Install a GPU on my PC

GamesNGains · Thursday at 15:00

I've been told I need a GPU, this is my current pc and I am finding its starting to really struggle to load game textures but i've had it years so I suppose its time to spend a little on it. Budget of £100, a GTX1660 Super has been advised. Do you guys agree?

Rob_B · Thursday at 15:19

Check your case has space.
Check what wattage your PSU is and can support whatever you want to buy.
Understand the CPU still isn't the most powerful.
If your games are on a HDD that won't help load times etc

For that budget you don't have a huge choice, if lucky you could pick up a 6600 for ~£120 which is a fair bit faster than the 1660S.
OCUK have a B Grade (pre owned, 6 month warranty) A750 for £120 which again beats a 1660S HOWEVER check your motherboard supports Re-Bar or you could lose some performance - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/b-gr...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-bg-183-in.html

Thekwango · Thursday at 15:24

what's the make/model of the pc?

GamesNGains · Thursday at 15:29

Thekwango said:
what's the make/model of the pc?

This may sound daft but what do you mean?

GamesNGains · Thursday at 15:33

Rob_B said:
Check your case has space.
Check what wattage your PSU is and can support whatever you want to buy.
Understand the CPU still isn't the most powerful.
If your games are on a HDD that won't help load times etc

For that budget you don't have a huge choice, if lucky you could pick up a 6600 for ~£120 which is a fair bit faster than the 1660S.
OCUK have a B Grade (pre owned, 6 month warranty) A750 for £120 which again beats a 1660S HOWEVER check your motherboard supports Re-Bar or you could lose some performance - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/b-gr...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-bg-183-in.html

Fantastic thank you, i'll check those things later today. As it doesnt currently have one at all then the GTX1660S would still be an upgrade correct? I was thinking of maybe looking to upgrade the CPU too at some point in the not so distant future.

embalse · Thursday at 15:37

Check PSU if fully working and as stated above can support a new GPU.

.

Thekwango · Thursday at 15:38

GamesNGains said:
This may sound daft but what do you mean?

the make = what brand (e.g. dell) and it will have a model number - we can search it's specs online and see what can/can't be easily replaced. some off the shelf pc's have custom motherboards and psu's which can make replacing or adding parts a bit more of a faff.

bottom left of your desktop, click the magnifying glass and type 'system information' and press enter - look for System Model Number and post that in here.

Rob_B · Thursday at 15:41

GamesNGains said:
Fantastic thank you, i'll check those things later today. As it doesnt currently have one at all then the GTX1660S would still be an upgrade correct? I was thinking of maybe looking to upgrade the CPU too at some point in the not so distant future.

A 1660S will be faster than the 3400G graphics yes, but there are better options.

Check your PSU has the required 8 pin cable, as mentioned some Dells etc are funny when it comes to that sort of thing. A model for the PC, motherboard, PSU would be great.

GamesNGains · Thursday at 17:00

Thekwango said:
the make = what brand (e.g. dell) and it will have a model number - we can search it's specs online and see what can/can't be easily replaced. some off the shelf pc's have custom motherboards and psu's which can make replacing or adding parts a bit more of a faff.

bottom left of your desktop, click the magnifying glass and type 'system information' and press enter - look for System Model Number and post that in here.

OK thank you Ill check. It was a prebuild from AWD-IT.

GamesNGains · Thursday at 17:00

Rob_B said:
A 1660S will be faster than the 3400G graphics yes, but there are better options.

Check your PSU has the required 8 pin cable, as mentioned some Dells etc are funny when it comers to that sort of thing. A model for the PC, motherboard, PSU would be great.

I will do thank you

Thekwango · Thursday at 17:04

GamesNGains said:
OK thank you Ill check. It was a prebuild from 'competitor name'

ah ok - but you'll want to remove the competitor name from your post - it's against the forum rules.

Rob_B · Thursday at 17:07

If it's a pre built from someone like that then you're probably looking at 'normal' parts so that's a good thing.

Freddie1980 · Thursday at 17:49

Your using the integrated graphics on your CPU, if want a boost in performance try going into your motherboards BIOS and allocating additional memory to your graphics (2Gb currently trying allocating 6Gb). It won't give you gains you'd get from having a dedicated GPU but it might help load those textures a bit better.

Tetras · Thursday at 19:16

GamesNGains said:
I've been told I need a GPU, this is my current pc and I am finding its starting to really struggle to load game textures but i've had it years so I suppose its time to spend a little on it. Budget of £100, a GTX1660 Super has been advised. Do you guys agree?

I don't recall hearing someone have integrated graphics break like this. What games are you trying to play? Did the game(s) work previously? Have you done any troubleshooting? (reinstalling drivers, etc)

GamesNGains said:
It was a prebuild from

You need to be careful with this, the case and PSU might not support an upgrade. If you can take a picture of both, that would be helpful.

GamesNGains · Thursday at 19:42

Tetras said:
I don't recall hearing someone have integrated graphics break like this. What games are you trying to play? Did the game(s) work previously? Have you done any troubleshooting? (reinstalling drivers, etc)

You need to be careful with this, the case and PSU might not support an upgrade. If you can take a picture of both, that would be helpful.

It's newer games. It's served me absolutely perfectly for the last few years but now im finding im having to turn settings down to Low just to even be able to see the games. Older games still work perfectly.

I'll get a pic of it all in a moment thank you

GamesNGains · Friday at 07:54

Tetras said:
I don't recall hearing someone have integrated graphics break like this. What games are you trying to play? Did the game(s) work previously? Have you done any troubleshooting? (reinstalling drivers, etc)

You need to be careful with this, the case and PSU might not support an upgrade. If you can take a picture of both, that would be helpful.

I wasn't able to take a pic of my PSU as it appears to be fixed into the bottom of my case so I'll take it apart later but I'm happy to upgrade that if needed.

I did get pics of the inside of my case and motherboard though.
(Please excuse the dust, didn't realise it'd got so bad)

GamesNGains · Friday at 12:06

Also, I cant seem to edit my post to remove the competitors name. Sorry Admin, I would remove it if I could.

Tetras · Friday at 13:49

GamesNGains said:
I wasn't able to take a pic of my PSU as it appears to be fixed into the bottom of my case so I'll take it apart later but I'm happy to upgrade that if needed.

You don't need to remove it, just a pic of the PSU's label or a model number would do.

GamesNGains · Friday at 13:56

Tetras said:
You don't need to remove it, just a pic of the PSU's label or a model number would do.

I couldn't see anything at all as it was so I'll have to do some more investigation later. There's plenty of room inside the case though isn't there?

Tetras · Friday at 17:31

GamesNGains said:
I couldn't see anything at all as it was so I'll have to do some more investigation later. There's plenty of room inside the case though isn't there?

The pic is a bit too zoomed in to see the full depth of the case, but I'd say: sort of.

There's a decent amount to the right of the slot (length) and some underneath (height), but you'd have to be careful of the top (make sure the backplate doesn't foul on the card above and the power connector can be moved out of the way) and how many slots it is underneath, because it could cause an obstruction with those cables attached to the bottom of the board.