What is the best graphics card or cards I could buy for under $400?

Clay54412

Distinguished
May 2, 2013
303
1
18,785
Hello, I recently bought a self built computer from a friend and although it's pretty decent, i would like to upgrade it... Here are my specs:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07 GHz 3.07 GHz

Ram: 4.00 GB

64 bit operating system

Geforce GTX 650, 1 GB video memory

What would be the best graphics card or cards for under $400? I also asked a question here about upgrading the ram to 16 Gb but since I have 4.00 gb of ram, could I combine the 16 gb with it to make it 20 gb of ram??? Also what is the best 16 gb of ram I could buy??? My current ram is Ripjaw I think..

Thanks in advance...
 
Solution
Perfect, the Sabertooth X58 is your motherboard.

It does run triple channel RAM. You would be able to run dual channel RAM in it by putting in another stick. To get the most of the triple channel...ness of it, look for a triple channel bundle of RAM.

Basically, you can add RAM in whatever configuration you want. If you want to run 2 sticks, I would suggest getting 2 of the same so they run in dual channel mode and give you a slight performance increase.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Everything-You-Need-to-Know-About-the-Dual-Triple-and-Quad-Channel-Memory-Architectures/133

Clay54412

Distinguished
May 2, 2013
303
1
18,785
Well I did it and it gave me this info:

Operating System System Model
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) Service Pack 1 (build 7601)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 2/23/2011 2:23:24 PM
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported) No details available
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.07 gigahertz Intel Core i7 950
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total) Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. SABERTOOTH X58 Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: 107686860001513
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0603 10/29/2010
Drives Memory Modules c,d
1580.22 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1392.82 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

ASUS DRW-24B3LT ATA Device [Optical drive]
DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device [Optical drive]
ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom Device [Optical drive]

Generic Compact Flash USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
Generic MS/MS-Pro/HG USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 5
Generic SD/MMC/MS/MSPRO USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 6
Generic SDXC/MMC USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
Generic xD-Picture USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
INTEL SSDSA2M080G2GC [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 1, s/n CVPO102401CD080JGN, rev 2CV102M3, SMART Status: Healthy
ST31500341AS [Hard drive] (1500.30 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 9VS43WWG, rev CC1H, SMART Status: Healthy 4088 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 4096 MB (serial number SerNum00)
Slot 'DIMM1' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM2' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM3' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM4' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM5' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes


c: (NTFS on drive 1) * 79.92 GB 255 MB free
j: (NTFS on drive 0) 1500.30 GB 1392.57 GB free

* Operating System is installed on c:
Network Drives
None discovered
Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local system accounts
Administrator 7/14/2009 12:08:59 AM (admin)
Guest never
Pablo Hernandez 2/22/2011 2:33:30 PM (admin)
LHPACKING domain logons
phernandez 4/14/2014 9:46:06 PM (admin)

DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account

Adobe PDF Converter on Documents\*.pdf
Adobe PDF Converter on LPT1:
Brother HL-6050D/DN on 192.168.2.236
HP Deskjet F300 Series on USB001
HP Officejet Pro 8600 on 192.168.0.15_1
Microsoft Shared Fax Driver on SHRFAX:
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
Send To Microsoft OneNote 2010 Driver on nul:
Controllers Display
ATA Channel 0 [Controller] (2x)
ATA Channel 1 [Controller] (2x)
Intel(R) ICH10 Family 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 2 - 3A26
Intel(R) ICH10 Family 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller 1 - 3A20 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 [Display adapter]
ASUS VG248 [Monitor] (24.0"vis, s/n E1LMQS049534, January 2014)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
JMicron JMB36X Controller
Marvell 91xx SATA 6G Controller
Marvell RAID Console
Virtual CloneDrive
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3A
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3A3C
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A34
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A35
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A36
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A37
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A38
Intel(R) ICH10 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 3A39
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller
Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Root Hub NVIDIA High Definition Audio
NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
Realtek High Definition Audio
 

Clay54412

Distinguished
May 2, 2013
303
1
18,785
Main Circuit Board b
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. SABERTOOTH X58 Rev 1.xx
Serial Number: 107686860001513
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 0603 10/29/2010

I think that's the motherboard...
 
Perfect, the Sabertooth X58 is your motherboard.

It does run triple channel RAM. You would be able to run dual channel RAM in it by putting in another stick. To get the most of the triple channel...ness of it, look for a triple channel bundle of RAM.

Basically, you can add RAM in whatever configuration you want. If you want to run 2 sticks, I would suggest getting 2 of the same so they run in dual channel mode and give you a slight performance increase.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Everything-You-Need-to-Know-About-the-Dual-Triple-and-Quad-Channel-Memory-Architectures/133
 
Solution