Question about my motherboard - what is it compatible with?

[zeion]

Hi there,

I'm planning to upgrade my processor and video card.. I was just wondering what kind of upgrades my motherboard can support?

Here is the info I go from Everest:

Motherboard Properties:
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Product M2A-VM
Version 1.XX
Serial Number 123456789000

Would I be able to install a GeForece GTX 590?

 

[russ_watters]

You should download the manual from Asus.

 

[jhae2.718]

I just looked at the price of the GTX 590.

 

[KrisOhn]

You would be, but I wouldn't. Putting such a high end graphics card on such a low end motherboard will severely limit the performance you could gain from the graphics card; your motherboard and CPU combo would be a huge bottleneck on that card.

I suggest that you take what money you have to buy this card, and build a moderately reasonable system with it.

If you were to buy a GTX560 instead of a 590 you would be able to run games at maybe 85% of the performance of the 590 but you're saving about $600, once you start paying lots of money to get high end graphics cards your returns are limited and you get no where close to the 'best bang for your buck.'

 

[KrisOhn]

Another thing to consider with the 590, potentially more important than your motherboard is your power supply, cards this powerful need large power supplies to power them. I'm not sure of the recommended lowest wattage, but I couldn't see it being less than 400W, for a build involving this level of a card I would recommend no less than 850-900W.

I've been thinking and I do believe that for this card and the Radeon 6990, it is recommended that your motherboards have an axillary power input to the PCI slots, usually in the form of a molex adapter that comes on some high end motherboards. This would be because in high stress situations these cards would draw so much power that your 24pin motherboard connecter, which supplies the PCI slots with all their power, would melt.

 

[zeion]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess what I really wanted to ask is what I can do to upgrade my system to play more recent games.. with my set-up right now, I can barely run new games at medium without a FPS lost.. anyhow here is my system right now, maybe you can suggest how I should spend my money? (ie. rather to upgrade my processor, more ram, OS, or get a new motherboard altogether?)

Motherboard:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
2.6GHz, 3.00 GB of Ram (I have more ran slots / cards but using XP)

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeFroce 8600 GT (256MB)

 

[KrisOhn]

What is your power supply wattage?

I suggest that if you are on a strict budget, you upgrade your motherboard, CPU and RAM, then throw in a last gen card like the GTX460.

You could make an ok gaming build, minus the case, and optical drive, for the price of a GTX590.

 

[zeion]

It's 430W.

Would you recommend this AMD's Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition for a CPU? And can I use that on my motherboard? Also I guess I'll need to upgrade to Windows 7 to use more RAM right?

 

[jhae2.718]

Also I guess I'll need to upgrade to Windows 7 to use more RAM right?

If you want to use more than 4GB of RAM, you will need a 64-bit operating system. I would make sure your motherboard can address that amount of RAM before buying any.

 

[zeion]

If you want to use more than 4GB of RAM, you will need a 64-bit operating system. I would make sure your motherboard can address that amount of RAM before buying any.

How do I address that?
My motherboard has 4 RAM slots, and I have more than 3GB of ram but it never registers as I am on XP right now.

 

[jhae2.718]

According to the ASUS manual, the M2A-VM supports:

Memory
Dual-channel memory architecture 4 x 240-pin DIMM
sockets support up to 8 GB of unbufferred ECC/
non-ECC 800/667/533 MHz DDR2 memory modules

 

[KrisOhn]

It's 430W.

Would you recommend this AMD's Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition for a CPU? And can I use that on my motherboard? Also I guess I'll need to upgrade to Windows 7 to use more RAM right?

That CPU would work pretty well, but you can't use it with your current motherboard; your current one has an AM2+ slot, the Phenom II uses an AM3 slot.

 

[KrisOhn]

http://forums.ncix.com/forums/?mode...did=2346840&pagenumber=1&msgcount=3&subpage=1

I made a thread on this very topic on some PC hardware forums, they should be able to build you a better system than I ever could.

 

[zeion]

Do you want to share what you ended up getting for that budget? Since mine is about the same ;)

 

[KrisOhn]

Do you want to share what you ended up getting for that budget? Since mine is about the same ;)

Oh, no, I didn't actually do the build, I just made that thread for you, to see what you should get.

But if I were to get something I would essentially go with what Joel_C posted.