[chedderslam]

I had a little extra money so I have treated myself to the dell ultrasharp 24"
monitor. In my aging system, I have been using the integrated graphics for my
little 17" monitor, but I would like to invest in a graphics card to get the most
out of my monitor. The system has an agp slot, so it looks like I am limited to
that.

I am considering this card:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100228L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I am concerned if my power supply can handle it, though. The power supply is a
Enermax EG465P-VE, which I believe is rated to over 400 watts. Can that handle a
3850?

The system has a 2.4 P4 and 2 gigs of ram. I know I won't be able to play the
latest games or anything, but will I be able to play older stuff at the monitor's
native resolution? Really, my biggest concern is video playback as most hd
streamed video maxes the processor and gets so choppy that it is unwatchable. I
am hoping the graphics card will pull some of the load for playback. If I can get
a little gaming as well, that's a bonus.

I could go with a cheaper card, like this one:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100258L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

It saves me a few bucks, but it is only a 3650.

What should I go with? I am willing to spend the extra money if it is worth it,
but if the rest of the system is going to bottleneck the card or if the power
supply can't handle the more powerful card, why waste the money?

I also have a Mushkin XP-650 power supply. Could I use that? Unfortunately it
looks like it has 4 20 A rails, and the newegg page for the 3850 calls for 30 A
on the 12 volt. If I went with the more powerful card, would this power supply
work? I would rather not switch out power supplies, but it is no big deal if it
lets me use the better card and that card is the best choice.

Thanks for any help!

[pcboy09]

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100228L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
this card


*edit*
allso on your PSU buy a 500w that will do fine if its any lower then 450 it might not work

this one should do just fine!

Newegg.com - Broadway Com Corp Okia-550-Blue 550W ATX Power Supply - Power Supplies

[aaronkupen]

Why not go with an hd 4670?

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by chedderslam

I had a little extra money so I have treated myself to the dell ultrasharp 24"
monitor. In my aging system, I have been using the integrated graphics for my
little 17" monitor, but I would like to invest in a graphics card to get the most
out of my monitor. The system has an agp slot, so it looks like I am limited to
that.

I am considering this card:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100228L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I am concerned if my power supply can handle it, though. The power supply is a
Enermax EG465P-VE, which I believe is rated to over 400 watts. Can that handle a
3850?

The system has a 2.4 P4 and 2 gigs of ram. I know I won't be able to play the
latest games or anything, but will I be able to play older stuff at the monitor's
native resolution? Really, my biggest concern is video playback as most hd
streamed video maxes the processor and gets so choppy that it is unwatchable. I
am hoping the graphics card will pull some of the load for playback. If I can get
a little gaming as well, that's a bonus.

I could go with a cheaper card, like this one:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100258L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

It saves me a few bucks, but it is only a 3650.

What should I go with? I am willing to spend the extra money if it is worth it,
but if the rest of the system is going to bottleneck the card or if the power
supply can't handle the more powerful card, why waste the money?

I also have a Mushkin XP-650 power supply. Could I use that? Unfortunately it
looks like it has 4 20 A rails, and the newegg page for the 3850 calls for 30 A
on the 12 volt. If I went with the more powerful card, would this power supply
work? I would rather not switch out power supplies, but it is no big deal if it
lets me use the better card and that card is the best choice.

Thanks for any help!

PCBoy's idea won't work.. his PSU is both low quality, and worse than what you have already... (the Mushkin)

Your PSU is fine... and just get an HD 3850

Don't get the HD 3650, because its a good bit weaker than the HD 3850, and you won't max any game with it.. (in fact that would apply to the HD 3850, 24'' has a high resolution, and you won't be able to max most games)

[Like2game]

I have a 24" Dell Ultrasharp monitor too and i love it.

What you could do if you want to go for the bigger card is add an extra psu to your pc. I got one for my moms computer and it works perfect. It is just a little 5.25" psu that fits in a cdrom slot. It's soul purpose is to power the gpu. I figure with something like that you could get the big GPU and have no worries at all, plus leave room for future upgrades.

For your actual card purchase though, with that 24" monitor you are not going to be able to game to much on it, i have a gtx260 core216 and i still struggle getting some newer games to play at 1920x1200, games like Crysis and even Call of Duty 5 have to have the resolution set to 1680x1050. So if you know you are not going to game and just want a card for surfing the net and watching HD movies you could go for a cheap one and it will still work fine.

[Evolv]

^ He has AGP, so the best card he can get is a 3850.