Second attempt to get this thread to post: Recently acquired an old base unit for £60, runs fairly well as is, but I'd like to upgrade it a bit to get some experience and add flexibility to the system. Specification is as follows: Brand: E-System (no available model number) Foxconn 45GM/CM mobo Intel Celeron 430 2x512MB DDR2-667 RAM 70GB HDD Windows Vista Basic (looking to upgrade) 2x 512MB DDR2-667 CL5 unbranded RAM Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 80GB S300 8MB Hard Drive ATAPI DVD-D DH16D2P PATA DVD drive Windows Vista Base 32-bit replace with 2 x 1GB or 1x2GB Corsair Value Select CL5 DDR-667 RAM (is two 1GB sticks worth a few pounds extra?) Samsung Spinpoint F1 or F3 Hard Drive (probably about 320GB but may go higher or lower depending on available funds) Samsung SH-S222A DVD-Rewriter Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit Are those reasonable choices for a budget system likely to be used for word processing, internet usage and watching DVDs? If possible, I'd also like to add a dedicated graphics card to support multi-monitor (have a spare 17" Dell LCD that's not being used for anythign at the moment) and HD decoding (mainly downloaded clips, not interested in Blu-Ray as both are VGA-only). Unfortunately, the PSU isn't great - ColorsIt U500 (500W with single 20 +12V rail) - but I'm only looked for a low-end card. Would a GeForce G210, HD4350 or HD5450 run safely on that? If not, how difficult would it be to swap out the PSU? - never done anything more complicated that swapping RAM or HDDs before Thanks in advance Shamrock Holmes
Having 2 1GB sticks will get you dual channel mode. But go with whatever is cheaper. As far as GPU's goes. Id look at the radeon 4 series and geforce 9 series (or 8 series if you can find it). Check to see if your PSU has a pcie power connector. Im thinking a 9500gt or a 4670 should suit that system fine.
If you mean a 6-pin or 8-pin connector, I'm pretty sure it doesn't so I'll need a card that can run off the PCI-E slot only. Looking to spend no more than £40 on the GPU and ideally less (£25-30 would be better), and needs to be low power draw (I've seen the same case advertised as having a 300 or 350W PSU and it's likely that that is about the usable power (20A on the 12V gives 240W by my calculations , the 3.3V is 28A (92.4W?) and the 5V is 30A (150W?). There are also a -12V rail (0.5V/-6W?) and 5VSB rail (2A/10W?) for a total of 486.4W so the numbers more or less add up if the ratings are accurate. Given the above, would the G210 or HD5450 (or potentially the older 4350, but lose the potential for 3-way monitor) be good choices? As noted above, single monitor HD video is likely to be the most graphically intensive task, as the only other question would be can it run up to three monitors? 2x 1280x1024 (required) + 1x1680x1050/1920x1080 (ideally). Won't be doing any gaming as the CPU is rather poor and I have access to a C2D gaming rig for that anyway. Hope that helps, Shamrock Holmes
Alright then. Geforce 210 is the best i can find. There are 4650's for your price range but they dont support 3 monitors (2 DVI's and a S-video/TV out) So unless you have a monitor with a S-video input the 4650 is out of the question. As far as having 3 monitors connected to the same computer running at the same time I cant do it on mine. I have a radeon 3200 and running Windows 7 Pro x64 edit: forgot the link! http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512M...-Shader-1402-MHz-16-Cores-D-Sub-DL-DVI-I-HDMI
I would go with a 512MB HD5450. It has a bit better performance than the G210 is about the same power consumption and temperature. It is also passively cooled so will be a bit quieter. EDIT: Forgot to mention that if you want to run 3 screens from the HD5450, one will need to be displayport compatible. Changing out your power supply means a bit of faffing around with connectors but is not a difficult job. There are a few things you will need to check: Does the motherboard have a 20 or 24 pin connector Is the connector wired to theATX12V standard Will your case accomodate a standard ATX12V PSU However if the existing PSU is working fine I am not sure it is worth the hassle of changing it out.
tonpal & dec Thanks for your input, most of the recommendations I've had seem to be heading for the HD5450 (I'll be getting the DP-capable one as I suspect more DP-input monitors will become available in the next 6-12 months, especially if the new Nvidia Fermi cards have them as an option as well). Have you - or any one else - heard anything about ColorsIt PSUs? They certainly aren't great choices for mid-range or gaming rigs, but I'm still wondering if I can rely on it to do/be what it claims (which should certainly do the job alright for intended spec)?
