okei Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Currently I have a Phenom 9500, 3 GB of RAM, and a HD4870 512 MB. I hear good things about 1 GB of video memory and this game but I would really like to replace this graphics card with something a little beefier. Please help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesi5 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 or replace that crappy phenom of yours and upgrade to a phenom II, that would be much better. a 4870 is good enough, you'll see a 10 - 30 FPS increase with the phenom 940 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowpope17 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 or replace that crappy phenom of yours and upgrade to a phenom II, that would be much better. a 4870 is good enough, you'll see a 10 - 30 FPS increase with the phenom 940 Even an old Phenom 9950, would be a huge improvement over the 9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 defiantly upgrade to a phenomII. you will see a huge performance increase. as far as the gpu the 4870 or the gtx 260-275. theres alot of good over 512mb cards out there. just not any card from nvidia thats 8xxx or 9xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 My motherboard can only support a maximum TDP of 95 W and there is no way in hell that I'm going to spend even more on a new motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 the phenomII 805 is 95 and can be overclocked to 3.2 and run at 90F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) the phenomII 805 is 95 and can be overclocked to 3.2 and run at 90F Thanks for the information, and it's good to see that there are knowledgeable AMD users here. Edit: Here's some stuff about the motherboard: * Socket: AM2+ * Supports the following processors: o Phenom with Quad Core technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt) o Athlon 64 X2 with Dual Core technology X2 up to 5600+ (up to 89 watt) o Athlon 64 less than 4000+ o Sempron less than 3800+ I know that it says "up to 9600" but certain processors may not have been manufactured at the time of publishing. Does this mean I am screwed if otherwise?? Edited April 10, 2009 by okei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 its the chip i run and with a gtx 260 it runs gta beautifully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesi5 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 the phenomII 805 is 95 and can be overclocked to 3.2 and run at 90F Thanks for the information, and it's good to see that there are knowledgeable AMD users here. Edit: Here's some stuff about the motherboard: * Socket: AM2+ * Supports the following processors: o Phenom with Quad Core technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt) o Athlon 64 X2 with Dual Core technology X2 up to 5600+ (up to 89 watt) o Athlon 64 less than 4000+ o Sempron less than 3800+ I know that it says "up to 9600" but certain processors may not have been manufactured at the time of publishing. Does this mean I am screwed if otherwise?? No, it will support the phenom II since the your socket chip is AM2+, don't worry buy yourself a nice Phenom II 940 for 210$ and enjoy your FPS, and for the 4870. Its perfectly fine, I am playing with a 9800GTX+ 512MB at max settings, don't waste your money on buying another one PS, can you give us the name of the motherboard you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 The name of the motherboard is "M2N68-LA (Narra3)". I know that my computer is a pre-built HP one but that doesn't mean that I can't upgrade it or play any games on it. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 uhh nemesi your forgetting his board only supports cpus with a 95watt thermal power. his board can not run a 940. the 805, i believe, is the highest pII with a 95wtp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dafour Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Get a decent motherboard,its quite important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted April 11, 2009 Author Share Posted April 11, 2009 Get a decent motherboard,its quite important. I CANT AFFORD IT. Jesus Christ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Get a decent motherboard,its quite important. Paired with a 95watt PhenomII and proper RAM his Motherboard should not be an issue. As long as he can light overclock an extra 7mhz he will be fine. Which nearly all boards can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig3000 Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 (edited) tbh that system is more than capable to power any game bar GTA4 and crysis I wouldn't switch until something more beneficial comes out, apart from high textures you wont notice any difference in GTA4 by upgrading your GPU and you probably wont notice a difference in other games MUCH either as for 3GB of RAM upgrading any higher will not see any benefit in any game at the moment As for your CPU it could be better but its hardly crap I think if you upgrade to a better quad and GPU your just going to be disappointed with a whole in your pocket best advise WAIT ! I know its difficult but i have learned my lesson in waiting and if i were you I would wait either till the end of they year to next year, games aren't likely to get more demanding until the new consoles come out and considering the new GPU's will be out end of 2009 and 2010 as well as an intel chip die shrink and who knows what from AMD i would wait You said you dont have enough money for a motherboard! Well if thats true you hardly have a crap system dont let other people fool you save your money, you will be disappointed for a fact if you upgrade now Edited April 11, 2009 by craig3000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantam777 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 You wanna increase the graphics quality,speed or both?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 What's your budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted April 16, 2009 Author Share Posted April 16, 2009 I don't really have a budget but that doesn't mean I have lots of cash... I just want to know what people recommend so that I can save up some money for some parts. I'm also trying to avoid buying a new motherboard since I don't have the patience to install one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Your board doesn't support Phenom II, and none of the BIOS updates for your board have Phenom II support of any sort. Not surprising since the chipset is a nForce 430. So you're going to have to get a new board if you want to upgrade your CPU to anything upgrade-worthy as anything by AMD that isn't Phenom II sucks. Something like a Q9400 (a Q9550 if you can afford it), a P5Q SE board and an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for cooling would be great for IV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 My previous cpu, the P9750 ran GTA just fine with a 9800gtx+. sliders at 80 and medium textures. I wouldn't say it sucks exactly. Maybe the op could go with this cpu seeing as its 95watts. Also he says he says he doesn't want to spend on a new mother board much less then an intel quad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sub12 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Well, my first suggestion would have been Phenom II. However, seeing how your motherboard does not/may not (you can confirm with the manufacturer) support Phenom IIs, I suggest - Instead of Phenom II 940 for $210 Get yourself - AM2+ motherboard supporting Phenom IIs (~$80) and Phenom II 720 $135 It'll come to the same amount. Phenom II 720 is an excellent tri-core CPU, with an unlocked multiplier, the whole 6MB L3 cache, and is easily overclockable to 3.5 GHz and beyond. Gives a massive boost over dual cores, or even your current slow quad. As we know, GTA IV uses the first two cores the most, the third a lot, the fourth not so much. So, the boost going from 2 to 3 cores is massive, 3 to 4 not as much. Of course, it's not as good as the real quad 940, but it's the next best thing, and you can fit the entire thing incl. motherboard within the same budget. If you have a little more cash, you could consider the Phenom II 805 instead, but it does have a lower clock speed, lower cache, and much lower overclocking, despite the fourth core. Personally, if I had around $300-400, I would definitely invest in an AM3 motherboard and DDR3 as well. Seeing how AMD's CPU line up till 2011, at least, be compatible with the same motherboard. LGA 775 is reaching EOL now. LGA 1366 is still too expensive. And Phenom IIs are excellent price/performance CPUs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 My previous cpu, the P9750 ran GTA just fine with a 9800gtx+. sliders at 80 and medium textures. I wouldn't say it sucks exactly. Maybe the op could go with this cpu seeing as its 95watts. Also he says he says he doesn't want to spend on a new mother board much less then an intel quad. I personally don't think that an upgrade from the CPU the OP has to anything other than a Phenom II is worth it. Intel destroys Phenom clock to clock, so unless he has the cash for a Phenom II compatible motherboard and a Phenom II CPU, I think it's not worth upgrading to a Phenom. Might as well save up and go for Phenom II. Something like this would be good: Motherboard: MSI KA790GX CPU: Phenom II X3 710 Totals to £190.43. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWelshGamer Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 I have the phenom 2 920, only difference is this one has 2.8ghz stock speed and no unlocked multiplier, if you wont be overclocking id say save yourself some money and get the phenom 2 920. I run GTA 4 on the Phenom 2 920 stock speed with a 4830 512mb and its runs just great, your 4870 is good enough but I guess if you want high settings try aim for a 4890 1gb, you wont be dissapointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heat84 Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 If the OP doesn't want his antique Phenom 9500 I'll take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waynio Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Hi, is there any reviews by end users or review site online yet for the 2gb gtx285 playing gta iv?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john88z Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Hi, is there any reviews by end users or review site online yet for the 2gb gtx285 playing gta iv?. You cant guess the results your self? let me see, GTA requires a large amount of vram. And a quad core cpu is best. I have a ______ GPU and a________ CPU fill in the blanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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