Upgrading my Rig

So I plan on getting some new parts for my desktop to help spruce it up a bit to handle some more recent games decently. I plan on keeping my motherboard, cpu and ram the same but I need a gfx card and I figured on getting a new psu also. My current psu is a generic 430W. My mother board is a TA785GE 128M.

I've been running this game with the onboard gfx this mobo comes with. I can run it in quality mode and with the slidder on recomended with minimal issues, untill a trial or ship raid or other large gathering. It's time to finally get a gfx card for this rig. I do manage to run multiple instances on this rig but that's only on minimum gfx.

What kind of gfx card should I get that will play ultra mode, I'm not looking to run all the bells and whistles. How big of a psu should I be looking for? I have 4Gigs of ram should I get another 2gig stick or 2 more?

If you need to know the specs I can post a cpu z readout.

Thanks all.

Hyperstrike has a good guide for asking about new upgrades here, that you may wanna submit. http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=253272

Looks like that board is ddr2 memory which I think will make the ram a little more pricey? Depending if your using xp, vista, win 7 makes it hard to determine what you should try to add. Windows 7, I'd try to have at least 6 GB at least with 8 being better. Faster loads etc.

That micro atx mb might have little room for a larger video card, so you'll need to check and make sure the space is available. Then determine which cards can fit and start looking at a power supply that can run it and see it a new power supply fits inside easily.

Don't buy a cheap power supply, stick with name brands that get good reviews. GL with what you decide.

My ram is ddr2 but this board is capable of using ddr3 but that's depending on what cpu is in there. My ram is G.Skill, is that good enough?

I'm running Win7x64.

Funda: At this point spending any money on DDR2 RAM is a horrible waste of money. You have 4GB of RAM which is plenty good enough.

The Antec ECO 400W should be more than enough for your needs. Its $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371029

If you are bargain hunting for video cards this one is pretty good for $90.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102940
The 6770 should be more than capable of handling your needs.

As hyperstike says, its important you give us as much info as you can. A 6770 should fit into *MOST* cases but it IS possible you have a sardine can where it won't fit. Its hard for us to figure out what you are looking for since we don't know what your case is and we don't know what your budget is. If you have a bigger budget I might have suggested a 6850 video card, but I know that card is large enough that it won't fit in some cases while the 6770 is smaller and is more likely to fit.

At this point we're guessing, so that's $135 in upgrades that should give a decent bump in performance. You didn't say what kind of CPU you have so YMMV on how much more you will get from it. If you have a Phenom II x4 (with L3 cache not that "athlon II" Phenom II 840) or x6 it should be a nice jump. If you have an Athlon II or Sempron well it will help, but expect lag on trials and other graphic intensive tasks or teaming with MMs.

This board will blow your socks off Hyper, it supports AM2 and AM3 sockets. I have a spec sheet from biostar that I would like to present as exhibit A.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/...t.php?S_ID=455

There on page 5 is the only place I've seen that says it supports ddr3 but it'll only support it if you've got an AM3 chip in there.
I'm still working on the rest of what you asked. It'll take me a day to compose that post.

Lemme know what you think of my board. I was impressed when I got it home.

Sorry can't read that link, no MS Office here, but I'm assuming it's the same as this quote from the website's page:

I got this board as a stop gap measure, my old system had fried and I had an AGP gfx card in it. There's not many AGP capable motherboards out there so I decided that my next one would have PCIe.

At the time I didn't have enough $ to get a new mobo, cpu and gfx card. I found the biostar board in one of the local hole in the wall PC shops nearby. Seeing that it had integrated video I figured what the hell, if it can't handle COH then I'll have to suck it up for a bit and get a cheapo gfx card.

I got home and got it all together, fired up a fresh copy of XP and was just dumbfounded that I could run COH in quality mode on the 3rd slider setting!! I could even run it in max quality but with a severe hit to FPS.

I get by ok on regular teams on recomended setting. This rig will even have 5 instances open on it. It turns into a slide show frequently but is doable.

And Father Time is right on what I was getting at. I will give up that fruitless belief then after that explanation.

Anyhoo,

If you can get us the info and your budget, we can suggest some options for you.

While the situation isn't as rosy as you thought, we can still probably figure out something for you.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

Here's the log from CohHelper.


---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---

DxDiag gathered at February 19, 2012 09:00 (-05:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
System Manufacturer: BIOSTAR Group
System Model: TA785GE 128M
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB
.Net Memory Report: 2549MB out of 3839MB available
Page File: 5869MB (1807MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD400AB-00CTC0 ATA Device) 6087MB out of 38063MB (15%) free
D Drive: (ST3320620AS ATA Device) 129738MB out of 305242MB (42%) free
J Drive: (DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device) zero-size drive
E Drive: (SONY DVD RW DRU-830A ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7601.17514 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: ATI Radeon HD 4200
Manufacturer / Chip: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. / ATI display adapter (0x9710)
Video Memory: 2034 MB
Driver Version: 8.930.0.0
Driver Date: 12/5/2011 10:16:00 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514
Driver Date: 11/20/2010 5:44:23 AM

Sound Device Description: Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514
Driver Date: 11/20/2010 5:44:23 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: BIOSTAR Group
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: TA785GE 128M
Motherboard Version:
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: Default System BIOS
BIOS Version: DELL - 20100701
BIOS Release: 20100701000000.000000+000


Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1280x972
3D Resolution: 1280x972 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: No
Maximized: Yes
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: No


Physics Quality: None
Maximum Particles: 100
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No


Anti-aliasing: 2x
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Crisp
Water Effects: None
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: No
Shader Detail: Unknown (4)


World Texture Level: Unknown (3)
Character Texture Level: Low
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 0.500
Entity Detail Level: 0.300
Shadows Enabled: No
Shadow Mode: Disabled
Shadow Map Shader: Unknown (0)
Environmental Reflections: Disabled
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Occlusion Strength: Off
Blur: Bilateral
Ambient Resolution: Performance


Gamma Correction: 0.844
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: Yes
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.600
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.000
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: Unknown bytes/second
Current Game Version: ?
Installation Directory: D:\Games\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 2 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\NewPlayerTutorial has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 40 files
.\texture_library\P_MAPS has 2 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\City has 2 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files

Here's the log from HijackThis.


Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 9:04:00 AM, on 2/19/2012
Platform: Windows 7 SP1 (WinNT 6.00.3505)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v9.00 (9.00.8112.16421)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\TeamViewer\Version7\TeamViewer.exe
D:\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon.exe
C:\Users\Funda\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In SSV Helper - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: URLRedirectionBHO - {B4F3A835-0E21-4959-BA22-42B3008E02FF} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~2\Office14\URLREDIR.DLL
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [APSDaemon] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\APSDaemon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "D:\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StartCCC] "C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static\CLIStart.exe" MSRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [DAEMON Tools Lite] "C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe" -autorun
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office14\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O11 - Options group: [ACCELERATED_GRAPHICS] Accelerated graphics
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.clonewarsadventures.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.freerealms.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.soe.com
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.sony.com
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807573E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE14\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\guard32.dll
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: AMD External Events Utility - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\atiesrxx.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: AMD FUEL Service - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. - C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Fuel\Fuel.Service.exe
O23 - Service: Apple Mobile Device - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
O23 - Service: Bonjour Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: COMODO Internet Security Helper Service (cmdAgent) - COMODO - C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\cmdagent.exe
O23 - Service: COMODO Programs Manager Service (CPMService) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Programs Manager\CPMService.exe
O23 - Service: COMODO Dragon Update Service (DragonUpdater) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Comodo\Dragon\dragon_updater.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Logitech Bluetooth Service (LBTServ) - Logitech, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\Bluetooth\lbtserv.exe
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NitroPDFDriverCreatorReadSpool (NitroDriverReadSpool) - Nitro PDF Software - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Nitro PDF\Professional\6.0\NitroPDFDriverServicex64.exe
O23 - Service: NLS Service (nlsX86cc) - Nalpeiron Ltd. - C:\Windows\SysWOW64\NLSSRV32.EXE
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: TeamViewer 7 (TeamViewer7) - TeamViewer GmbH - C:\Program Files (x86)\TeamViewer\Version7\TeamViewer_Service.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 7608 bytes

I don't know what kind of case I have but I'd have to say it's the standard size tower for a desktop. I don't see a problem fitting most video cards in it except for maybe the really big ones, chances are I wont be able to afford the huge cards.

Just for reduncancy I'd like to upgrade my gfx and my psu. Here's the specs for my rig.

Athlon 64 x2 4200 cpu
TA785GE 128M motherboard
G.Skill ram 2 sticks 2G each not sure on the frequency
Full size generic case
Generic PSU 430W
HP pavilion vf17 monitor

That's about it for what's in my rig. If I forgot anything just let me know and I'll get it posted ASAP.

Thanks for your help.

Oh I forgot my budget! lol I figure I'll have $500-$250 to work with. I know it's not much but it's all I'll have.

I'm guessing you meant $50-250.

With such a small budget I would recommend what you asked for in the first place, an upgraded PSU that can support a modern video card.

Newchemicals has a pretty nice pick of parts in that regard. While the overall maximum wattage is less than the generic PSU you currently have, the Antec ECO 400C likely has significantly more power available at 12 volts (360 watts). That's important because the two biggest consumers of 12 volts is the CPU and the video card.

Edit: Here is another choice for PSU, Corsair CX430 V2.

Upgrading you CPU is quickly becoming impossible as it appears that the rumors of AMD EOLing (end of life) socket AM3 CPUs for the socket FM1 Fusion CPUs and the socket AM3+ FX series, neither will work in a socket AM2+ motherboard. The cheapest AM3 CPU at NewEgg is the 3.3GHz Athlon II X3 455 for $80. Upgrading the CPU, while 50% faster and has a third core, isn't going to give you anywhere near as much bang as the video card but could be considered as an additional upgrade after the PSU and video card if you have the money. Just don't forget to upgrade the BIOS first before a CPU swap.

As for memory, DDR2 is dead in PCs. You have 4GB and a 64-bit OS, you should be able to live with that just fine. The cost of another 4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-800 (guessing here) is around $50 at NewEgg. It'll buy you zero performance improvement unless you are running so much other stuff while playing you are running out of the 4GB of physical memory you currently have.

I had my budget numbers backwards $250-$500.

How much memory does 1 instance take up? I like to run multiple instances on 1 desktop. I know it takes a performance hit with more instances but I like being my own team sometimes.

Well since this board is a bit dated I imagine it's going to be my last one of this type. I'm not expecting to take much out of this this rig for the new one other than the gfx card and the psu.

Thanks for all the tips!!