Upgrading video card on old PC (Phenom II) to play Assassin's Creed IV

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

I am looking into buying a new video card for my old PC to play Assassin's Creed IV (and perhaps beyond).

Obviously, this is an aging PC and I am NOT looking to buy the fastest graphic card out there.

What graphic card should I purchase?

Here's the specs
AMD Phenom II X4 955
ASUS M4N82 Deluxe
4GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) [4x Module Name G Skill F2-6400CL5-1GBNQ]

UPDATE

The power supply is Corsair TX650W

It is SLI Ready/CrossFire Ready, but I am just looking for a single card.

My budget is ~$100 although it can go up to ~$150.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

A Radeon 7850/7870 or GTX 650 Ti Boost/GTX 660 would be your best choice.

If AC4 is the top priority when it comes to this upgrade then stick with Nvidia and get a 2GB 650 Ti Boost/660.

Another 4GB of DDR2-800 RAM would also be a worthwhile upgrade if possible.

EDIT: list your PSU please

Gam3r01 · Nov 11, 2013

If you can OC you might be able to get a 7950, MAYBE. Depending on clock speeds(4.2GHz probably). If you cant ,which lets be honest you cant, you are looking at a 7870 or a 650ti.

a1blaster · Nov 11, 2013

buy the best gpu you can afford now and upgrade your cpu later...

JUICEhunter · Nov 11, 2013

there is a superclocked 650ti boost for $150 and 270x for $200... both have great value/performance

huilun02 · Nov 11, 2013

Budget = not defined
PSU = not defined

Calculating...

Answer: 3x GTX 780 Ti, 3-way SLI

a1blaster · Nov 11, 2013

huilun02 :

+1

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

huilun02 :

This just made my week

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

rolandzhang3 :

PSU is Corsair TX650W.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

That's a great PSU

We don't know how CPU intensive AC4 is (probably is very since AC3 was a horrid PC port which was very CPU heavy) but this GT 650 Ti Boost would be worth your while

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx650tibdc2oc2gd5boost

4GB more of ram if possible and a CPU overclock would also be nice additional options to consider

huilun02 · Nov 11, 2013

It's hard to recommend anything really, because both ends are open.

On one hand you don't specify how much you got to spend.

On the other hand the game(s) in question hasn't been benchmarked or released yet.

Which is why I stoned and gave that calculator answer in my previous post.

For all we know it might turn out like CoD: Ghosts where the previous games in the series run fine on the PC but Ghosts runs like sh!t. Activision might cover their ass by saying 'oooh, it's because the game has ultra realistic graphics and will push your PC to the limits' while players make fun of the 'ultra demanding dog AI' Neither of which I am a fan of.

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

huilun02 :

I am looking to spend ~$100, but I can spend up to ~$150 if necessary.

I am a college student, so most of my time will be spent doing assignments for my professors and studying for tests.

I am NOT concern with playing AC4 on highest settings or anything of that sort.

It is understandable that the performance of the unreleased game is in question. I remember that in Assassin's Creed III, Boston was awful.

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

rolandzhang3 :

There's aren't many background services running on the computer: it's idle on 770 MB RAM used.

Any idea whether AC4 would used up the 3+ GB RAM available. (yes, I know that the game isn't out yet)

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

huilun02 :

Haha yes, even with high end GPUs Ghosts runs like crap, even artificially requiring you to have 6GB of ram or it won't start up where in reality it only uses up to 2GB

We'll see how demanding AC4 is, so definitely the GPU upgrade would be your first priority

huilun02 · Nov 11, 2013

For $150 get either of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125457
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MLSGHE/?tag=pcpapi-20

At least those are respectable 'gaming' cards and can still be of value when you upgrade another time.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

As I already linked before, this one is $120 after rebates

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx650tibdc2oc2gd5boost

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

rolandzhang3 :

I am not sure if Newegg has jacked up the price after you posted, but $140 after rebate.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

Ah damn, prices sure change quick

That would leave these (the ones huilin02 linked essentially)

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvn65tboc2gdboost

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r7850twinfrozr2gd5oc

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

huilun02 :

So when comes down to the GTX 650 Ti Boost and the Radeon HD 7850, which one is more for the buck?

Looking around, the performance of the two seems just about evenly matched.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

Those two cards are about the equivalent of each other, the Boost would be better for AC4

This 7870 is also a good choice

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r78702gd5toc

TubeExperience · Nov 11, 2013

I know this is mostly speculations at this point, but should I wait until Black Friday?

Last year was a bit of a disappointment in term of graphic cards though.

rolandzhang3 · Nov 11, 2013

Not sure about the situation but it might be worth the wait

Just remember to get the 2GB versions

JUICEhunter · Nov 12, 2013

r270 comes out in a few days and is faster than ti boost for a few extra bucks

huilun02 · Nov 12, 2013

Few extra bucks

http://tinyurl.com/pvsbkmr

Upgrading video card on old PC (Phenom II) to play Assassin's Creed IV

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