Which video card to get?

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big_helmet

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I now have a GF4 Ti4600. Which should really suck at this game.
So now I have very few options:
My power supply is a 235 W (Compaq Presario 8568 crap) so according to ATI's customer care it will freeze even if I get a 9800 Pro to run.

So is it possible to just replace the supply with a stronger one?
Are there different sizes?
Should I buy a new cabinet?
Which motherboard size is the compaq's?
Since a good cabinet costs at least $150 and a Radeon 9800 Pro $500 there's not gonna be anything like that in a single month.
Is 9700 Pro faster than a 9600 Pro?

Or would it be a safer bet to wait for the 9600 XT which seems more like "playing-it-safe"? I'd really like to hear from Compaq users that have tried (succesfully or not) getting a 9800 Pro to run.

So the options are:
Cabinet and 9800 Pro
Power supply and 9800 Pro
9600 Pro
Wait for 9600 XT
Take a chance with a 9800 Pro

Cheers, Martin.
 
Originally posted by big_helmet
I now have a GF4 Ti4600. Which should really suck at this game.
So now I have very few options:
My power supply is a 235 W (Compaq Presario 8568 crap) so according to ATI's customer care it will freeze even if I get a 9800 Pro to run.

So is it possible to just replace the supply with a stronger one?
Are there different sizes?
Should I buy a new cabinet?
Which motherboard size is the compaq's?
Since a good cabinet costs at least $150 and a Radeon 9800 Pro $500 there's not gonna be anything like that in a single month.
Is 9700 Pro faster than a 9600 Pro?

Or would it be a safer bet to wait for the 9600 XT which seems more like "playing-it-safe"? I'd really like to hear from Compaq users that have tried (succesfully or not) getting a 9800 Pro to run.

So the options are:
Cabinet and 9800 Pro
Power supply and 9800 Pro
9600 Pro
Wait for 9600 XT
Take a chance with a 9800 Pro

Cheers, Martin.

Let me start off by saying a ti4600 will no where even NEAR suck... Second, upgrading anything in a prebuilt comp such as dell or compaq wont be happening besides add-ons, like the vid card, CD drives, HDD, etc. If your PS is 235W your lucky your running a Ti4600. Are you sure its not 330W? If its under 300W then itll be a problem running any newer card. Oh and yes, there is no such thing as the 9600XT, you are thinking of a 9800 XT.
 
Originally posted by thehunter1320
there will be no 9600 XT, so either go w/ PSU and 9800 Pro or 9600 pro

yes there will be a 9600XT its clocked at 500mhz on the core, and 600mhz on the memory. the 9800XT is 412mhz for the core and 730mhz for the memory.
 
So is it possible to just replace the supply with a stronger one?

Yes, its very simple. About the same difficulty level as changing a CD or Hard Drive out.

Are there different sizes?

There are specialty applications, but for a standard PC any general store bought PSU will fit.

Should I buy a new cabinet? Which motherboard size is the compaq's?

By cabinet you're refering to the case right?? If so, no you dont need a new case. The new power supply (PSU) should fit right in.
As for the motherboard.. I cant say for sure without actually knowing what kind it is, but Im 99% sure its ATX or Mini-ATX. Neither of which will have any affect on swapping out your power supply. Just make sure you get a power supply certified for whatever type of processor you are using. (P4, Athlon etc...)


And as for the video card... It all depends on how powerful your system is to power it. If you aren't above say a 1.8-2ghz system, dont bother with the 9800pro, as your CPU will just be a bottleneck for it. If you're computer is 2ghz or above go for the 9800Pro, you wont be disappointed.
 
Thanks for all the replies. As it looks now, I'll save up for a new computer (a good one costs about $1500 in Sweden) and go for a 9600XT when they're released in Europe.

Unless I get some positive reply from Compaq/HP's support. They're really slow....

Best case scenario is I've mistaken the model number and have a better supply. Next best is to buy a new case. I haven't built a new computer before but I will do it next time for sure.

BTW, this one is a P4 2.0 GHz with 512 Mb 2100 DDR RAM. So I should be able to run a 9800 PRO if I just get a new power supply.
 
Originally posted by big_helmet
BTW, this one is a P4 2.0 GHz with 512 Mb 2100 DDR RAM. So I should be able to run a 9800 PRO if I just get a new power supply.

Christ, with specs like that I would wait until the BTX standard would come on stage together with the AMD64/Prescott, PCI-Express, DDRII and whatever more. Then I say it's worth upgrading. This all will be on the market somewhere around the half of 2004...

It's your money, but as my dad says;"You can only spend it once".
 
PoLo, we could have the same father....

Since computer games are a great part of my spare time I've learned some things:
Waiting for a newer model in a couple of months is sometimes good, sometimes not. It gets annoying because another two months away there's also something new coming....

But our father's is right. Having thought about it I'll think I'll settle for a 9600 XT when they get here bundled with HL2...? 9600 Pro costs about $250, hopefully an XT-variant should be about $300.
 
I know what you're saying about the waiting. If you want to upgrade you'll have to do that when ever you want, because there will always come out new better hardware, but the upgrade must be worth it and that isn't the case here imo.

The thing is that you're going to spend money on something that'll perform almost the same as your current hardware. FPS difference is minimal and if you compare DX8.1 with DX9 there isn´t much of a difference there either.

Anyway here are some articles that might interest you. If you don´t care too read them just check out the benchmarks.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1863&p=1

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/hl2_followup/001.htm

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/hl2_followup/shotdx.htm

Best of luck with your decision :)
 
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