[theallspark12]

Hey all,

So my desktop's specs goes:

ASUS P5QPL-AM mobo
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66Ghz
Nvidia GT220 for the vid card
and just 2GB ram.

with these settings i am able to play games on a decent, close to ps3 graphics I think? I think it can do better. Is my processor enough or I just have to upgrade my graphics card since its been 2 years since I bought it.

Thanks for the reply!

[Megabite]

Can you tell us your Power supply wattage.

[Triple6]

Your CPU is old but its not too bad at all.

Your graphics card on the other hand is terrible for gaming, it was considered a home/media PC card not a gaming card even when it was new. Upgrading that will improve your performance quite significantly.

As asked, what is your power supply, gaming cards draw significantly more power then a GT 220.

Also, what is your budget and what games do you wish to play at High or Ultra?

[theallspark12]

ohhh I see. sorry I forgot to include my power supply. I have an Orion (not familiar with the brand) 600watt PSU.

I also have a tight budget probably around $80-$100. Hmm... I'm currently playing Crysis 2, L.A. Noire, and NBA2K12. After i'm tired with those, I'll probably go for Max Payne 3 I guess. And of course i'll be playing the later games too.

[Triple6]

Orion power supplies tend to be garbage, check the +12 volt rail(s) of the power supply and post how many amps it has for each +12 volt rail.

That's a fairly low budget, especially if the PSU will need to replaced. The $150+ mark tends to be where good gaming cards start.

Here's the requirements for Max Payne 3; http://support.rockstargames.com/ent...m-requirements
The card they recommend for High is a Geforce GTX 480, it sells for $199 and that's on a massive sale from its regular ~$270 price tag: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130759
It would likely burn up most Orion PSU's and possibly damage the card and other components pretty quickly though, an ~$80 Corsair power supply or something of equal quality would be needed to power such a card though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139020

[theallspark12]

Hmm.. it says there +12v - 20A. What does that mean? (Sorry, Im not that familiar with PSUs and their differences). What do I need to have in mind when purchasing a PSU? Because I thought back then that I just need to look at the wattage, the higher wattage, the better, right? I know good brands of PSU are Corsair, Thermaltake, Cooler Master, and Antec? Did i miss something?

Damn that's expensive. I guess i'll have to keep saving up then. Thanks for the infos and links.

Hmm. How can you tell if a video card is for gaming? Because back before I bought my gt220, I kinda researched on it and thought it was good, so I went for it.

By the way, on a different note, would a PC's case make a difference? Because I have a full ATX casing (again by Orion), and I plan to change it into something for gaming. Thanks a lot.

[Triple6]

Higher wattage is better, but only if its accurate; meaning it can actually sustain that, thats its tested at real operating temperatures, and its power distribution is where it counts. Modern systems very heavily rely on the +12 volt for the CPU, graphics card, pretty much everything else. 20 Amps on the +12 volt rail on a 600 watt branded power supply is a joke. Here's a Corsair 600 Watt Gamer PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139023 It has 48 Amps on the +12 volt rail, not a silly 20 Amps and thats not factoring in proper testing and quality components which the Orion does not have.

Several sites do comparisons, Tom's Hardware is one of them and they do a "Best Card for Money" every month and they have a hierarchy chart at the end of the article, here's the link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html

The GT 220 compares against the top cards of 2005 or against the most entry level cards of today.
Typical GT 220 review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforc...review-test/11

So the good news is that nearly anything would be an upgrade today, graphics card progress fast and prices and a low end card today can outperform a mid or high-end card from several years ago while adding new features and improvement.

If the case is decent and has good airflow then it'll be fine, better cases have better designs, made of better materials, and have better/nicer finishes. Gaming cases also are more flashy and "cool" looking.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by Triple6

If the case is decent and has good airflow then it'll be fine, better cases have better designs, made of better materials, and have better/nicer finishes. Gaming cases also are more flashy and "cool" looking.

Agreed. Typically the only things that differ with a 'gaming' case are cosmetic and typically, when I play games, I tend to look at the pictures on the screen not at the case

[theallspark12]

I see. So when looking at PSUs, I need to look at the brand, the wattage and how much amps on the +12v rail? im guessing the more +12v rails, the better? That's nice. I'll check to see if they have that on our local computer store. If not, I guess I'll find a similar one, probably from the makes of Thermaltake if not Corsair.

Thanks for the links by the way. I'll be sure to check the reviews before purchasing.

Hmm.. I have this http://www.gdsicorp.com/computers.do...677&cat_id=860 for my case. What do you guys think?


EDIT:
here's what I found in my local store, I live in the Philippines btw. Can I have your thoughts on these?

http://www.thermaltake.com/products-...?id=C_00001775
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/prod...px?pid=2795#sp
http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Pr...ad.asp?idx=466
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3738

I also found a Cougar ST model but I couldn't find it in their website. Pretty odd.

Thanks guys! Hope I'm not wasting your time.

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by theallspark12

I see. So when looking at PSUs, I need to look at the brand, the wattage and how much amps on the +12v rail? im guessing the more +12v rails, the better?

Not necessarily, it may have multiply +12v rails but each rail has a fairly low amps = not good, whereas one +12v rail with high amps is good. Generally speaking units from Corsair (not builder series), Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, OCZ are considered good units(there are others), I am not particularly familiar with Thermaltake PSUs.

[techniquev3]

GTX 470 is a great card, power hungry and noisy tho. I have 13 case fans and liquid cooling anyway :P

[Triple6]

It's a basic case, but it functions.

As for the power supplies, they are all entry level units, non of them are great units and they all pretty much advertise their "peak" output rather than their continuous output which actually puts most of them at 400-450 watt not 500 watts you'd expect. Non of them are great choices for a gaming system.

[theallspark12]

I see. Then I won't have to replace my case then. (which is a good thing for me).

I guess i'll have to increase my budget for the PSU and buy ones similar to what you have suggested.

As for the graphics card, I looked at Tom's Hardware and read some articles and reviews. Gave me a lot of choices well within my price range like the Radeon 6770 or Nvidia's GT 430 still, I need to buy a decent PSU first. Haha.

Well, thanks for the links. They helped a lot especially tom's hardware, and for your time of course. I'll post about the stuff I went with and state my opinion on them after installing them on my rig.

Cheers!