Upgrading from onboard graphics - what card ?

[mikeyb]

Hi,

I am looking to upgrade my PC's onboard graphics to something a bit better at the moment is is running HD 3000 onboard.

Spec is:

AMD QUAD 3.0GHz 640 Propus
Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H Motherboard (AMD 760G)
CCIVO 450w PSU that came with case
8gb 1333GHZ DDR3 RAM ( Dual Channel )
Win 7 Ultimate 64bit

Not wanting to spend more than say £60 - £80 at most, will be playing FPS games mostly but haven't played anything new since COD Modern Warfare so I have plenty older games to catch up on. I also play Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Hi,

thanks for all the great replies, I kinda figured my PSU would be lacking, I wonder if I'd be better swapping it for my Enermax one from my HTPC and that way save some cash in the short term until I can afford a new PSU.

The Enermax I have is a Noisetaker 600W which comes with 6 pin Graphic card connector so it would be better off in my gaming PC.

I might wait until I qualify for free postage as it adds another £8 + to the cost

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Actually I think it would be a good idea to swap the two PSU in your two PCs. HTPC shouldn't consume that high power, so you might get away with using that cheap 450W PSU on it (as much as I would advice against using generic PSU), instead of a gaming PC.

Hi,

yeah I agree, ok not ideal keeping the generic PSU, but in the short term it saves cash doing the swap, although I have to wait 3 months and 250 posts for free P+P, I might just have to buy the 5830 now and grin and bear it

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Hi,

ok, bought the 5830 now

Thanks for all the advice.

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Good man

Hi,

Dispatched already, just need to get it fitted without 'the boss' finding out lol.

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Hi,

My new 5830 fitted and all is good so far, will run a couple of games later today to test it fully. Windows Index gone from 4.1 to 7.5 on graphics

Only thing holding my score back is the HDD.

7.3 - 7.3 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 5.9 is my new index.

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Don't worry about the WEI.

The only way to break 5.9 on the HDD is to move to an SSD.

Bit pointless to do it just for the score.

Hi,

Yeah totally agree, now off down town to buy myself a new FPS

Mike.

 

[mikeyb]

Hi,

just been playing Tiger Woods 08 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 and all is good, graphics on Tiger looks ace and Bad Co 2 is even better, a happy bunny here, thanks for the advice guys.

Mike.