BF2S Forums Requesting Your Help With Updating My Video Card

not hard at all. just unconnect all power cables, unscrew it from the back of the case pull it out, and set new one in, screw in, and plug everything back in.

edit: also try to remember how the powercables were organized. when you put in new PSU use some zip-ties to make it tidier and more airflow efficient

Last edited by SexyCabbage (2007-08-03 21:48:29)

Veryu easy to replace a PSU. Just unplug the 20 or 24 pin cable going to the motherboard, the 4-pin cable, and then the rest of your power cables. Unscrew the 4 screws on the back of your box.

When you buy the new one, Just do the reverse. Some of the newer ones have 24 pin cables and the last 4 pins usually slide off.

A 350w will do for a 7 series, non SLi, however if you want to put an investment in on a PSU you can use later on in another pc, go bigger.  My current PSU I got to support my 7600GT, had a 350w previously, but Id rather have a 500w there for when I can afford to upgrade.  My current PSU is a 500w Rosewill, cost me around $50, and hasnt let me down as of yet(2 months old).

As said before, replacing your psu is very easy, all you need is a screwdriver pretty much, just pop the old wires out put the new ones in.  Make sure not to unplug wires not connected to your powersupply and youll be fine.

Heres a a quick list of suggestions, i knowpeople will recommend the higer end PSu makers, but my Rosewill works fantastic

Rosewill 500W $55- http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a … 6817182016
Nvidia 7600GT $130=$110 After MIR- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814150233

The X1950 will be out of your price range if you want to upgrade a psu for it, as the X1950 is a massive power hog, I was looking into one myself back when I was shopping for a new card, and realized a i need a new psu, so im compromised with that psu and identical 7600GT(PCI-E)

Last edited by r2zoo (2007-08-03 22:35:38)

Well, I am going to upgrade my GPU and RAM as well. I think getting a high end DX9 is better than the crappy 8300 and 8500 ect... I would either get the 7900GTX or  X1950xt. I am going with the first one. However, I still dunno how much power does it need. I hope I don't need to get a new PSU. Anyone?

OxiDeOwns wrote:

X1950 is pretty pricey, but if you're gonna upgrade your PSU it's probably worthwhile getting it. As for the RAM, if you've got 2 free slots grab a pair of identical 512mb sticks and run them in dual channel configuration (ie. identical sticks in slots 1 and 3, then just put your current 512 stick in slot 2)

If you look at the pictures I posted, you'll see I already have 2 sticks of 256 ram (not one 512).  Would you still be able to run the dual channel configuration with all 4 sticks? (2x 256 [old ones] with 2x 512 [new ones])

Again, I ask, how high of wattage does my PSU need to be in order to "feed" a hungry X1950?  Can someone post more newegg links?  Thanks!

OxiDeOwns wrote:

Oh sorry, didn't look at pictures. To answer the first question, you can run dual channel with both pairs as long as both sticks in each pair are identical. There are two channels, slots 1 & 3 and slots 2 & 4, so just make sure that the sticks in each channel are identical.

Too power an X1950 you will probably need at least a 500W PSU to be safe. They recommend 450W however it all comes down to the quality of the PSU, high quality ones can pump out a lot more than they are rated to and vise versa for low quality PSUs. Also, if you're going to buy a new PSU make sure it has at least 28A on the 12V rail as higher powered cards require a power cord directly from the PSU rather than getting their power through the motherboard.

Yea get 500W to be safe, last week i got the BFG nvidia 7600 GS OC AGP for $129 at compusa!  I have a system similar to you commandocrist, but i have 2 Gigs if RAM which you should save up for, it makes a vast improvement with the speed of loading the game!  I have 480W of power and I have no problems.  BTW i Had a 6800 GT OC (cost me $250 2 years ago!!!!!) which got fried and getting the 7600 card was a HUGE improvement I now run BF2 settings all high and 4x's aa no problem!!!!!!!

Last edited by docnutz (2007-08-07 08:51:51)

Take for example this PSU: http://www.rosewill.com/product/product … ductId=369 Under the output section in the specifications look for +12V. You will notice that this particular one has dual 12V rails, this gives a 'cleaner', more stable power supply. Determining the total amps on the dual 12V rails isn't as simple as you might think (ie. adding the amps of each rail together) and im not entirely sure how its done myself, but with a bit of googling you should be able to find out.  Also, don't buy a Rosewill PSU, they are quite dodgy. I'd recommend you buy a PSU from either FSP, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ or Antec, they make the most reliable PSUs.

As for the ram, I would most certainly go for Corsair, though Kingston is also pretty good. I personally would go buy some Corsair Value Select ram, though im not sure if it's available on newegg. It's great bang for buck.

Last edited by OxiDeOwns (2007-08-08 00:08:11)

OxiDeOwns wrote:

Take for example this PSU: http://www.rosewill.com/product/product … ductId=369 Under the output section in the specifications look for +12V. You will notice that this particular one has dual 12V rails, this gives a 'cleaner', more stable power supply. Determining the total amps on the dual 12V rails isn't as simple as you might think (ie. adding the amps of each rail together) and im not entirely sure how its done myself, but with a bit of googling you should be able to find out.  Also, don't buy a Rosewill PSU, they are quite dodgy. I'd recommend you buy a PSU from either FSP, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ or Antec, they make the most reliable PSUs.

As for the ram, I would most certainly go for Corsair, though Kingston is also pretty good. I personally would go buy some Corsair Value Select ram, though im not sure if it's available on newegg. It's great bang for buck.

Not quite, you dont add them together, however you take the total wattage for the 12 rails and divide by 12.
ill use this PSU as an example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6817182016
On the sticker with the power ratings it has 2 12v rails(+12v1 and +12v2) underneath it has the combined power rating at 380w. Adding the two amps together would give you 34amps total, however the true rating(as side on the label) is 31amps.  Basically 380w/12v=31.6amps.

As for the X1950 it is a massive power hog, not being able to provide enough juice for the card will result in bad performence graphics issue,etc.  I was looking into getting one, but their power needs are crazy.  That and their quite expensive, although they are the best AGP card out, but if I remeber correctly, to run an X1950(might vary from brand to brand) it required 31amps on the 12v rail.  The PSU I just compared has just enough.  On the flipside many of the higher end 7 series card can run of a 350w powersupply.  Going with a 7900 or around there would be cheaper, give you great performence and would'nt tax your PSU quite as much.

docnutz wrote:

OxiDeOwns wrote:

As for the ram, I would most certainly go for Corsair, though Kingston is also pretty good. I personally would go buy some Corsair Value Select ram, though im not sure if it's available on newegg. It's great bang for buck.

I myself own 2 Kingston GB's of RAM and its excellent, especially for the price!

I myself just bought 2x1gb sticks for my PC of RAM and i went with a realtively unknown brand, but they are cheap and very nice.  Heres a 2gb kit for DDR from them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6820211014

A-Data isnt as well known s other companies but my Asus motherboard book had them listed as trusted and all that and many of the reviews are quite good, and the set I just bought(DDR2 sticks mind you) were recently nominated for a newegg award. As for CAS latency its pretty much only there for the hardcore computer users.  I read up on it quite a bit and a CAS latency of 4 compared to 5 results in around 1-3% performence increase, which if your not already overclocking everything, is gonna be extra bucks to pay for slightly faster speeed that'll surely never notice.

Last edited by r2zoo (2007-08-08 15:44:50)

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

<SS>SonderKommando wrote:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ … 274-09.jpg

you can open your case and look on teh psu itself to see what the wattage is, usually.  You might consider more ram. I'm assuming your board is agp right?

I say scrap the system and go with a newer rig. That AGP card is overpriced and underperforming, compared with PCI-e solutions.

easier to invest $150 in an older system and have it last you a while longer then invest in a new rig Might not last till next year but given what he does with the rig and all that, investing in a new rig isnt exactly cost efficient.

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

r2zoo wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

I say scrap the system and go with a newer rig. That AGP card is overpriced and underperforming, compared with PCI-e solutions.

easier to invest $150 in an older system and have it last you a while longer then invest in a new rig Might not last till next year but given what he does with the rig and all that, investing in a new rig isnt exactly cost efficient.

Edited a minute beforehand.

I noticied, and support your recomenndation of the 7600GT, was gonna change mine but couldn't be bothered to