a better CPU fan. just monitor the temps over a few hours when you OC to check its stable

the GT520 has a score of 360 on a benchmark and is about $54, while a GT240 has a score of 770 and costs about $40. get the GT240
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+520
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+240
(when nVidia make cards the first number is the architecture and the other numbers show performance, so a 520 is weaker than a 240 but uses the new architecture, or 9400GT is weaker than an 8800GT)

i dont think you need to get a new PSU, but if you do then get an OCZ, more efficient and quiet too
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-500W-ModXStream-Power-Supply/dp/tech-data/B001GLFD4U/ref=de_a_smtd (this is an example, i'm not saying to get this specific PSU)

case should be fine unless theres next to no space for good airflow

[Maddey_Linqs]

Okay, been out a while and hoarding money to upgrade the heck outta my PC.

I changed the casing to a larger and cooler one eliminating the earlier threat of possible overheating and the store owner forced me to buy a new psu, I even went out and bought a Corsair H60 liquid cooler. I also picked up 2 more 4GB rams (mine's already good I know, I bought it on impulse :\ ).

Now the only problem is what should I buy first with the remaining money >_>
Should I buy a Phenom II x4 965 BE or an Nvidia GT 250 (there's also the option of getting a GT 450 Sonic Edition but I may have to wait 3 more months by then I could be already tempted to buy a 3ds with the money I have). Also, both are 2nd hand items :|

Suggestions?

[NaturalViolence]

Your cpu should be AT LEAST a phenom II X3 depending on your budget. I would recommend going for the cheaper phenom II 955 instead of a 965 if you're on a tight budget.

Get a better cpu now. Worry about getting a better cooling system and overclocking it later.

As for what video card you want that depends on what settings you plan to use. Your current card is good enough for a 1x or 1.5x internal resolution. What's your screen resolution?

[Maddey_Linqs]

1280x720

Well, you see I already have the cooling and stuff. Only thing I just need help on is deciding whether to get a processor or a video card. As said earlier, these things are sold to me used, thus cheap. The 965's $120 and the GTS250 is $72. I now have 120 bucks before I call Game Over on my money wasting spree. The dilemma now is just, should I buy the GTS250 and (learn to) overclock my CPU and save money or play it safe and buy the 965 BE and let my graphics card work some more.

[ExtremeDude2]

(08-19-2011, 01:14 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: I would recommend going for the cheaper phenom II 955 instead of a 965 if you're on a tight budget.

[linkinworm]

why would anyone put 2gb of ram into such a crappy graphics card?

[NaturalViolence]

Go for the cpu and keep your internal resolution at 1.5x at the most for the time being.

Quote:why would anyone put 2gb of ram into such a crappy graphics card?

From a quick google search:

Quote:In photo and video editing, low-end video cards benefit greatly from having more VRAM, and in these scenarios 1GB is desireable.

In gaming, low-end video cards do not fully utilize even 512MB of VRAM, let alone 1GB. Games benefit more from having the greater memory bandwidth that DDR3 and GDDR5 memory provides.

Quote:Back when Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 was out, there was a GPU H.264 encoder plugin which was used. Having that said plugin allowed the GPU to encode the video instead of the CPU. Having a faster GPU with even just 512MB was great and a much better investment.


However, the company that produced the plugin no longer supports the CS5 suite. This makes the GPU power almost irrelevant as all graphics cards can easily handle the output load and the CPU is what does the encoding.

So buying a cheap graphics card with 1GB+ on it is a great investment for those who are into video editing but do not want to spend a fortune on Quadro or FireGL cards.

For video editing/encoding/rendering it's a godsend.

[Maddey_Linqs]

Well, finally got the processor. Game Over for me.

And got NMH2 running at full speed at most scenes so far on r4980 but I still get like 15fps on r7719. Any certain configurations I should follow on 7719?

[NaturalViolence]

Show us your current configuration and we will tell you what adjustments to make. Also you should be using 3.0, not the latest revision. You should be able to overclock that cpu to somewhere between 3.8-4.0GHz core clock rate which should provide a further boost to performance.