TL;DR: is a R7 260X over a 4850 wasted money on a Core2Quad 2.33GHz and will my PSU hold? Here's the situation, Current system: Dell XPS430 (I know, sins of the past), Core2Quad 2.33GHz, 8GB DDR3 (but 32bit), ATI Radeon 4850 512MB, Vista 32bit. And Linux 64bit dual boot. 1080p monitor. I want to upgrade the GPU, preferably staying with AMD, thinking of going with Sapphire R7 260X (underclocked, equal to 7790). But is it a worthwhile upgrade with a bottlenecked CPU? The other problem is the PSU. The Dell PSU is rated at 375w (though on the dell forum often claimed underrated). It has been handling my 4850 without fail (actually, one 4850 failed but Dell replaced it (which is why I went with them back then)). Will it be capable of handling a underclocked R7 260X? Bare in mind that the PSU is about 6 years old by now. I would consider replacing it, but the case is BTX so replacement isn't straightforward. PSU: 375W max, 2x12V@18A MAX, 12V rails shall not exceed 360W. power measurement: Idle: 100W Full CPU: 150W Full GPU: 200W Full CPU+GPU: 240W 2xDVD drives, 2xHDD a smattering of PCI(express) cards. PS: My case is length constrained (big a** BTX cpu cooler in the way, which was fine for the single slot 4850 (runs hot and load, probably why the first one failed), but could be a problem for dualslot cards). The mentioned Sapphire should be short enough, but from where do they measure the length? Starting at the slot plate, or do they include the bent tab of the slot plate. blush: embarrassed I don't know the proper term for thing) PPS: My Vista (shudder) is 32-bit (shudder), will the 2GB video RAM eat away at my total system memory address space? I know the memory is separate, but windows only allows <3GB address space with the rest used for memory-mapped IO (and others). My current card is 512MB which fits nicely in the 1 GB MMIO, but will the GB video memory further extend the unusable section of memory?
On older systems it can be like throwing good money after bad! Any substantial upgrade could push these standard built units over the edge in my experience because of the aging PSU. Having said that the Wolfdale chips were pretty great for there time so I doubt it'd be bottlenecked by a 260X! Certainly not if you venture an overclock on the CPU to boot. Had you considered an upgrade to Windows 7 and maybe sneak in an SSD boot drive? That'd be my first recommendation when it comes to refreshing an older system such as yours.
normally id say a GPU upgrade is almost always ok, but Core2 mite just be to old. If you really want to push your luck, you'd have to go nvidia for the much lower power requirements. you have no chance on AMD
Personally, if I were you I would be looking at a platform refresh. Even if money is tight, you should be able to find something suitable in the used market with some older 6 or 7 series 1155 parts with a new case and psu. Having ddr3 is good since you can carry that on, as well as your drives. Otherwise as far as I can remember there is no difference with the PSU mounting in BTX cases, so there should be nothing stopping you from getting a new more power efficient and higher wattage 400-500w PSU to go in your current system to alleviate any concerns with a GPU upgrade. I would also agree about getting an SSD if money allows. Even if not, and getting a more up to date OS isn't an option, you should still consider reinstalling Vista in x64 as I believe the key will work for both editions. You really need x64 since you are already being hampered with not being able to use the memory you already have.
I agree with what's already been said. I'm all for squeezing as much usefulness out of hardware as possible (look at my system ) but if I were you, I'd start thinking about a new system build.
Thanks for the replies. Problem is money is too tight for a new build (planning on going for broke with first self build, in the range of 2k so I start ahead of the curve), so now I was considering patching my current system to make it a bit more tolerable for longer. Regarding OS: I got Vista x86 with the system and don't want to buy a new windows just to upgrade. Also, I spend most time on linux x64 (windows can lie dormant for months at a time), so I don't want to spend extra on windows. Regarding SSD: I plan on including it on a future build, but for now, long load times don't really bother me. Regarding GPU: the main thing that bothers me is low FPS. long load times can be born patience, but slow fps and stutter can't. I am a graphics junky so I drop the resolution before I reduce the quality. I know nVidia has some nice options (the GTX 750 Ti is nice and uses less power) but I've always been a red-team supporter. Regarding PSU: I found out the mounting holes are the same ATX/BTX, although the current BTX is a little taller, but that just means an ATX PSU will leave a small gap. I was hoping I could do without replacement, so as to not f*** up a working system (plus Dell routed some cables in a very sneaky way; so removing the old PSU is not trivial). I miss the old 5.25" bay aux PSUs you could get in the past (for early crossfire/SLI systems) so you didn't have to change anything else.
I'm wondering if your board can accept the 771 Xeons... Given that it probably can't overclock, I'm going to wager that any graphics upgrade will be helpful but it's pretty CPU limited now.
The CPU is buried under a massive cooler and I don't want to touch it. Maybe I might go with a more modest R7 250X. It's lighter but a least its dx11. I"m more interested in running older games like Dishonored or Just Cause 2 or Trine 2, Mass effect. A video comparing a Q8200 (same as mine) to a i7 3770K in DIRT 3 (among others). While in terms of compute it's much slower, in Dirt 3 is a minor difference.
What people need to remember is the 4850 will be a huge bottleneck currently, so even if you don't get the true 100% gain of the upgrade you will still see a massive benefit. I don't think a 260 or 270 would be a terrible mismatch. Or try 7950's 2nd hand, don't go for much!
Even something like a 650ti would be a large performance boost! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-GeFor...641?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3ce9e393f9 You should really upgrade to a 64 bit version of 7/8.1.
Is there a reason why you don't want to upgrade to 64bit Windows? Many games use more than 3GB and it seems an odd decision considering you have 8GB of physical memory installed.
I had not yet decided to update windows. A new license for win 7 x64 would set me back as much as a new GPU. The 8GB was mainly for linux x64 (where I spend 98% of my time). Reinstalling windows is a fairly big job. I also now opened up the CPU cooling and found out the PSU wiring isn't so hard, so I might first replace the PSU (component most likely to fail first). In the process I also broke the thermal paste on the CPU (didn't wipe it of, but did expose to air, then squeeze back on and tighten the cooler down) a few times and I don't have anything to replace it, is that bad? I did clean about 6 years worth of fluff from the heat sink so maybe it will even out.
Maybe I'll update windows, but it wasn't on the initial plan. The problem with the card is it has to be short <180mm and/or low <40mm. Most dualslot coolers are out of the question. That's why I was looking at the Sapphire as it is very short @ 177mm and low @35mm. Which bring me back, from where do manufacturers measure the length: the slot plate with the side tab or without?
Any guidelines? like: "Less is more"or rather "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing". I am a noob when it comes to warranty voiding hardware stuff. Is beQuiet! DC1 paste any good, its all I can find from the local dealer (not paying €13 shipping for a tube of paste)
CPU and Heatsink needs to be cleaned using isopropyl alcohol to remove any old thermal paste. Then reapply the thermal interface material to create fresh contact between CPU and Heatsink. This is a must to avoid cooking your CPU! Also aids any attempt to overclock thanks to reduced temperatures!
Clean the cpu and heat sink with alcohol to remove the existing thermal compound. I use those swabs that the nurse uses to clean the skin before taking a blood sample. You can get them from the pharmacy. Put a small rice grain amount of paste in the middle of the CPU. Put the heat sink back on. Reboot and monitor temps to make sure everything is ok. Then stress the CPU a bit to make sure everything is really ok. There's lots of techniques that people use, but that one will do fine. Look at a few videos on youtube to get an idea of the amount required. It's not a huge amount. I'm not too fussy when it comes to thermal paste to be honest. If you can't get anything locally or want something else I find that ebay is a great place to get weird little sundries that would cost a fortune in shipping through the normal channels.
