Video Card advice please

Hello, I want to do a partial upgrade and am ready to buy....but I want to make sure I'm doing this right.

My current setup is

AMD athlon 64 x2 5200 2.7
ECS Geforce 7050m-m
xfx geforce 9400 gt 1gb ram
2gb ddr 667 [1 stick]
300gb sata drive
dvd burner
window 7

What I want to upgrade now is video card and ram, I want to make sure the video card will work in the mobo

MSI N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model 991762

~~~~

Its pricey enough that I would go ahead and do the whole upgrade [am3, ddr3, new mobo] if I could but I'm having to replace a monitor so.....budget time! I am figuring the Graphic card should do me good for a couple years and next tax time I can always do the cpu,mobo,ram. All the old parts will get recycled back into a computer for my kids anyways....so no wasted cash

I am having an issue getting an older pc to run, but thats a whole other topin and I'll make a different post for it later.

 

Sorry but you can just clarify what you are after?

Just a graphics card? If so then what is your budget?

And if the CPU, MB, RAM and GPU then what are going to be using the PC for mainly and what is your budget?

Thanks, Burrell

 

I'm a budget building pc gamer. This card I am looking at is 199.99 its the most I have ever spent on a video card and is the max I will do.
Current set up:
AMD athlon 64 x2 5200 2.7
ECS Geforce 7050m-m
xfx geforce 9400 gt 1gb ram
2gb ddr 667 [1 stick]
300gb sata drive

New Setup
AMD athlon 64 x2 5200 2.7
ECS Geforce 7050m-m
N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
4gb ddr2 800 [1 stick] Mushkin
300gb sata drive

My total cart on newegg is 439.97 [this includes an HD monitor]

 

Here are the specs for the 7070-m:

http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Pr...x?DetailID=835&CategoryID=1&MenuID=21&LanID=9

Based on the memory spec warning, I would not buy a single 4GB stick of RAM.

The board specs also state it has a PCI-E x16 video card slot; the card you're looking at requires a PCI-E 2.0 slot.

If you want to stay around $250 for a CPU/motherboard/memory/video card, I would do something like the following:

Board ($55)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131669

CPU ($60)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687

4GB DDR3 ($40)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220537

Video Card ($75)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121397

New Power Supply ($65)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031

Summary: The $75 video card isn't quite as beefy; however the faster CPU and memory speeds should make the system far better than your current setup. The build total is $295 including the new power supply.

If your current PSU is <500 watts and/or over two years old, it's doubtful it can handle the 460 Cyclone video card. The 620-watt I priced out will have more than enough power if you eventually upgrade to it.

Hope this helps.

 

Please note I corrected the motherboard reccomendation (link) to an ASUS model with a PCI-E 2.0 slot in the above post.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131669

 

The card will work in any PCI-E slot, whether it is 2.0 or not, makes no difference.

The following route is a MUCH better alternative, it saves you cash and get you better porformance,

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141337

GPU - The GTX 460 you selected earlier is a fantastic card for the price, there is nothing better, so that stays the same.

Because i pressume you will have a low wattage generic PSU i would also recommend upgrading the power supply, 600w is plenty and ample for future upgrades. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031

What games do you play? Only a minority actually use more than 2 cores in game so for the majority of gamers upgrading from a 2.7Ghz Dual to a quad is pretty useless, as is spending almost $70 on a 2.9Ghz Dual. Upgrading your current CPU and MB is pretty pointless.

Due to the fact you have saved cash elsewhere, you could spend extra on the GPU and get something like the GTX 570/560 for real big improvement.

I hope that makes sense as it's late here and i am rambling on a bit!

 

Oh yeah I have a 600W Ultra Modular PSU. I totally forgot to mention that. Thank you both for your replies. I'm taking a closer look at the links you provided now.

Just checked the model

Ultra X3 600X ATX PSU
Its certified SLI Ready

 

Oh yeah, about what I play...

anything from Dragon Age ORigins to CoD Black Ops with an occasional strategy like Star Craft 2 and AoE. I'll be preordering Dragon Age 2 as well.....can't wait to play it.

I also have photoshop cs3 and have been playing with the CS5 trial. I won't be able to buy something as fun as that ^^ but its fun while it lasts. Especially making custom ring designs.

 

Unless the one you have now is of a well known brand then i would get the Antec one posted earlier, the Ultra x3 600 is pretty awful tbh and the Antec isn't much more for a piece of mind.

 

Really? My last PSU was a 500W from Ultra and when it went out they gave me this one. I run a pc 24/7...and have never had any issues. I do not over clock either....never learned how. Never felt the need to push a system that runs hot anyways. I'll consider a new psu but all that does is take away from other things I can get. I may just keep my current set up and upgrade to RAM+Video till I can afford to go to a whole new set up. The monitor I want is 159.99. Looking around craigslist list to see if I can find a used one comparable but so far no luck