Official "Upgrade Help" Thread

[Tankiouse]

To who ever can help me I have just bought myself a ASUS GTX 295 and thought my 500W psu would supply its power appetite. I was wrong if anyone can tell me where I can get a 650W~750W psu for a reasonable price please.

[McDangerous]

Well if i were you, i'd try and get this:

http://www.prophecy.co.za/antec-neopower-blue-650w-with-eps12v-certrified-p-23398.html

its certified by ati to run a 4870X2, so i'm sure it'd be fine for your gtx295. it's got 19A on its triple 12V rails and is rated at 650W continuous delivery

it's what i'd get!

[Tankiouse]

Thanx but R1500 is a bit to expensive for me I already broke my bank account when i bought the CPU. I am looking for something under R1000.

[McDangerous]

which CPU do you have? coz the i7 adds a few Watts to the total consumption, so it makes a difference compared to if you had a C2D or PhenomII.... it's gonna be tough finding a PSU with enough output current for a GTX 295 for under 1grand, but i'll try and find one for you....

[Tankiouse]

I have an Q9650 Core 2 Quad LGA775 3.00GHz

[Wesley]

I have an Q9650 Core 2 Quad LGA775 3.00GHz

Well my dear friend, you'll have to spend upwards of R1k if you want to power your GTX295. Let me look around for you, I'll have something for you to look at just now. Also, please post up whats in the rest of your rig, like your motherboard, memory and how many modules you're running, the number of hard drives you have, the number of fans you have, and whether you run your screen from its own power cord or from the PSU.

[@@GJC@@]

Thanx but R1500 is a bit to expensive for me I already broke my bank account when i bought the CPU. I am looking for something under R1000.

Maybe the Raidmax RX-700SS 700W PSU EUVOLCANORX-700S @R949
Linkys: http://www.jump.co.za/search/700W+PSU (@ jump shopping) or
http://www.zaps.co.za/?pid=25738 (@ Zaps the shop)

[McDangerous]

just checked, and nvidia says you need 62A on the 12V rails to power that monster....... good gracious! thats a ****load! you need a high end PSU to get that kinda juice out of it, the entry level ones don't often have that much power, regardless of they're power rating. for example, you may find a 800W psu for R900, but it'll only have 18A on each 12V rail. then you'll find a 750W PSU for double the price, but it'll have 25W on each 12V rail.

read Chevrons article on the NAG website, and all will become clear to you grasshopper..... :P

[Wesley]

Right, here's a few PSUs you can have a look at:

Enermax Pro82+ 625w 80Plus @ R1429

Enermax is a really good brand, and this particular one comes with a 3 year warranty. It has 3 12v rails, each pushing out 25amps, which will be more than enough to power your GTX295 and everything else.

Cooler Master Silent Power Pro 600w 80Plus @ R1530

Slightly more expensive, but less features than the Enermax. The big plus to this PSU is the huge 135mm fan that keeps everything cool and manages to stay silent as well. This would work too, but only take it if you really have to have a more quiet PC.

Vantec ioN2+AS van-700A 700watt 80Plus @ R1604

The only reason why there's no cake in Portal is because it looks like the Vantec ate it :-P Its a nice PSU, but it still has to prove itself against the Enermax. I'd still take it though, four 12v rails that supply 22amps+ is amazing. This PSU could power an SLI or Crossfire rig easily.

Of course, the only other alternative would be to sell your GTX295 and get something cheaper and less power hungry, like a GTS250 or even GTX260. Don't worry, you won't be missing out on much.

just checked, and nvidia says you need 62A on the 12V rails to power that monster.......

Actually, consider that the GTX285 needs 42amps. Now the GTX295 is two underclocked GTX285 cores on a joined PCB, and will need close to 50amps in total. Nvidia is being pretty conservative with those 62amp claims, really. The Vantec I listed will easily power it, because two of the four 12v rails can deliver 32amps each, so a GTX295 will be no problem.

[MK4 GTI 20VT]

Well, I can only agree with everyone else here, really. At R3510, there's no better monitor:

Samsung T260 FLC-ST260 @ R3510



Welcome to the forums, er... bloody hell, what a name. Which letters do I choose? I'll call you Bob ^_^

There won't be software hiccups when switching the CPU's, but you may have to get yourself some decent thermal paste to slap in between the heatsink and the CPU. You're running an E2180, right? Why not overclock it? You'll be able to get up to 3Ghz out of it with a bit of effort (no screwing around with voltages either).

See, the reason why I say give overclocking a try is because the newer PC is still probably under a warranty - taking off the side of the case will mean you have to break some sort of seal, voiding that warranty - and we don't want to do that (warranties are a godsend). Swapping out the processor won't be a painful process, but it may take some doing if the new PC has a custom-built case that makes taking out the motherboard rather like booting into Vista on a Pentium II - you'll get there eventually, but it'll take a long time to do it.

Overclocking your old PC will be much less painful, and you may even clock it high enough to equal or better the other Core2 Duo (which I guess is the E7200/7300). It doesn't take much doing: lower your memory speed in the BIOS, and then increase the CPU frequency by 10Mhz until you can no longer boot, then lower it back down by about 20Mhz. You should be able to reach 2.4Ghz without any problems, and you'll probably be able to go a little higher than that.

Hi

yeah the long user name is the same one I use on all the forums. (Its my first VW Ive owned)

Both PC's are custom built by a shop and the newest one doesnt have a warrenty anymore because we installed removable sata drives and more RAM.

I dont have a cooking clue how to over clock a CPU so Ill rather opt for the swop LOL!

Thanks for the advice!

Btw, just another quick question, what would be better, dual channel 2GB (2x1GB) ram or a single 2GB ram chip (both of the same make, DDR2 800mhz)

[Wesley]

Hi

yeah the long user name is the same one I use on all the forums. (Its my first VW Ive owned)

Both PC's are custom built by a shop and the newest one doesnt have a warrenty anymore because we installed removable sata drives and more RAM.

I dont have a cooking clue how to over clock a CPU so Ill rather opt for the swop LOL!

Thanks for the advice!

Btw, just another quick question, what would be better, dual channel 2GB (2x1GB) ram or a single 2GB ram chip (both of the same make, DDR2 800mhz)

Oh well, to each his own dude. Just get some thermal paste from a local computer shop, and make sure you clean the processor's surface and the surface o the heatsink that comes into contact with the CPU properly, and then put on a small pea-sized blob of paste.

And I'm a fan of gimmicks, and i believe that dual-channel memory works, so get a 2*1GB kit for some extra performance.

[Tankiouse]

Thanx you guys for all your help. I will check out all your suggestions. Wesley I do not think I well sell my GTX 295. I currently have bragging rights amongst my friends and if I say i have a gtx260 it just does not command the type of respect like saying I have a GTX295.
Wesly my spec are:

Rampage EXTREME
Transcend AxeRam DDR3 1800MHz 4 dimms
3x 140mm led lit fans
2x SATA HDD

[Wesley]

Thanx you guys for all your help. I will check out all your suggestions. Wesley I do not think I well sell my GTX 295. I currently have bragging rights amongst my friends and if I say i have a gtx260 it just does not command the type of respect like saying I have a GTX295.
Wesly my spec are:

Rampage EXTREME
Transcend AxeRam DDR3 1800MHz 4 dimms
3x 140mm led lit fans
2x SATA HDD

Well man, its either spend another R1.6k and get a better PSU, or maybe downgrade to a GTX285 or even GTX275, both of which kick ass.

[Tankiouse]

Is the GIGABYTE ODIN 720W a good buy? And does anyone know anything about the ASUS U-75HA?

[Chevron]

Is the GIGABYTE ODIN 720W a good buy? And does anyone know anything about the ASUS U-75HA?

That gigabyte might just bad fine.. It's probably only around 650watts continuous but should work.

[Stabbity]

Well, I've been given some money to build my own computer, and to buy my own components. My Budget is around R8 500, and so far it looks like it'll cost R8 300. These are the components that I've found so far.

DVD Writer 22/12x DL (SAMSUNG) SATA, Midi Tower Case + 350W PSU - Coolermaster - Elite Cool, Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz (1066FSB 4MB), P5Q Motherboard, 2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix), 2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix), 500GB-7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA II (Seagate), LG 19 LCD Wide 1440x900 10000:1 2ms DVI, Geforce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI - XFX, Standard 104 Keyboard, 280W Speakers

Is there anything I'm missing? Do you guys think that it's a good price?

[X-Gamer]

@Stabbity,
It would be much better if you could list individual prices, or is that a quote?
Check the first page of the system builders thread for that price range.

[Stabbity]

Okay, here are the individual prices :

DVD Writer 22/12x DL (SAMSUNG) SATA R 215 excl. R 245 incl.
Midi Tower Case + 350W PSU - Coolermaster - Elite Cool R 485 excl. R 552 incl.
Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz (1066FSB 4MB) R 1,489 excl. R 1,697 incl.
P5Q Motherboard R 1,352 excl. R 1,541 incl.
2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix) R 219 excl. R 249 incl.
2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix) R 219 excl. R 249 incl.
500GB-7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA II (Seagate) R 540 excl. R 615 incl.
LG 19 LCD Wide 1440x900 10000:1 2ms DVI R 1,264 excl. R 1,440 incl.
Geforce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI - XFX R 1,199 excl. R 1,366 incl.
Standard 104 Keyboard PS2 Black R 29 excl. R 33 incl.
280W Speakers - Black R 45 excl. R 51 incl.

[X-Gamer]

Those are really nice prices, I think its a good deal.
Although, the 9800GT is getting quite long in the tooth, you may want to look at the HD4850 or if you can stretch your budget a bit further, the HD4870.

At prophecy.co.za they have an HD4850 for R1338.08 LINK
and the HD4870 for R1982.18 LINK
Unfortunately, both are out of stock at the moment. (ETA 30 June)

[Wesley]

Is the GIGABYTE ODIN 720W a good buy? And does anyone know anything about the ASUS U-75HA?

If its the Odin GT range, then it might be OK, but I still say you should stick to the list I gave you - all those PSUs have proven reliability and ability.

Okay, here are the individual prices :

DVD Writer 22/12x DL (SAMSUNG) SATA R 215 excl. R 245 incl.
Midi Tower Case + 350W PSU - Coolermaster - Elite Cool R 485 excl. R 552 incl.
Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33Ghz (1066FSB 4MB) R 1,489 excl. R 1,697 incl.
P5Q Motherboard R 1,352 excl. R 1,541 incl.
2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix) R 219 excl. R 249 incl.
2GB DDRII-800 (Kingston/Hynix) R 219 excl. R 249 incl.
500GB-7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA II (Seagate) R 540 excl. R 615 incl.
LG 19 LCD Wide 1440x900 10000:1 2ms DVI R 1,264 excl. R 1,440 incl.
Geforce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI - XFX R 1,199 excl. R 1,366 incl.
Standard 104 Keyboard PS2 Black R 29 excl. R 33 incl.
280W Speakers - Black R 45 excl. R 51 incl.

Mmmmm...mmmm...

Where are you getting these prices? They all look very close to PCInt's pricing structure. Take a look at this list to get an idea of what you should be looking at:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ R2283
Asus Intel P5KPL-CM @ R688 (the P5KPL-AM version is cheaper)

Thats going to be a much faster and possibly cheaper alternative to your Q8200 quad (which is pretty slow, I must admit). Everything else is fine. The 9800GT is an oldie, but a goody. Since this is a brand new computer, you could also go with AMD:

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition @ R1772
BIOSTAR T-SERIES TA780G M2+ HP 6.x @ R704 (or any AMD AM2+ motherboard, but it must have the 780G chipset to run AM3 properly)

Oh, and dude, get yourself a better speaker system. They are always a good investment.