Would this Improve my PC by much?

Hey, here are my current specs:

Processor: AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.2GHz Memory: 3070MB RAM
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000)

I really only play PC games casually right now; do you think only updating my video card would make a big difference in performance? Would I be able to play newer games (on medium settings)?

If it'd be a big enough difference, does anybody have any recommendations for a new card? I'd like to buy one as cheap as possible. Thanks!

Yes you would see a big difference from upgrading. If you know what PSU you have or at least how much power it puts out that would help a lot. Currently a cheap upgrade is something like the 5770 or the 450 from nvidia. Both would see quite noticeable gains, another good choice if you are willing to step up and have the PSU for them is the HD 6850 at about 180 or the GTX 460 either the 768MB or the 1GB version which range from 150ish to 240ish in price depending on how much memory and what its pre overclocked to.

Thanks for the reply. I'll find out my PSU and post that. Maybe I'll even be able to find a deal on this stuff during a holiday sale..

ahem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sylBQjMYmIA&feature=related

i recommend hanging onto the 2400pro anyway after you replace it.. those things are built like ak47's :P

ive actually dropped mine 5 feet onto soft tile flooring and it still works like the day it came out of the box.. its currently in my folding machine

as a recommended upgrade an hd 4850 or gts 250 can be had for studly amount of cheap and really the difference etween a 4850 and a 5750 is negligible at best.. expect to play any game you want on high qith such a change.

oh look here's some now.. a bump!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048&IsNodeId=1&Description=hd%204850&name=Desktop%20Graphics%20%2f%20Video%20Cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=gts%20250&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

the preformance difference between the two favors the 4850 generally speaking and besides its a whole lot easier to go from an ati card -> ati card than it is to go ati -> nvidia

i actually had a similar situation to yours where i went from a core 2 duo e7400 and hd 2400pro to a 4670 and then again to a 4850

tbh nothing shy of a 5670/9800gt is a suitable upgrade from a 2400pro especially when your talking older processors like phenom I's and core 2's

my current build is an hd 5830 and core 2 quad q8400 with 4gb ram and windows 7 home premium 64-bit

back when i was totting a 4850 i easily took any game i felt like down for the count on high or highest and this today remains a constant with oly a mildly better card.

Thanks for the replies. I took a look inside of my case and found this:The DC Output is 300W, and the 12V1 is 8.0A, the 12V2 is14.0A, and the -12V is 0.8A. Not really sure what any of that means..I'm guessing that the PSU is quite low though?

if you must go ati, get a hd5750 and up for MLAA

if nvidia get a gtx460 either 786mb or 1gb Non SE card

is this a custom built pc or a namebrand like dell/hp etc?

because 300watt is pretty low and depending on the brand name makers, you may not be able to switch out for a higher power supply

looks like you'll have to settle for a lower end card i'm not even sure if its powerful enough to run a ati 5750

The PC is made by Acer.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285455-33-running-5750-watt

well according to that a ati 5750 definetly runs on 300 watt, at least for a dell powersupply, so its possible to run it on yours

also forgot to mention ati 5750 is about 7 inches long, make sure you have room inside your case to actually fit the card

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/285455-33-running-5750-watt

well according to that a ati 5750 definetly runs on 300 watt, at least for a dell powersupply, so its possible to run it on yours

cyanblues

What exactly would happen if the PSU wasn't good enough for the card? Would it just not turn on, or could there be damage/something similar?

What exactly would happen if the PSU wasn't good enough for the card? Would it just not turn on, or could there be damage/something similar?

grim1813

it either wouldnt turn on.. or it would turn and and then off right away.. no harm no foul

a gpu can tfry a system by guzzlin all the power that the logical breaker swings.

If you are able to replace the power supply you can get a 400-600w for not a ton of money and throw a newer card in there as well. Once we start talking turning one upgrade to two upgrades its easy to call it 5 upgrades soon lol so I understand a stop gap measure of a new gpu until you cant justify upgrading anymore.