Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question
Solved

Upgrading graphics card- What would fit best?

Tags:
  • Games
  • Graphics Cards
  • Windows Vista
  • Dell
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
Share
August 24, 2013 9:28:07 AM

I've been looking in to upgrading the PC for a while, in order to keep up to date with games (my motive here).

I would like to know what would be the best graphics card for me. I have a Dell inspiron 530 desktop. Here are the specs:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP1

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.66GHz
Wolfdale 45nm Technology

2.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz (5-5-5-15)

Dell Inc. 0RY007 (Socket 775)

DELL E228WFP (1680x1050@60Hz)
256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT (Dell)

466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75YGA0 ATA Device (SATA)

PBDS DVD+-RW DH-16W1S ATA Device

Realtek High Definition Audio

I was looking at the GTX 560 Ti because it seemed to be good value but, I then realised it might not even go in the computer. If you have any advice on that card or a better / more appropriate alternative, please share!

More about : upgrading graphics card fit

August 24, 2013 9:31:39 AM

What kind of games do you expect to be able to play? From the looks of it that PC won't run anything more demanding than solitaire.
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 9:43:48 AM

Freddy1765 is right, that is a pretty low end PC now days, but if you were to put a GPU in this computer, I wouldn't recommend anything over a GT 640, anything else would be wasted money due to a CPU bottleneck, and even with a GT 640, it still might not perform at it's best. Here is a cheap GT 640 that would probably do just fine: MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
Hope this helps!
m
0
l
Related resources

Best solution

August 24, 2013 9:48:15 AM

Also, I really recommend putting that saved money towards 2 more GBs of RAM if you want to squeeze every bit of life out of this PC. Two sticks of: G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model F2-5300PHU1-1GBNT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...) should do some justice.
Share
August 24, 2013 10:02:11 AM

Thank you, all.

I was worried that would be the case. I could buy one more GB of RAM but, I don't think the OS supports 4GB (there are two spare slots though). Unfortunately, I don't have to money to fully upgrade the pc or build or buy a new one and was hoping I could just swap the GPU to save it. I can play more modern games (not the latest) such as Borderlands 2 and Black Ops 2 on lowest settings but that's it's limit.

Do you think the GT 64 do much more for it or is it just not worth the money.

This may not show as Adzwoolly as I switched to my laptop to check the PC PSU and can't log in on here.
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:03:10 AM

freddy1765 said:
What kind of games do you expect to be able to play? From the looks of it that PC won't run anything more demanding than solitaire.


It can do a little more than that... LOL

m
0
l
a c 87 U Graphics card
August 24, 2013 10:05:52 AM

Here is a card cheaper card with better performance and it will fit into your build. Also I highly recommend to upgrade your ram to at least 4GB. Also, after your upgrade you will need a new power supply unit.

READ THIS: If you can't upgrade your CPU to a quad core, then your CPU will severely bottleneck a new graphics card.


http://pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-ax78...
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:10:04 AM

Vaxorth25 said:
Freddy1765 is right, that is a pretty low end PC now days, but if you were to put a GPU in this computer, I wouldn't recommend anything over a GT 640, anything else would be wasted money due to a CPU bottleneck, and even with a GT 640, it still might not perform at it's best. Here is a cheap GT 640 that would probably do just fine: MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
Hope this helps!


Some evidence on the bottle neck CPU, when playing minecraft with max settings (Not that it's demanding) runs 100+ fps but freezes up. After some investigation, I realised the CPU was capping out at 100%!

m
0
l
a c 87 U Graphics card
August 24, 2013 10:14:18 AM

Adzwoolly said:
Vaxorth25 said:
Freddy1765 is right, that is a pretty low end PC now days, but if you were to put a GPU in this computer, I wouldn't recommend anything over a GT 640, anything else would be wasted money due to a CPU bottleneck, and even with a GT 640, it still might not perform at it's best. Here is a cheap GT 640 that would probably do just fine: MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
Hope this helps!


Some evidence on the bottle neck CPU, when playing minecraft with max settings (Not that it's demanding) runs 100+ fps but freezes up. After some investigation, I realised the CPU was capping out at 100%!



Yep, it's only uses one thread so it may be time for an upgrade :D .

m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:19:06 AM

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to easily switch the card and ride off into the sunset but, it seems that's not going to happen. On that basis, with my budget and lack of knowledge I'm going to leave it for now and put up with the slightly laggy low quality graphics. The computer is about 5 years old but, still gets better fps than my i5, 4GB laptop. I'll invest the money into a new phone instead :p 
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:21:22 AM

Adzwoolly said:
Vaxorth25 said:
Freddy1765 is right, that is a pretty low end PC now days, but if you were to put a GPU in this computer, I wouldn't recommend anything over a GT 640, anything else would be wasted money due to a CPU bottleneck, and even with a GT 640, it still might not perform at it's best. Here is a cheap GT 640 that would probably do just fine: MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
Hope this helps!


Some evidence on the bottle neck CPU, when playing minecraft with max settings (Not that it's demanding) runs 100+ fps but freezes up. After some investigation, I realised the CPU was capping out at 100%!



Yeah, It was a nice CPU for it's time, to bad it's time was over half a decade ago! lol. And I checked into the specs of your motherboard, and sadly, it can't be upgraded to the Core 2 Quad series. and as for your OS (breezed right past the 32-bit part) It will take 4 GBs, but only ~3.5GB will be usable. You could upgrade it to just 3GB if you pleased.
m
0
l
a c 87 U Graphics card
August 24, 2013 10:23:12 AM

Adzwoolly said:
Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to easily switch the card and ride off into the sunset but, it seems that's not going to happen. On that basis, with my budget and lack of knowledge I'm going to leave it for now and put up with the slightly laggy low quality graphics. The computer is about 5 years old but, still gets better fps than my i5, 4GB laptop. I'll invest the money into a new phone instead :p 


Alright sounds good ;) . Also I would really appreciate it if you could close the thread with one of my replies as best answer, because I am one answer away from getting the gaming expert badge :p .

m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:23:20 AM

Adzwoolly said:
Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to easily switch the card and ride off into the sunset but, it seems that's not going to happen. On that basis, with my budget and lack of knowledge I'm going to leave it for now and put up with the slightly laggy low quality graphics. The computer is about 5 years old but, still gets better fps than my i5, 4GB laptop. I'll invest the money into a new phone instead :p 


Just put a little money aside here and there, and before you know it, you will have half a grand to build a really nice rig for gaming. Best of luck to you my friend.
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:24:29 AM

The problem with upgrading any of the components now on a very small budget is you most likely won't be able to re-use those components if and when you decide do fully upgrade. Adding another 2GB of DDR2 memory for $20 is not a bad deal, but spending upwards of $80-100 on a GPU that will only give you a marginal performance increase before being bottlenecked by that CPU seems more than a little pointless to me.

EDIT: Oh I see you changed your mind altogether. Well, once you save up ~$500 you can always make another post asking for help with a completely new build!
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:26:19 AM

Vaxorth25 said:
Adzwoolly said:
Vaxorth25 said:
Freddy1765 is right, that is a pretty low end PC now days, but if you were to put a GPU in this computer, I wouldn't recommend anything over a GT 640, anything else would be wasted money due to a CPU bottleneck, and even with a GT 640, it still might not perform at it's best. Here is a cheap GT 640 that would probably do just fine: MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...)
Hope this helps!


Some evidence on the bottle neck CPU, when playing minecraft with max settings (Not that it's demanding) runs 100+ fps but freezes up. After some investigation, I realised the CPU was capping out at 100%!



Yeah, It was a nice CPU for it's time, to bad it's time was over half a decade ago! lol. And I checked into the specs of your motherboard, and sadly, it can't be upgraded to the Core 2 Quad series. and as for your OS (breezed right past the 32-bit part) It will take 4 GBs, but only ~3.5GB will be usable. You could upgrade it to just 3GB if you pleased.


That's true. My dad keeps saying how good it was when he bought it. One of the things he paid extra to upgrade was the graphics so it's already near the limit of the PC as a whole. It was ditched because it was so slow and we all have shiny new laptops now but, I then discovered how the PC could run games. Anyway, that's not really relevant.

Thanks for the help but, building or buying a PC would be better when I have more money.
m
0
l
August 24, 2013 10:28:18 AM

In terms of saving, I am only 16 and about to go into sixth form but, when I get a job, a new PC will be the first thing I'm saving up for!
m
0
l
!