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[Deku]

My friend and I built my computer about 2 years ago and it has held up pretty well so far. I expect to use it for at least another 2 years.

I've decided to upgrade my computer in the meantime. Here's my computer's current and expected stats.

COMPONENTS         CURRENT                   UPGRADED                        CHANGE
CPU                P4 3.0 GHZ HT            P4 3.0 GHZ HT                  --
MEMORY             PC 3200 512 MB           PC 3200 1536 MB                + PC 3200 512 MB X 2
MEDIA              DVD + CD-RW              DVD + DVD/RW & CDRW            + 16X DVD RW (LG)
HD                 WD 120 GB                370 GB                         + 250 GB WD HDD 
GRAPHICS           9600 PRO 128 MB          9600 PRO 128 MB                --

This is on a budget and its pretty affordable at around $336 CDN or $277 USD. This is all before tax.

Well, I'm having second thoughts about whether I should also upgrade my graphics card. The 9600 pro is a find piece of hardware and it plays every game I play well. But it's showing its age somewhat. But I also don't want to blow money on something I'll be replacing in about 2 years anyways.

I'm looking at the MSI NX6600 GT 128 mb AGP 8x as a reasonable upgrade and it shoudl add about another $258 to my upgrade bill. Or an increase of 40% (roughly) in costs.

My main concerns are 3 things.
1) Is the performance gain worth the price?
2) My computer already runs a bit hot and I don't plan to upgrade the powersupply,
having never used a Nvidia card how's the power consumption and head dissapation on these cards?
3) Any outstanding issues with MSI products/cards I need to know about?

My orignal budget never intended for an upgrade of the graphics card, but now that I'm about to order the parts, I'm considering it.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Vinzer Deling]

isn't 258 a bit much for a 6600GT?

 

[belgurdo]

Yeah, about power supplies...I've got a 240v psu and I ordered a 6800 GT off of Newegg. Will it melt my computer? And are new psus easy to put in?

 

[suaveric]

Yeah, about power supplies...I've got a 240v psu and I ordered a 6800 GT off of Newegg. Will it melt my computer? And are new psus easy to put in?

Most likely and it depends on the case.

Deku, why are you upgrading the fluffy things like DVD RW drives and hard drives and not the video card? I assume you're doing this for gaming, right?

 

[Deku]

Most likely and it depends on the case.

Deku, why are you upgrading the fluffy things like DVD RW drives and hard drives and not the video card? I assume you're doing this for gaming, right?

Yes and no. But having a nice card that runs games coming in the next two years would be good I think. But I hadn't plan on upgrading one initially as I am quite happy with my 9600 pro. The thought just kinda crossed my mind that since im upgrading might as well do the graphic card too.


I need the DVD burner for achival purposes and the larger HD is just convenient for me. My computer is near capacity right now and backing up to CDs takes too much space and too long. The memory I also need since Firefox + Win XP + anti-virus and a few apps = maxed out on memory and it was always my main bottleneck. Wish I had gotten a 1 gig machine in 2003, but I was eating noodles for 3 months. I had to cut back.

My power supply is 450 W at peak capacity. I know my Radeon 9600 doesn't require extra power, it just plugs right into the mobo. But i'm not too sure about the NX6600GT.

 

[suaveric]

450 watts should be enough for the PSU. I'd look at new video cards for sure. By the looks of it you spent a lot of money two years ago on a really high end CPU, but then went with a cheaper video card, I'm curious, why'd you go that way?

I built a computer at the same time as well and went with a 2.5 GHz Pent CPU and a 9700pro video card.

 

[Deku]

450 watts should be enough for the PSU. I'd look at new video cards for sure. By the looks of it you spent a lot of money two years ago on a really high end CPU, but then went with a cheaper video card, I'm curious, why'd you go that way?

I built a computer at the same time as well and went with a 2.5 GHz Rent CPU and a 9700pro video card.

The leap from 9600 to 9800 was pretty big price wise. At the time 9700 wasn't in stock and I didn't really need a major high end card.

Most PC games I play are stuff like Civilization III and other strategy games. I think the most 3-D intensive game I play to date is FF XI and my card runs ok on it, unless its dynamis. hehe. But I think most computers slow down on those missions

On the same note, which card would you recommend if you were upgrading my machine?.

 

[Hitokage]

The Geforce 6800 Ultra draws 6.25 amps on the 12v rail during peak usage. You'll be pretty much fine with any well-built dual 12v PSU.