Video Card Upgrade

[clonesauce]

Hi.

I'm thinking about upgrading my current VGA, it's a GF7900GS. I've thought about buying an HD5830.

The thing is, I'm not sure if it is compatible with my current mobo, a Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[CoffeeFiend]

Your motherboard has a PCI-e x16 slot, there's no reason it wouldn't work.

[bonestonne]

The card will work, the only difference is that your motherboard seems to have PCI-e x16 first gen, and the HD5830 is most likely PCI-e x16 2.0

technicalities aside, it should work just fine.

[Guest]

It should work. I have a PowerColor PCS+ Radeon HD 5830 that works very well on a motherboard much older than yours (Intel D955XBK).

Edited April 1, 2010 by 5eraph

[clonesauce]

Thanks guys.

Though I'm wondering if there will be any bottlecaps on the performance since I have an AthlonX2 4600.

I'm also thinking about upgrading it (though I think I should, since this baby's 4 years old already).

Any thoughts on some mid-end to mid-high end procs?

Thanks again.

[Guest]

Your motherboard has an AM2 processor socket. While it should accept AM2+ processors, it will do so at a significant disadvantage due to greatly reduced system bus speeds. I'd recommend an AM2 processor such as the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ which can be had for cheap (Newegg link) and will give you a noticeable boost in performance.

Edited April 2, 2010 by 5eraph

[CoffeeFiend]

I'd recommend an AM2 processor such as the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ which can be had for cheap

Not a bad pick/value.

Here is the list of supported CPUs. Personally, I'd probably go for a AMD Athlon II X2 250. It's a tiny bit faster than the 6000+, but the 6000+ has a 125W TDP and the X2 250 has a 65W TDP. The power reduction will pay for the difference ($10) in well under a year. A ~40% faster X3 425 would be another extra $10, if you can spare it.

I don't see how it would have a "significant disadvantage" in terms of speed though. Yes, the HT link is slower, but that will hardly change anything (it's not much of a bottleneck). Ditto for DDR2 vs DDR3.