possible bottleneck apart from the obvious 8600gt

[baka101]

Found a ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB $292.50NZD vs
GeForce 9800 GT 512MB $213.75NZD or
GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB $336.15NZD

and the Candian dollar to New Zealand dollar difference is $1.54, also you mentioned

a 9800GT will be faster anyways but I doubt you could run maximum settings.

Is this due to my limited system specs, CPU, RAM etc, I just want more than 30+ FPS in FEAR2, Mirrors Edge, Devil May Cry 4 and upcoming titles.

Thanks again for the ongoing help and quick response you guys are the fastest and most informative.

[JD]

Wow didn't know prices were so much higher down there.

Anyways, doesn't sound like your PSU is capable of running anything so that makes matters worse for you. I'm assuming that +23V is supposed to be +12V in which case you only have 18A and you need to have 26A.

And the reason why I said a 9800GT wouldn't be able to run maximum settings in the latest games is mainly due to your high resolution (1920x1200) since that card will struggle with it. You'll be able to get 30FPS+ but you'll have to lower some of the in-game settings.

Since you're going to need a new PSU for any video card upgrades, and you're on a tight budget, all that I can see are these two:
Silverstone ST50F 500W
OCZ StealthXStream 500W
Both are basically the same spec wise, dual 18A 12V rails, 500W. I'd go with the Silverstone since they've tested it with both the 9800GTX+ and HD4850 so it should be fine and it's slightly cheaper. I know the store has other cheaper PSUs but I have no idea what those brands are and if they are actually any good or not.

So once you buy a PSU, you're back with a 512MB 9800GT and no RAM I guess.

[baka101]

Any way I could get away with this from the same store
Thermaltake TR2 RX ATX 450W Power Supply as both the +12V rails add to 29V and what sj says from Will my PSU run a Geforce 9800GT? you need 26V for 9800gt on the +12V rails. But then bigfella gets very technical and disregards it the adding +12Vrails in Will this PSU support a 9800GT?.

Why i say Thermaltake TR2 RX ATX 450W Power Supply is the price firstmost $109.91 with (GST) Government State Tax and shipping, also the 4-pin Peripheral
Connector X 6 as I have a IDE DVD-WRITER, IDE SEAGATE HDD and SATA SEAGATE HDD to power.

The Silverstone ST50F 500W Intelligent 120mm Variable Speed Fan Power is $134.63 and has Six serial ATA connectors I and guessing this is the same as the forementioned 4-pin Peripheral Connector x 6.

So yeh I need to know your thoughts from those two forum links i posted and also Thermaltake vs Silverstone in regards to power and price

thanks again you are very helpful and fast due to i have 3hrs17mins to make a decision due to tomorrow it all happens with the money transfers etc.

[JD]

Ugh don't buy ThermalTake PSUs. They are just absolutely horrid. And you'll regret buying a cheap PSU at some point. Just like if when you got your PC, if you had bought say a 600W high-quality, brand-name PSU, you wouldn't have to be buying one now.

Is this the only store you can buy from? Maybe some place else has better selection because they are missing some of the good value PSUs that we have in North America such as the Corsair VX450W.

And just so you know, the Silverstone that I linked has 6x Molex (4pin); 2x Floppy; 2x PCI-Express; and 6x SATA.

[baka101]

You are right I will get the Silverstone ST50F 500W Intelligent 120mm Variable Speed Fan Power and wait until next week to get NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800 GTX+ 512MB PCI-EXPRESS OEM as I will have enough to purchase both, i redid my books.

With the Nvidia Geforce 9800gtx+ I hope it comes with a 4-pin Molex connectors to a 6-pin PCI-Express power connector as I read up that the 9800gtx+ requires 2 x 6-pin PCI-Express power connectors wow that extreme, I hope I dont have to go past Silverstone ST50F 500W as my budget won't be able to afford it.

So thanks jdrom17 for your help and hope to hear from you soon with your recommendation on my latest question.

Thanks

[JD]

Well that Silverstone PSU does have dual PCIe power cables and Silverstone has tested it with a 9800GTX+. You can see for yourself: http://www.silverstonetek.com/downlo...upportlist.pdf

This pcpacific has it for quite a bit less but no stock: SILVERSTONE ST50F

Also this one: SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST50EF (still $20 less than that other place even though it's a different model, it has the same specs and with higher efficiency).

So I just saved you $20 at least, more if you want to wait for that ST50F to come in stock

And one more thing, you might want to consider the HD4850 as well: Welcome to pcpacific Online
Performs basically the same as the 9800GTX+ and costs less for you at least. Up here it's closer to being the same price. However I'd suggest that you have good case airflow, possibly a side case fan, if you get a HD4850 as they run pretty hot.

[baka101]

Thank you so much I am going with SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST50EF ATX12V 500W POWER as you said you saved me $14.13 which is great. Awesome I am ordering that tomorrow and 9800gtx+ next week I hear from many reviews 9800gtx+ vs 4850, it is slightly faster than 4850 and runs alot cooler.

So I think I have made a final decision thanks to you.

Thanks again man

[baka101]

Sorry this is crucial this is my motherboard
ASUS P5KPL-VM - motherboard - micro ATX - iG31 Motherboard reviews - CNET Reviews
will it be able to run the 9800gtx+ even thought my pci-express slots are 1.0 and believe the 9800gtx+ is pci-e 2.0. Also the Silverstone ST50F 500W Intelligent 120mm Power Supply has 1 x 8-pin EPS12V connector (750mm) where as you see in the specs of my motherboard mine has a 4-pin ATX12V connector so are they compatible.

Thanks

[Eagle Eye]

Yes baka all PCI-E 2.0 devices are backwards compatible with PCI-E 1.0/1.1 slots. My GTX280 worked quite happily in a PCI -E 1.0 before I upgraded.

EE

[Jake_HT]

I have a 9800gtx and a 9800gtx+ and the 9800gtx+ only takes 1 6 pin PCI-e connector, while the older 9800gtx takes 2 of them.
The + is faster, runs much cooler, and is therefore quieter since you don't have to turn up the fan. It also consumes slightly less power, which is a good thing in your case. Plus, it's smaller!

See for yourself: (gtx on top, gtx+ on bottom)


Good luck, it's a good feeling when you do a lot of research and finally get the best product for your money. I've been there!