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Semi OT Computer questions, aka how to build one?

TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
edited January 2017 in The Commons

I think that my video card has been crashing too much.  It is the one that came with the computer and the computer is over six years old.  It seems like I need to get a new Video card.  The current one is an ATI Radeon HD 4800 series according to my Device manager.   I am currently using two monitors.   I like to use iRay so does that mean I have to get a Nvidia video card?

My primary usage of my desktop computer is to play games, use DS/Poser, and watch Netflix.  Well I like to listen to music but that is not being bothered by the stupid video card.

I am thinking of trying to make some textures for outfits to sell to earn enough to get a new video card.   How much is a good video card for an old Windows machine?  I know I probably need a new computer but I am not expecting texture packs to sell well enough to get my dream machine.

Post edited by TSasha Smith on
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Comments

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001

    Well...

    To use Iray's GPU acceleration, yes, you will need an Nvidia card.

    Now, it's a bit of a mess to figure out what would be best...because the older cards are much more power hungry than the 10x0 cards...but the new cards are much more costly.  There's a chance that gong with a 7 or 9 series card would require a new power supply, in addition to the cost of the card.

    So, we'll need some more details about the computer...leave out drives (although number of drives should be stated).  Everything...cpu, memory, etc.

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252

    Is there any free software that can spit out the specs of the computer?

     

    It has Windows 10 Pro on it.  It has 9 GB of ram, which I find to be an odd number.  currently it only has one HDD

     

    Trying to figure out the rest.

    quickspecs.png
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  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001

    Is it an 'off the shelf' system...like an HP, Dell, etc?

    If so, make/model may be more helpful.

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
    edited December 2016

    I got it from HP if I recall correctly so checking hp.com to see if I can find more info about the build.

     

    edit It came with Windows 7 pro but now has Windows 10 pro

    hpcomputerinfo.png
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    Post edited by TSasha Smith on
  • hphoenixhphoenix Posts: 1,335

    Well, that model HP has a Core i7 CPU, an LGA1366 socket X58 Motherboard, triple-channel memory (though the 9GB config uses 4x2GB and 1x1GB DDR3), and has 2 PCI-E x16 slots (and 1 PCI-E x4 and a PCI-E x1) and a 460W Power Supply.  Have to say to stay away from higher-end 700 and 900 series nVidia cards.  Either go midrange 900 series, or go with a 1000 series card.  Also, the PCI-E slots are almost certainly PCI-E 2.0, so any modern card will run very slightly slower (we're on PCI-E 3.2 now, IIRC)

     

    What is your budget for the card?

     

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001

    The limiting factor for a higher end 700 or 900 is the power supply...it's kind of weak for that powerful of a card.

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    edited December 2016

    Posted in wrong thread, sorry.

    Post edited by marble on
  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252

    I think I will have a hundred dollars for it soon.  Is that enough?

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    Is there any free software that can spit out the specs of the computer?

     

    It has Windows 10 Pro on it.  It has 9 GB of ram, which I find to be an odd number.  currently it only has one HDD

     

    Trying to figure out the rest.

    Look for Speccy from Piriform or Belarc Advisor. They'll tell you what's in your computer. I prefer Speccy myself but it's up to you. Both are free.

    Laurie

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I think I will have a hundred dollars for it soon.  Is that enough?

    Not really for a decent card that will be worth it for DS. For a general card to run video, it's enough of course ;).

    Laurie

  • Takeo.KenseiTakeo.Kensei Posts: 1,303

    For a hundred bucks, the best you could buy is a GT 740 with DDR3 (slower memory) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487043

    It will be slow for Iray but it will do the job and you will have enough memory for a mid scene

    If you can add a bit money I'd advise a GTX 1050 Ti. It's powerfull enough for rendering and also has 4GB memory which is OK for mid scenes and you won't need to change your power supply

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500411&cm_re=gtx_1050_4gb-_-14-500-411-_-Product

     

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
    Takeo.Kensei said:

    For a hundred bucks, the best you could buy is a GT 740 with DDR3 (slower memory) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487043

    It will be slow for Iray but it will do the job and you will have enough memory for a mid scene

    If you can add a bit money I'd advise a GTX 1050 Ti. It's powerfull enough for rendering and also has 4GB memory which is OK for mid scenes and you won't need to change your power supply

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500411&cm_re=gtx_1050_4gb-_-14-500-411-_-Product

     

    Sounds great but I think the person who is giving me the money will be giving me an amazon GC.

  • GatorGator Posts: 1,319
    edited December 2016
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I think I will have a hundred dollars for it soon.  Is that enough?

    I think you'd be a lot better off saving up for something better.  The new 1050 has only 2 GB of video RAM which I imagine would be pretty limiting.  The 6GB 1060 is a lot more though, $300.  But that would be a lot more powerful for Iray, and going up to 6 GB will be far less limiting for the video memory.  In other bad news, the power supply may not be adequate so you'll want to budget for that too.

    They are both based off Nvidia's latest Pascal architecture, I see a pretty big performance boost with them over the previous generation.

    Post edited by Gator on
  • Takeo.KenseiTakeo.Kensei Posts: 1,303
    Miss Bad Wolf said:
    Takeo.Kensei said:

    For a hundred bucks, the best you could buy is a GT 740 with DDR3 (slower memory) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487043

    It will be slow for Iray but it will do the job and you will have enough memory for a mid scene

    If you can add a bit money I'd advise a GTX 1050 Ti. It's powerfull enough for rendering and also has 4GB memory which is OK for mid scenes and you won't need to change your power supply

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500411&cm_re=gtx_1050_4gb-_-14-500-411-_-Product

     

    Sounds great but I think the person who is giving me the money will be giving me an amazon GC.

    You have the same cards at the same Price at Amazon. Shouldn't be a problem

    https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-Graphics-04G-P4-2744-KR/dp/B00KJGYOBQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482958099&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx++740

    https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-128-bit-ZT-P10510A-10L/dp/B01MCU1ERO/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1482957942&sr=1-3&keywords=gtx+1050+ti

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252

    Or maybe I can upgrade the memory?

  • Takeo.KenseiTakeo.Kensei Posts: 1,303
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    Or maybe I can upgrade the memory?

    What do you mean? RAM upgrade? If that's what is causing your crash, yes but if your video card is dying then it's a bad idea.

    The problem is that we don't know what is causing your crashes.

  • hphoenixhphoenix Posts: 1,335
    edited January 2017
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    Or maybe I can upgrade the memory?

    Of the computer, Yes.  Of the Graphics Card, No.

    On Amazon.com:

    Zotac 1050 Mini is available at Amazon for $110 (2GB), $140 (Ti, 4GB), and $159 (Ti OC, 4GB).  Other manufactures are similar, but a little higher.

    1060 6GB cards start at $245 (EVGA Gaming, ACX2.0) and go up to around $300.

    1070 8GB cards start at $380 (Gigabyte Windforce) and go up to close to $700.

    1080 8GB cards start at $580 (Zotac AMP!) and go up to around $700.

    Out of all of those, if price was my main limiting factor and I could scrape up the extra $40, get the $140 Zotac 1050 Ti Mini 4GB.  If I could come up with the additional $105, I'd definitely go for the 1060 6GB EVGA for $245.

    (note:  the 1000-series nvidia cards are not supported in the 4.9 release yet.  They are supported in the 4.9 beta, and will be supported in the release when the current beta cycle completes.  But given the costs, unless you are okay with a used card, I'd hold out as the prices are better for the new 1000 series cards.)

     

    Post edited by hphoenix on
  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252

    okay I got a new ram stick and now it will not read all but two of the ram sticks.   The computer cannot read them that is.   I am trying to research on my computer how to fix the ram issue.

    I need to figure out the ram issue before I can think about getting a new video card.

  • MCphylyssMCphylyss Posts: 34

    Hi. You already had two RAM sticks and bought a new one? This might work, or not, depending on your motherboard. Are three sticks the sames? If that's the case it should work, but sometimes, you got to plug them in the right order, according to the motherboard manufacturer (Asus is the worst I've seen about this).

    And to answer your question about a program that tells you your PC specs, I used that one before (http://www.01net.com/telecharger/windows/Utilitaire/dll_librairies/fiches/106100.html). There are probably many others

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
    MCphylyss said:

    Hi. You already had two RAM sticks and bought a new one? This might work, or not, depending on your motherboard. Are three sticks the sames? If that's the case it should work, but sometimes, you got to plug them in the right order, according to the motherboard manufacturer (Asus is the worst I've seen about this).

    And to answer your question about a program that tells you your PC specs, I used that one before (http://www.01net.com/telecharger/windows/Utilitaire/dll_librairies/fiches/106100.html). There are probably many others

    I cannot read that page.

  • MCphylyssMCphylyss Posts: 34

    Sorry, might be because that's a french site. I just tried this one (http://dl2.filehippo.com/8a2095679e3046128cce3ae4498f1b06/spsetup130.exe?ttl=1483588219&token=6b6a4652f98eff2cb4ce167e993b21ba). It worked for me.

  • Charlie JudgeCharlie Judge Posts: 13,247
    edited January 2017
    Miss Bad Wolf said:
    Takeo.Kensei said:

    For a hundred bucks, the best you could buy is a GT 740 with DDR3 (slower memory) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814487043

    It will be slow for Iray but it will do the job and you will have enough memory for a mid scene

    If you can add a bit money I'd advise a GTX 1050 Ti. It's powerfull enough for rendering and also has 4GB memory which is OK for mid scenes and you won't need to change your power supply

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500411&cm_re=gtx_1050_4gb-_-14-500-411-_-Product

     

    Sounds great but I think the person who is giving me the money will be giving me an amazon GC.

    Same card at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-128-bit-ZT-P10510A-10L/dp/B01MCU1ERO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483578236&sr=8-1&keywords=ZOTAC+GeForce+GTX+1050+Ti+Mini and significantly less expensive than NewEgg.

    Post edited by Charlie Judge on
  • Silver DolphinSilver Dolphin Posts: 1,638

    Craigslist, if you are carefull you can get some good deals. Otherwise Ebay. I would get a Nvidia 6gb 780 or a 6gb titan black. Just save up your money, the prices on these cards are constanly falling because people are upgrading the the latest and the greatest.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,256
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    Is there any free software that can spit out the specs of the computer?

    You could try this:

    https://www.piriform.com/speccy/download/standard

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,256
    edited January 2017

    (question answered in other thread)

     

     

    Post edited by Taoz on
  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252

    I am unable to turn on my computer as of yesterday or the day before.  I think it is a ram issue.  It starts with a beep then a pause then a long beep.   I tried to see if GeekSquad would look at it but it will cost about a hundred dollars for them to diagnose the problem but not fix it.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,256
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I am unable to turn on my computer as of yesterday or the day before.  I think it is a ram issue.  It starts with a beep then a pause then a long beep.   I tried to see if GeekSquad would look at it but it will cost about a hundred dollars for them to diagnose the problem but not fix it.

    http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
    Taozen said:
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I am unable to turn on my computer as of yesterday or the day before.  I think it is a ram issue.  It starts with a beep then a pause then a long beep.   I tried to see if GeekSquad would look at it but it will cost about a hundred dollars for them to diagnose the problem but not fix it.

    http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

    Read that and all I could figure out it is a Ram issue which was not news.  I am trying to figure out how to solve the issue.  I will not spend a hundred dollars to be told that it is a ram issue or a MoBo problem.

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,256
    Miss Bad Wolf said:
    Taozen said:
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I am unable to turn on my computer as of yesterday or the day before.  I think it is a ram issue.  It starts with a beep then a pause then a long beep.   I tried to see if GeekSquad would look at it but it will cost about a hundred dollars for them to diagnose the problem but not fix it.

    http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

    Read that and all I could figure out it is a Ram issue which was not news.  I am trying to figure out how to solve the issue.  I will not spend a hundred dollars to be told that it is a ram issue or a MoBo problem.

    Sometimes a RAM stick can break loose or get disconnected. Try to pull out the sticks and put them back again.

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,252
    Taozen said:
    Miss Bad Wolf said:
    Taozen said:
    Miss Bad Wolf said:

    I am unable to turn on my computer as of yesterday or the day before.  I think it is a ram issue.  It starts with a beep then a pause then a long beep.   I tried to see if GeekSquad would look at it but it will cost about a hundred dollars for them to diagnose the problem but not fix it.

    http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm

    Read that and all I could figure out it is a Ram issue which was not news.  I am trying to figure out how to solve the issue.  I will not spend a hundred dollars to be told that it is a ram issue or a MoBo problem.

    Sometimes a RAM stick can break loose or get disconnected. Try to pull out the sticks and put them back again.

    I reseated all the ram but it still will not turn on. 

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