Upgrade time and I am appalled....

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

I can to easily die of heat death in FFXIV. Don't dare play a key part dungeon running due to it. Waving at bombs ran my GPU well over 90C and 90%. After I vacuumed the machine out. Before it was 98C, 99%. But I still had heat death after I vacumed.

Processor; AMD x2 4400+, I'm pretty sure a socket 939. Which means I am just off the top processor this board will take. I think. And the 4800+ costs more than an X6.

Question, how do I find out my motherboard's model under XP? Without the flashlight. I can do the flashlight if it comes to that.

And I think today's motherboards take a different power supply plugin? And the new PSs won't fit my case?

Vid card is a 9800 GT. Above min spec for XIV and noting else I do stresses it near as much. But hoo boy, XIV stresses it just fine and dandy.

According to Tom's nothing for $100 or less will out preform my 9800, although they are probably on 2 - 3 generation's smaller dies and will run cooler.

WHAT!!??!! I mean this card is like ... 5? years old? Well mine is younger, maybe even gen2 on a smaller die process, but as a card design I mean.

Casewise I have two intake fans low in the front panel, one pointed straight at the vid card's fan. I could add a few more, notably a big rear fan, but I don't think fans will help that much. Then again fans are cheap.

So it looks like grit my teeth and shop for a mediumish card that, while it might wait for the rest of my machine, will run cooler than my current one and not totally embarrass my next MB/CPU.

Unless I am missing something....

[Tivia]

Ok..that was hard to read.

1st - Toms hardware while entertaining to read hasn't had accurate information concerning GPU's in years. It isn't hard to outperform a 9800...not hard at all.

2nd - Why the hell are you still on win suck edition? wait..nevermind..you can't find your mb model either way..break out a flashlight.

You are going to spend around $150 on a video card for a good one brand new...however used is another story. I have an ATI 4850 1gb, the original version that was $150 brand new and it will run circles around the 9800. Pick up an XFX and it has a lifetime warranty and you can likely find one as low as $50. That is just an example, there are plenty of good cards that are better than that even. I am actually about to upgrade here soon as I bought me a 24" monitor and it doesn't handle FFXIV at high settings at that resolution well..Worked fantastic on my 19".

That all said a few new suggestions.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150545

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133378

Both those will outperform a 9800, but not by a huge amount. That is just sticking to the sub $100 mark..Honestly pony up $50 more and get one of these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130568

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102925

Both can be had for under $150 if you shop around. I linked newegg because it was quick and easy to find. Both cards will run circles around my 4850, which will run circles around your 9800..Oh and do it without requiring a personal AC unit as well.

[Sugami]

Yikes

I need a new mobo, my computer likes to randomly reset itself when I plug stuff into the front panel and stuff

[Shirai]

You may want to look into a new case as well, it looks like some cabling in your front panel is causing a short circuit.
Or some cables may be rigged wrong.

@Tsybil;

If you're going to upgrade your CPU you may also need to look a new mainboard as well.
The newer generation AMD CPUs all roll on Socket AM2+ and currently Socket AM3(+). (940 and 941 pins)

As far as GPU goes, you should be fine but I would like to second Tivia's recommendation of spending a little extra to put a good card into your computer.
But also here, make sure your power supply unit can handle the graphics card.
Personally I own a nVidia GTX470.

[Sugami]

I thought it was the case as well but when I got a new GPU last year I got a new case too and the same problem persists. There's also an issue with one of the USB ports not working and consequently stopping the rest from working if something is plugged into it. There was also a time when plugging in my DS recharger would cause the computer to reset itself, I'm guessing it was because it used the same plug (extension) as the printer there was a bit of a power spike that went down the printer through the USB and boom. Have a USB hub so most of the USB issues are solved now but I can't plug any headphones into the computer or I get the magical reset.

[Shirai]

Did the new case come with a new power supply unit too, or did you use the one from the old case?

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

.... Toms hardware while entertaining to read hasn't had accurate information concerning GPU's in years. It isn't hard to outperform a 9800...not hard at all.....

No it isn't. But Tom's GPU comparison sheet, and their tests, are all on throughput, measured by benchmarking, with no points given for efficiency. So every now and then they test cards on noise, power consumption, and heat.

Which means those $100 and under numbers aren't going to dump many more pixels in the pipe, but they will run cooler and use less power to do it.

Being a part by part upgrader my next logical move is a new vid card. Probably one that will almost, but not quite, suck my power supply dry.

But darnit, the prices on the AMD X6s are plummeting like a Monty Python sheep. Ah well, I bet they get even lower in November.

[Tivia]

.... Toms hardware while entertaining to read hasn't had accurate information concerning GPU's in years. It isn't hard to outperform a 9800...not hard at all.....

No it isn't. But Tom's GPU comparison sheet, and their tests, are all on throughput, measured by benchmarking, with no points given for efficiency. So every now and then they test cards on noise, power consumption, and heat.

Which means those $100 and under numbers aren't going to dump many more pixels in the pipe, but they will run cooler and use less power to do it.

Being a part by part upgrader my next logical move is a new vid card. Probably one that will almost, but not quite, suck my power supply dry.

But darnit, the prices on the AMD X6s are plummeting like a Monty Python sheep. Ah well, I bet they get even lower in November.

Synthetic benchmark results have long been proven worthless, which is why tom's comparison sheet is likewise worthless.

Yes, the X6's are nice. It is why I extended the life of my 4850. Now if heat is your only complaint about your video cards performance...go buy an after market cooler. Or better yet, go ahead and pull the factory one off, and throw some quality thermal grease on it and see if that doesn't improve it significantly.

[Sugami]

Did the new case come with a new power supply unit too, or did you use the one from the old case?

Well the power supply didn't come with the case but I doubt that's the problem. Not sure if got a new power supply or not, probably not.

[Shirai]

It can be.

[Sugami]

If it's the power supply then how does it explain why one USB port doesn't work and stops the rest from working when something is plugged into it? Seems too dodgy to be the power supply but I'm sure we have a spare one lying around somewhere, I can test it when I find time/can be bothered

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

Synthetic benchmark results have long been proven worthless, which is why tom's comparison sheet is likewise worthless.

I thought they used real games to benchmark....

Now if heat is your only complaint about your video cards performance...go buy an after market cooler. Or better yet, go ahead and pull the factory one off, and throw some quality thermal grease on it and see if that doesn't improve it significantly.

Well.... no, I can get appalling framerates in XIV but the heat death thing has GOT to go. I can come by decent thermal paste easily and I hadn't even thought about aftermarket coolers other than liquid, and I am not ready for that yet.

So stage I is looking like fan, thermal paste, airflow, and wait for prices to drop.

[Asphe]

9800 GT is inherently hot (100 C is not atypical). If you look closely at the background of the card, it's closer to a 7800 or at best a mid-range 88xx card. Marketing loves to rebadge* things (ATI 6xxx cards are faster than their 5xxx cards? Well.. not quite) and it can get confusing.

What about just keeping everything you have but swapping to a GTX 560? More or less the same power footprint, runs cooler and gives better performance. i.e. a cheap upgrade for $150-$190. If you can find it, a used GTX 460 would probably be half the price of the 560 at 80% of the performance. Both cards are much smaller than the 7/8/9xxx cards too.

I've bought almost half a dozen used 460s from the local www.ebay.co.jp, 7500-8500 yen... about $100 new, half that for used. Dual 460s... faster/cooler than a GTX480 at $100-$150. IT wanted to charge us $500 for 'proper' professional GPUs... So if you can put in two GTX 460s... why not?



----

*GTX 460 and all the GTX 5xx cards belong to the same family. All the other GTX 4xx cards are GF100 types, so you have the interesting retail situation of a GTX 465 (in many ways inferior to the 460 and an OLDER tech) selling for more than a 460 (Hey! 465 is > 460).

----

There is a shop here in Taiwan, selling a rebadged 460 as a 'super' 465. They edited the GPU's bios to show as a 'Fermi' 485 and overclocked it.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

Thanks for the interesting info.

I was well aware that card numbers are far from linear when linked to performance. But you provided some amusing actual cases.

My problem is cash. And the case / power supply / motherboard planed obsolesce linkage. So my first try at squeaking another year out of this rig is a $22 US aftermarket GPU and card cooler. (Thanks again Tivia, I had pretty much believed that aftermarket coolers were all liquid cooling.)

ARCTIC COOLING Accelero L2 Pro Fluid Dynamic VGA Cooler. Its about the only one I could find under $50 that claimed to cover my card.

That, an extra case fan or two, and a bit of attention to internal airflow patterns, should keep this thing rolling for a bit longer.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

It WORKED!!!

Before: soloing event balloons on Eva, CPU 98% temp 96 - 100C. Heat death before finish.

After: CPU 98% temp 66C. Balloon died before my machine did. Still can't manage to solo one, but I didn't die from overheating!!

Dust bunnies the size of Cerberus lodged in the fins of the stock cooler probably weren't helping.

Instructions failed utterly when it came to hooking the power up. Quite good till that point.

[Asphe]

Might be a tad gross, but you can reverse the pump direction of yon olde vacuum cleaner and blow your PC once a month. Sexual innuendo not withstanding, even if you blow the PC twice a year, it helps. I can normally see a 3-5C temp reduction on some really badly dusted PCs.

Plus your cat can now claim that it's not the only one shedding.

-----

Bah, I just looked at my siggie... Menphina the lover... looks too much like 'Men' + 'phile'. For almost a year, I thought it was Melphina. At least it wasn't 'Boy' or I'd be a shotacon.

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

I do that. I put the machine on its side while I blow it out so I can see and blow into the (normally downward facing) fan itself.

I had the card out and in my hand but couldn't see the dirt logged in the heat sink fins till I had the fan off.

The aftermarket cooler has no shroud covering its fan, so that will help with maintenance.

[Tivia]

http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED50 ... 477&sr=1-1

Best investment I ever made for computer maintenance tools.

[Shirai]

http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED50 ... 477&sr=1-1

Best investment I ever made for computer maintenance tools.

Ok, I'ma buy that thing in the morning!

[Alya Mizar (Tsybil)]

I STILL<3 my Kirby. Which has a blower attachment.

But darn that looks cute.

[Tivia]

I STILL<3 my Kirby. Which has a blower attachment.

But darn that looks cute.

True...but you paid a ton of money for your kirby and it is like hauling a mack truck around.

This + my Dyson and my kirby has sat in a closet unused for going on 6 years now.