Graphics card upgrade on a budget.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

I currently have a discrete GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB card and i want to upgrade, my budget limit is $200, i tried looking on newegg but i don't understand the terms well enough to know what I am looking at. I don't need to overclock things and that whole aspect confuses me. I don't trust the offbrands like "zotac."

My processor is an i3 2120 and i have 6gb of ram, if that makes any difference.

I'd like to be able to play games like planetside 2 with no problem, while my graphics card can play them fairly well, I would like to run it without any lag, at full settings, and to be able to run the games that come out this year, with reasonable quality. Moreover, I want to be able run fraps and record these games as i play without any lag, which is a major stumbling block I've run into in the past even when I had the i7-2600 processor with 9gb of ram in a PC i had a little bit ago.

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

Zotac is pretty good these days actually...

Anyway. You can not get a much better card for 200$, BUT if you provide your motherboard and powersupply specs(exact model), then we may suggest getting another GTX650ti for SLI.

smorizio · Jun 10, 2013

For your cash amount there two options. Buy another 650 card and sli them if your mb has two video slots or go up to the slightly more powerfull 660 line of cards.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

Ah, silly me, judging a book by its cover.

That's not really an option, i have four slots available on my motherboard, and i just used up two with that card, the third slot is taken up for wireless internet. Leaving only a single slot.

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

bravoranger :

Give us your case model and motherboard specs. Or you will have to save up more for a better card.

swifty_morgan · Jun 10, 2013

you don't want to sli 1gig cards. an i5 quad core is recommended so that might be some of the problem. perhaps the vram limitations?

what resolution are you paying at?

WillieMac16 · Jun 10, 2013

Sell that wireless card and go with a USB adapter, that will free up your (in use) slot, and buy the same card to SLI

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103412 That is the unforunate behemoth I have been saddled with.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

*facepalm* accidentally picked you as the solution, oh well.

I play at 1920 by 1080.

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

bravoranger :

That will not have an SLI board. Well if you get a GTX650 ti Boost 2GB, around 180$, then you get some of an upgrade.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

I did not even know that was possible, but awesome! I'll look around, see if I can find what you are talking about.

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

bravoranger :

Easy to unselect best solution.
Yeah then you need 2 GB. Get the GTX650 ti Boost 2GB or push for a GTX660. Its not much of an upgrade, but its better.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

Thank you, just one question, I thought that boost was only when overclocking, and if that is the case I do not know the first thing about overclocking.

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

bravoranger :

That
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125457

Or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125443

its such a small dif you may as well get the second one.

DamianWRX · Jun 10, 2013

To be honest with your current setup, and budget of $200, not sure you are going to run planetside 2 without any lag, at full settings :-(

Can your budget push to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121649
$210 after rebate and free shipping.
ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5-V2 Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5

Still not certain this will give you what you need to be honest. I have a pretty beastly machine and even I'm not running at full settings for PS2. By all accounts the CPU makes a pretty big difference in PS2 but as the game is not that optimised as yet, not sure if anyone is really running it at full settings and getting super high FPS.

Also consider:
- getting a faster internet connection if possible.
- Upgrading your CPU
- getting 8GB of RAM
- running Windows 7 or 8 (64 bit edition) and your games on an SSD
- making sure you have the latest Graphics drivers from www.nvidia.com
- defrag your HDD.

Anyway, good luck!

DamianWRX

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

bravoranger :

Nope, its just a name, the boost Ti version is actually much better than the normal one. Overclocking aside.

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

Thank you very much for your help!

bravoranger · Jun 10, 2013

Thank you very much, you've been a huge help!

Novuake · Jun 10, 2013

All good. Lets hope it does actually help you. LOL

swifty_morgan · Jun 10, 2013

go to spoofee.com. scroll down there is a real good card there for a real good price.

http://www.spoofee.com/r.php?site=newegg&item=14-202-025

add this promo code for $39.10 off... EMCXPXP25

plus a $15.00 rebate........178.89 total when all is said and done.

Graphics card upgrade on a budget.

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