• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Thinking of updating my Graphics Card eventually, need help on which I can go with.

TakahashiDemon

TakahashiDemon

TakahashiDemon

Associate
Joined
3 May 2014
Posts
15
Hey. I'm not exactly well up in all this and before I go and purchase a graphics card, I'll rather know if I can use it without having to upgrade anything else in my Computer to do so. The computer was a build I purchased off Overclockers themselves, AMD Raid X4 (no longer available).

It was kind of a rush build, I didn't have the money for a decent graphics card with it so figured I'll upgrade that part eventually.

Here is my current specs;
8GB RAM
GeForce GT620 2GB (part I'm wanting to upgrade)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 3.00GHz
Corsair Builder Series CX 430W V2
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Micro ATX
BitFenix Merc Alpha Case (this is just so you can tell what kind of graphics card can fit in there)

I'm thinking of this graphics card as it is right in my budget. It'll be nice to know if I can use this. I mainly want to stick to Nvidia graphics cards so please don't give me AMD suggestions.

I'm not sure if this PC has a PCI-E connecter (the graphics card I have selected before doesn't require this according to the description).. I did look around for one but I believe Overclockers have stuffed a good few of the wires in the back.

Sorry if I sounded like a complete noob but I rather check before purchasing so thanks for any help in advance :) And I'll need it with something that has a DVI output as I do eventually want to get ASUS 29" screen, which requires that output.

Another piece of information I forgot to mention, I mainly use consoles for gaming with. At the moment I play mainly Guild Wars 2, other free MMO, but do eventually want to play FFXIV on this as well.
 
Last edited:
Due to the age of your machine, I'd strongly recommend upgrading the cpu and motherboard, otherwise you'll get such a low return for your money when you put a new graphics card in.
 
arc@css said:
Due to the age of your machine, I'd strongly recommend upgrading the cpu and motherboard, otherwise you'll get such a low return for your money when you put a new graphics card in.
Click to expand...

Mines isn't actually that old.. a year at least. What graphics card would you recommend for this then where I won't have to go to that hassle? (that is something I'll consider in about 5+ years though - that would be building an entire computer though)
 
TakahashiDemon said:
Mines isn't actually that old.. a year at least. What graphics card would you recommend for this then where I won't have to go to that hassle? (that is something I'll consider in about 5+ years though - that would be building an entire computer though)
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure about this, so wait to see what others say before you go spending cash.

I'm thinking that it might be best to get an AMD card that can use mantle to ease the vast cpu bottleneck that you'll be subjected to. Then again, if you are to upgrade the cpu / mobo before long then I guess that doesn't matter anyway.

I'd probably spend less of your budget for something that serves the interim, which will still easily outperform your current graphics card...maybe an R7 260 / 265?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1866
 
Last edited:
arc@css said:
Well, I'm not sure about this, so wait to see what others say before you go spending cash.

I'm thinking that it might be best to get an AMD card that can use mantle to ease the vast cpu bottleneck that you'll be subjected to. Then again, if you are to upgrade the cpu / mobo before long then I guess that doesn't matter anyway.

I'd probably spend less of your budget for something that serves the interim, which will still easily outperform your current graphics card...maybe an R7 260 / 265?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1866
Click to expand...

Well I'll definitely consider an AMD since they are lower price and if it has the chance of running more smoothly with my machine, can't complain I guess.

I just will need to figure out if this does have power connector for 6-pin, should do but just can't see it without opening the other side of my PC lol

The only thing bad about those you listed is that they don't support VGA (my current monitor is VGA) so I may have to get the ASUS screen before upgrading to those. This isn't something I plan in doing straight away.. mainly for future reference.
 
arc@css said:
I'm thinking that it might be best to get an AMD card that can use mantle to ease the vast cpu bottleneck that you'll be subjected to. Then again, if you are to upgrade the cpu / mobo before long then I guess that doesn't matter anyway.http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1866
Click to expand...


He will only benefit if the games he intends to play support mantle otherwise it's pointless to get a mantle compatible card to play Final Fantasy and free MMO games.
 
arc@css said:
Due to the age of your machine, I'd strongly recommend upgrading the cpu and motherboard, otherwise you'll get such a low return for your money when you put a new graphics card in.
Click to expand...

This to be honest, though your board will support these AM3+ FX Cpu's. some of which would improve on your current cpu. The gpu you linked to, the 750Ti, should do you nicely for some light gaming but would struggle later with your new monitor. The 750Ti does not require a 6pin Pci-e power connector though your Psu does have one if required. No problem fitting the 750TI in your case either as it will take bigger cards than that. The GTX 660 is a more powerful card for the same money as the 750TI and only requires 1 X 6pin Pci-e connector and I would say that would be your best choice to be honest. :)
 
rolypolyman said:
This to be honest, though your board will support these AM3+ FX Cpu's. some of which would improve on your current cpu. The gpu you linked to, the 750Ti, should do you nicely for some light gaming but would struggle later with your new monitor. The 750Ti does not require a 6pin Pci-e power connector though your Psu does have one if required. No problem fitting the 750TI in your case either as it will take bigger cards than that. The GTX 660 is a more powerful card for the same money as the 750TI and only requires 1 X 6pin Pci-e connector and I would say that would be your best choice to be honest. :)
Click to expand...

Which version of the GTX 660 would you recommend, I see there's a few there but what are the differences and would it be fine with my current power supply?
 
If it was me I'd get this one, evga are quality, best warranty/performance and a free game. Your Psu will be fine with this card which draws 130W at stock so you have plenty to spare. :)
 
rolypolyman said:
If it was me I'd get this one, evga are quality, best warranty/performance and a free game. Your Psu will be fine with this card which draws 130W at stock so you have plenty to spare. :)
Click to expand...

Well that fits nicely within my budget so I think once the time comes (maybe a month or 2), this be the one I'll go with. Just a question though, would it do fine with my CPU as well? (Really sorry about all these noob questions but one does have to be sure about these things).

Thanks for all the help provided so far, but I think I have decided on the graphics card :)
 
ghost.florian said:
The 660 should be fine even with your current CPU. You will see improvements with a more powerful CPU though, which should also be visible in everyday tasks as well.
Click to expand...
No. Forget GTX660, even my much slower HD5850 was getting bottleneck by the Q6600 oc at 3.60GHz, which is faster than the Athlon II X4 3.00GHz. Bottleneck would be even more so for random mmos.

Even my i5 2500K at 4.80GHz was bottlenecking my HD5850 in Guild Wars 2 at world bosses and World vs World pvp.

For the games that OP are playing/would be playing, he'd best up his budget to up to £250, and grab 2nd hand i5 2500K, a semi capable CPU cooler, Z68/Z77 chipset motherboard, 8GB ram and HD7850 2GB.
 
Last edited:
I'm not a heavy PC gamer by any means. I do not care about having games at the maximum graphics etc, but I would like to have them something higher than Low-Medium :) Unless this GTX660 is going to make my computer really slow in other ways.. although going by the rest of the answers I should be fine?
 
TakahashiDemon said:
I'm not a heavy PC gamer by any means. I do not care about having games at the maximum graphics etc, but I would like to have them something higher than Low-Medium :) Unless this GTX660 is going to make my computer really slow in other ways.. although going by the rest of the answers I should be fine?
Click to expand...
The issues with mmos in general is that when they are lots of things going on at the same time (i.e. lots of players and lots of mobs), it's actually the CPU that's holding back the frame rate; with your Athlon II X4 3.00GHz, you will keep getting dips in frame rate down to 20fps and lower at world bosses, and having fast graphic card or reducing "graphic" settings won't help in situations such as these.

With that said, your GT620 is still your weakest link- upgrade your graphic card to 2nd hand HD7850 or new R7 265 first, then upgrade your CPU/platform to 2nd hand i5 K CPU with Z chipset motherboard and 8GB ram later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom