Quick Question

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by SgtSparky, Nov 1, 2011.

  1. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    Hey! im new to this stuff, but i have an Acer X3400 (the 3GBRam Geforce 9200, X2 215 2.7ghz one) and im wanting to upgrade it,

    now.... graphics cards im REALLY struggling to find one of decent value that is low profile bracket that is suitable for most games on high or most modern on medium etc do any of you guys recommend any? and someone mentioned an upgrade of the PSU too?

    also in the near future id like to upgrade my CPU is this possible also??
     
  2. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    Hi SgtSparky,

    Welcome to MGs. could you please click here to download and install speccy. This will analyse your system and tell us exactly what components you have and allows us to asses where likely bottle necks are and how and what to upgrade. Once installed run a scan and paste the log file into your reply (please remove your Windows Serial key from the log before posting)

    What is your budget for your GPU? You may well need to upgrade your PSU depending on the power consumption of your current card and your new card.

    It is dificult to get a meaningful improvement to your CPU without upgrading Motherboard and RAM
     
  3. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    hi thank you for the quick reply! heres what it says

    Operating System
    MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
    CPU
    AMD Athlon II X2 215 42 °C
    Regor 45nm Technology
    RAM
    3.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 533MHz (7-7-7-20)
    Motherboard
    Acer Aspire X3400 (CPU 1) 52 °C
    Graphics
    Acer P196HQV (1280x800@60Hz)
    256MB GeForce 9200 (Acer Incorporated [ALI]) 61 °C
    Hard Drives
    313GB Western Digital WDC WD32 00AAJS-22L7A SCSI Disk Device (ATA)
    Optical Drives
    MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0001
    MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0002
    MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0003
    HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH60N SCSI CdRom Device
    MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000
    Audio
    Realtek High Definition Audio

    is that any good to help?


    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Acer
    Model Aspire X3400 (CPU 1)
    Chipset Vendor NVIDIA
    Chipset Model nForce 720a
    Chipset Revision A2
    Southbridge Vendor NVIDIA
    Southbridge Model ID075C
    Southbridge Revision A2
    System Temperature 51 °C
    BIOS
    Brand AMI
    Version P01-B1
    Date 04/02/2010
    Voltage
    CPU CORE 1.344 V
    MEMORY CONTROLLER 3.040 V
    +3.3V 2.992 V
    +5V 5.000 V
    +12V 13.440 V
    -12V -4.608 V
    -5V -12.032 V
    +5V HIGH THRESHOLD 5.053 V
    CMOS BATTERY 3.072 V
    PCI Data
    Slot PCI-E
    Slot Type PCI-E
    Slot Usage Available
    Bus Width Unknown
    Slot Designation PCIE
    Slot Number 0
    Slot PCI-E
    Slot Type PCI-E
    Slot Usage Available
    Bus Width Unknown
    Slot Designation PCIE
    Slot Number 1





    Graphics
    Monitor
    Name Acer P196HQV on NVIDIA GeForce 9200
    Current Resolution 1280x800 pixels
    Work Resolution 1280x760 pixels
    State enabled, primary
    Monitor Width 1280
    Monitor Height 800
    Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
    Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
    Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
    GeForce 9200
    GPU C77/C78
    Device ID 10DE-084B
    Revision A3
    Subvendor Acer Incorporated [ALI] (1025)
    Current Performance Level Level 1
    Current GPU Clock 500 MHz
    Current Memory Clock 1066 MHz
    Current Shader Clock 1200 MHz
    Voltage 1.100 V
    DirectX Support 10.0
    DirectX Shader Model 4.0
    OpenGL Support 3.0
    Bus Interface FPCI
    Temperature 61 °C
    ForceWare version 285.62
    BIOS Version 62.77.36.00.03
    ROPs 4
    Shaders 16 unified
    Memory Type System
    Physical Memory 256 MB
    Virtual Memory 1408 MB
    Count of performance levels : 1
    Level 0
    GPU Clock 500 MHz
    Memory Clock 1066 MHz
    Shader Clock 1200 MHz
     
  4. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    Where did you get this info from? It doesnt look like a speccy log and doesnt make sense?

    Your RAM is listed as DDR3 @533MHz. I doubt that your CPU will support DDR3 and the memory speed is not right either?
     
  5. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    i saved it as a text file is this correct? - apologies if its frustrating, i appreciate the help though!!
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 3, 2011
  6. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

  7. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    The report is correct though admittedly weird, the CPU's FSB is 533MHz. You have a slim tower so therefore not much choice for a better video card as they're 1/2 height. Cheapest solution may be to get a new machine. Sorry, as these Slim Jim cases are not built to be upgradeable as the heat dissipation will suffer.
     
  8. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    It doesnt appear to be that simple... In the CPU section it lists a core clock speed of 200MHz and a CPU clock speed of 800MHz which indicates DDR2 (CPU Clock = Core Clock * 4) however in the RAM section it clearly states a memory bus speed is 533MHz.

    PC3-10700 should run at 1333MHz which if it is DDR3 would use a clock speed of 166; however if it was DDR2 Its core clock would be 533 which ties up with speccy?

    I am wondering whether the motherboard supports DDR3 but the CPU (Should) only support DDR2, so the CPU is running as though it is DDR2 but the board is overclocking the memory bus by double to get the 1333? I have never heard of this and im not even convinced that it could be done but I cant think of anything else. I need to read a bit more about AMD architecture I think because I know that they dont have an FSB but I am not sure where the memory controller is located. most bizare!
     
  9. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    I should also have said that I am inclined to agree with your sentiments over not being able to improve performance much.
     
  10. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    Having googled the processor it appears to be similar to what I described.
    http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Athlon%20II%20X2%20215%20-%20ADX215OCK22GQ.html

    It has independent Memory clock and CPU clock (HyperTransport Link) the memory bus runs at 533MHz and the CPU at 2000MHz which when the 13.5 multiplier is applied gives your CPU speed of 2.7GHz.

    What I am failing to understand is why the core speeds are double what you would expect to see. I suspect it is a querk of the AM3 architecture. Im at the end of my lunch now so will carry on googling later.
     
  11. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    OK I have got a little further with working out what is going on.

    AMD architecture has the memory controller in the CPU rather than the north bridge. This means that you dont have a traditional FSB. You have something called the Hypertransport Bus instead which the CPU to the bridge controller (which replaces the north bridge). This is often integrated into south bridge so effectively your South bridge is connected directly to your CPU. Your memory bus is then connected directly to your CPU hence the 2 timings (two independent buses). What I am still strugling to get my head around is the fact that in the OPs case the timings are not linked in any way. On mine the core cloc is set to 230MHz (its OCed) so my memory bus runs at 460MHz. The HT Bus runs at 1150MHz.

    I still cant work out how the bus speeds are calculated though but they are relative to the core clock. If I up that then both the memory clock and the HT thread are increased. The Only thing I can think is that the CPU that the OP is using allows them to be altered independently, or speccy is not reporting properly.

    Anyway, back on topic, you could get something like this but it wont bring you up to playing the latest games at max res.

    You would need at least a 300w PSU or you would have to upgrade that as well. If you can get away with just upgrading the card then it is not too expensive but dont expect miracles from the GT520
     
  12. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    hey! thank you for really taking your time into looking at it!,

    i HAVE somewhere seen a GT 430 in a tower the same as mine, is there much difference? and as long as it could play the likes of GTA IV and some modern games like the latest PES and fifa showing decent graphics is that possible with these cards?
     
  13. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    You would get a slight increase. your current GPU clock is 500MHz. The 430 that you linked too would up that to 700 but the 520 that I linked to would bring you up above 800MHz.

    You would need to check individual game specs as to whether you will be able to run them.
     
  14. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    Honestly thank you so much for your advice and support i just pray that it fits nicely into my tower and take it from there!
     
  15. SgtSparky

    SgtSparky Private E-2

    also ive been reading about bottlenecking, do you reckon that my cpu will hold back my GPU when i upgrade?
     
  16. Tueur

    Tueur Sergeant Major

    Every PC has a bottleneck somewhere. Its difficult to say without running benchmarks. You should notice an improvement in 3D rendering mainly
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds