Need some advice

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Reptlle

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Hi

I recently upgrade my pc to the following specs

Intel i5 2500k
Intel DP67BG Mobo
8GB DDR3-1333MHz RAM
Then I've also got x2 250GB HDD, x1 1TB HDD and a external 320GB
9800GT 512MB (old graphics card)

After rebuilding my pc, it didn't want to power up so I assumed my 450W PSU wasn't strong enough or it was just dead. So the next day I went to the nearest pc shop and bought a new 550W PSU. The PSU is made my HuntKey. Which I realize now from reading reviews isn't the best PSU that you can buy, but I was eager to get my pc up and running and just bought the first one I could find. Plus is cost R525 which added to my decision.

So now I'm looking to upgrade my graphics. I can maybe get another 9800GT 512MB for free and run it in sli with my current one, or I can sell my current one, add some cash and buy a GTX460. What I want to know is will my PSU be able to support the power usage of my system plus the sli cards? And if so, should I go for sli or would the GTX460 be a better option?
 
Well I was kinda pissed off that my pc didn't want to work, so at that moment I couldn't care less about the quality of the PSU. As long as it worked. Also, I had just spent a lot of money on my new hardware and didn't budget for a new PSU so wanted to spend as little as possible to get my pc up and running... But thanks for your valuable input. It is duly noted and extremely helpful.
 
Thanks for the reply. Using that calculator it seems I'll be able to use SLI with my PSU.

But what would you suggest? Should I rather go for the GTX460? I read somewhere that more video memory is quite important when running at high resolutions. I'm running at 1920x1080, so am I gonna see a huge difference between 9800GT 512MB SLI and GTX460 1GB?
 
I have an AMD HD4650 Graphics card and I play Mass Effect fine at 1920X1080, even Crysis runs full detail with minor delay.

Get the GTX if you want, I see no reason why a new card won't outperfom 9800GT SLI, 9800 is old tech by now.
 
Think I might go for the MSI GTX460 HAWK 1GB. Seems like a quite decent card for its price. Thanks for all the input
 
If you can get the GTX 460 Hawk for like R2k, then it's a good deal. Otherwise, consider getting like a VTX3D Radeon HD 6870 for R1,999.00.

The Huntkey PSU is junk, so it most definitely won't be able to handle 2x GTX 460's in SLI.
 
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There is nothing wrong with the PSU as long as you stick to a single card. Get the 6870!!! :D.

i have the hawk, good card and runs cool. 9800gt cannot do dx 11 either.
 
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If I upgrade now I won't upgrade again for a while. By the time I upgrade again I'll just buy a new PSU as well, so I'm not too worried.

Why is that 6870 so much cheaper than the 6870's at prophecy and take2?
 
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Reptlle said:
If I upgrade now I won't upgrade again for a while. By the time I upgrade again I'll just buy a new PSU as well, so I'm not too worried.

Why is that 6870 so much cheaper than the 6870's at prophecy and take2?
Click to expand...

Doesn't have a well known brand on the sticker.
 
Reptlle said:
If I upgrade now I won't upgrade again for a while. By the time I upgrade again I'll just buy a new PSU as well, so I'm not too worried.

Why is that 6870 so much cheaper than the 6870's at prophecy and take2?
Click to expand...

Cause you pay for the brand, VTX3D comes with a 2 year warranty, and Wootware swear by them it seems. If you're on a tight budget and can live with the 2 year warranty, then the VTX3D is for you.
 
Think I'm gonna buy the 6870. Will be my first Radeon, but can't pass on that deal. Plus I saw the Wootware office is in Somerset West and I'm in Stellenbosch so can just go pick it up and save on the delivery cost as well. My graphics card upgrades seem to work on a 2 year cycle so I don't have a issue with the 2 year warranty.

Hmmm... Now I'm thinking maybe I should put in the extra R500 and get a VTX3D Radeon HD6950 2GB... Seems like a big improvement on the 6870 for only R500 more... Any opinions?
 
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Reptlle said:
Think I'm gonna buy the 6870. Will be my first Radeon, but can't pass on that deal. Plus I saw the Wootware office is in Somerset West and I'm in Stellenbosch so can just go pick it up and save on the delivery cost as well. My graphics card upgrades seem to work on a 2 year cycle so I don't have a issue with the 2 year warranty.

Hmmm... Now I'm thinking maybe I should put in the extra R500 and get a VTX3D Radeon HD6950 2GB... Seems like a big improvement on the 6870 for only R500 more... Any opinions?
Click to expand...

if I was you I would :)
 
R500 is a small price to pay if you take in consideration how much your framerate will improve vs. the total cost of your PC.

Don't be surprised if your power supply burst out in flames / explodes or damage your graphics card/motherboard/hard drives due to the ripples and noise being over the recommended ATX2.2 specifications!
See this review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Huntkey-Green-Star-550-W-LW-6550SG-Power-Supply-Review/668/10 *
* Please just take note that you might not have the Green Star model.
 
The model number on the PSU that they reviewed is LG-6550SG and mine is LG-6550HG. Not sure what the difference is, but I'll have a google and see where it leads me. But that is def not something I want. Exploding PSU and all.

EDIT: Hmmm... Seems like the HG just has a smaller fan than the SG. That review was posted at the end of 2008. Any chance they fixed the whole exploding issue between 2008 and now? I admit, I should have done some research before buying the PSU, but the company I bought it from doesn't normally sell crap. I may have made a slight error, but what is done is done I guess. The Antec PSU calculator gives me a minimum of 396W. Shouldn't that be okay?

EDIT 2: Perhaps I should rather go for http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-nvid...t-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-retail.html. Costs basically the same and from what I can see it has more or less the same performance as the 6950, plus it uses less power...
 
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Reptlle said:
The model number on the PSU that they reviewed is LG-6550SG and mine is LG-6550HG. Not sure what the difference is, but I'll have a google and see where it leads me. But that is def not something I want. Exploding PSU and all.
Click to expand...

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/114
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/527
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Huntkey-V-Power-550-W-Power-Supply-Review/754/1

Bottom line is that it's a POS.

Gotto love this:
1. After posting the Green Star 450 W review they offered us money to take the review down (this is documented here). We don’t need to say more.
2. Then when we first posted the Green Star 550 W review (that we wrongly posted as being a V-Power 550 W unit) they sent us an e-mail saying that the review was wrong, that we reviewed the wrong power supply (they were correct). They also implied that we were doing this on purpose (as if) and that we got a counterfeit product (as if someone would counterfeit bad products). They also said that Green Star 550 W and V-Power 550 W are different products (which is a big fat lie, as we will expose). In response to our review they posted a video on YouTube showing that V-Power 550 W works well.
3. They started a pressure campaign asking all people that know us (especially other manufacturers) to ask us to remove the reviews. Luckily all people they contacted are very professional and told them to take a hike (especially after seeing the videos with the power supplies exploding).
Click to expand...
 
Sell yr current GPU and get a new one. Will use less power and SLI can be buggy at times. You'll probably get more performance out of the new card than having two 9800's anyway.
 
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