Planning to uprade my graphics card...

Dustin Johnson

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Jul 30, 2014
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But I have a lot of questions.

Currently, I am using a Nvidia Geforce 210 graphics card, and I'm getting pretty poor performance in games such as Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, Killing Floor, Tribes Ascend, Garrys Mod, Loadout, Minecraft, Sniper Elite V2, Heroes and Generals, and League of Legends.

I want to get a new card that can hopefully get at least 60 or more FPS in MOST of these games, preferably under 80$.

Specs
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 210

Questions
1: How do I know if the graphics card is compatible with my Motherboard?

2: How do you install/remove a graphics card?

3: Is there a card (does not have to be Nvidia) out there that can get me 60+ fps in most of the games I listed, under the price of 80$?


 
Solution
1. Your gt 210 is an pci-express card, so, any pci express card will work on your motherboard.

2. There is a bolt securing the card to the case, remove it with a philips screwdriver, also, the motherboard has a pci-express lock, just release it and the card will jump out, there are a lot of videos in youtube that will show you in a better way how to do it. Also be sure of removing all drivers from your old card.

3.You can get a r7 240 wich is around $70, you can play most of those games at 1280x720 and low/medium settings:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127765&cm_re=r7_240-_-14-127-765-_-Product

Or you can go for a r7 250x which will perform quite better...

Shadowblade2652

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Nov 20, 2012
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1. If you have a PCI-E slot (assuming that's how your Geforce 210 is running) you can install it.
2. If your case does not have any screws on the back panel PCI cover slots (If you see the little bracket on the GPU, there is this little bar on the side that supports the card on the back of the case), you can just pull the card out and it should be fine. If it doesn't come out, look behind the card at the slot and if there is a little tab coming off of the PCI-E slot, pull down on it with a bit of force, and then slowly pull out the GPU. It should just slide out easily.
To install it, just push your card in firmly and make sure all the pins line up and you don't break anything :)

3. The MSI R7 250 is a good deal at around $85 so that could be a good idea for you.
 
Watch this video at 1 hour 12 min point, it will help you uninstall and install a new gpu. Your choices for a GPU are limited because of your CPU and most likely a poor PSU to power the new card, but here are a few choices that may improve your performance:

GIGABYTE GV-N630-2GI REV3.0 GeForce GT 630 2GB $66
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125483

GIGABYTE GV-N730-2GI GeForce GT 730 2GB $64
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125675

Both gpus will work off the power of your mobo and will not need pci-e power connectors to run them.
 

Luketheduke03

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Jul 30, 2014
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Dude, your not going to get much more performance going under 80$ with a gpu. You have to step it up a little. If you can go $20 more, you can get a radeon hd 7770 better than the r7 250.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-R7770-PMD1GD5/dp/B0089KJRLG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406740834&sr=8-1&keywords=radeon+hd+7770



 

Shadowblade2652

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Nov 20, 2012
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I don't think his CPU will bottleneck the R7 250. The R7 250 is 85 and will be a much better investment in the long run because it has good performance for the low price. The two you mentioned are not really good for gaming at all (I had a GT630 at one point) and it doesn't perform very well. The 730 may be okay but you may have trouble in the higher end games that you play.
 

mlga91

Admirable
1. Your gt 210 is an pci-express card, so, any pci express card will work on your motherboard.

2. There is a bolt securing the card to the case, remove it with a philips screwdriver, also, the motherboard has a pci-express lock, just release it and the card will jump out, there are a lot of videos in youtube that will show you in a better way how to do it. Also be sure of removing all drivers from your old card.

3.You can get a r7 240 wich is around $70, you can play most of those games at 1280x720 and low/medium settings:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127765&cm_re=r7_240-_-14-127-765-_-Product

Or you can go for a r7 250x which will perform quite better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202097&cm_re=r7_250x-_-14-202-097-_-Product

I also suggest upgrading your cpu and motherboard, a 4th gen budget pentium (like g3220) will perform way better than old core duos, also you get some upgrade headroom for a better 4th gen intel cpus.

 
Solution

Dustin Johnson

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Jul 30, 2014
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I usually run my games at 1024x768, so Radeon 240 seems like the best choice. Fits in my price range, and gets the results I want.