Looking to upgrade my computer (possibly graphics card)

alancito10t · Aug 9, 2014

Hi guys,
In two weeks I'm travelling to USA (where prices of the PC components are considerably lower than here, in my country) so I decided to buy some parts to upgrade my computer.
I made this question to my dad's friend, who told me that I didn't need to change the processor, just adding a graphics card and the RAM was enough.
So, my computer right now has:

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 @ 3.10GHz (Sandy Bridge 32nm)
RAM: 4,00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 (2 modules)
Motherboard: Intel Corporation DH61CR (LGA1155)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 2000 supporting two monitors (1280x1024 and 1366x768)

My friend's dad stated that I should add an 8GB module to the PC, and conserve one of the 2GB modules I have right now (2+8=10GB of RAM), and then, add a graphic card to my computer.
He told me that my motherboard has just a PCIe 2.0 slot (I confirmed this searching on Google) and that I could only add a card which supported PCIe 2.0, and here my doubts started. Isn't PCIe 3.0 has backward compatibility with PCIe 2.0?

So, we started to look in the NVIDIA site for a card that supported PCIe 2.0. The best I found was the GeForce GT 640. I said him I wanted to run actual 2013-2014 games (like Watch Dogs, the next GTA V for PC, Battlefield 4), other games I play (Minecraft, for example and some edition software (PS, Lightroom, Sony Vegas), and he insisted 'that card will let you play that games in Ultra settings'. I don't know actually if this is true, but I'm a 80% sure that is not true. Here is the proof. Medium settings, and 40fps.

So the questions are:

1) Changing just the video card and the RAM it's OK?
2) Has PCIe 3.0 backward compatibility with PCI 2.0?
3) Is that card good, or what card would you recommend me for my PC (~$200)?
4) Is anything more I should do?

Thank you for your help, and have a good day.
PS: sorry for my bad/poor english, I'm not an english speaker. Don't be grammar nazis.

Mattib 050 · Aug 9, 2014

1. Yep, the i3 should be able to handle most mid-range graphics cards just as well as an i5 in most games.
2.You can use a PCIe 3.0 card in a 2.0 slot, or vice versa.
3. That card's pretty bad for gaming. Generally any card with DDR3 RAM instead of GDDR5 won't be too capable when it comes to gaming. You could get a gtx 660 for just under $200, this will be able to play games like BF4 at high settings in 1080p quite easily. That's assuming your PSU can handle it, of course. If not, go for a gtx 750.
4. Find out whether or not you'll be taxed or anything when you're leaving the US. I don't think the prices in the US include tax, so you might have a bit extra to pay.
You should also make sure you have enough room in your case for the card you'll want to buy.

kapitalistas · Aug 9, 2014

i recommend check custom prices for import cause your gonna get pay the taxes more then your parts are worthy of.even Europe country's have big custom prices sorry for my English its not my first language.

nostall · Aug 9, 2014

In no particular order:
PCIE 3.0 cards ARE compatable with PCIE 1.0 and 2.0slots. The difference in games between 2.0 and 3.0 is negligible and you will probably never notice it.
RAM: Up grade to two matched sticks of 4GB RAM. Easiest way is to buy a matched pair. Example of an excellent set follows:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324
That's what I am using in my wife's gaming PC.
Video card: Sticking with Nvidia; if you can afford it I would go with at least a 650Ti or 750, and preferably a 660 or 670 or in the newest and greatest a 760 or 770. If you monitor is a wide screen monitor and you want/can play at 1080P resolution, that 640 will not let you play at Ultra settings, maybe not even the next step down. If you shop around you can find good deals on the 660 cards; and that will give you decent game play. (UPDATE; just noticed your monitor setup. Is one of those a laptop-1366x768? The 640 seems to play pretty well. Turning off AA (FXAA) will improve frame rates)
Last, but possibly the most important: What power supply unit do you have in your current computer (brand, model, etc.) and how old is it. The 640 is a pretty low power card (recommended 20amps on the 12v rail and 350Watts for the entire system) and does not require any auxillary power while the other cards I mentioned do require quite a bit more power and thus a bigger and more efficient power supply.
Hope this wasn't too long, and helped you out.

God-father-board · Aug 9, 2014

alancito10t :

Mixing ram like may or may not work for you. Just so you know. It doesn't hurt to try and if doesn't 8gb is enough anyway.

alancito10t :

Your friend's dad dosen't like you. lol. 2.0 will work with 3.0

alancito10t :

HA! now i know your friend's dad is setting you up for failure. Those games will eat a 640 and looking for more. GTA V on Ultra...right.

IMO changing just the video card and ram is ok. but for your budget I would try this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121823

of course playing on ULtra with these will be a struggle for that youll need to dish out more money.

You may need to update you PSU what do you have now?

alancito10t · Aug 9, 2014

Mattib 050 :

nostall :

God-father-board :

Thank you for all your assistance. I opened my computer (it was a pain in the ass, to see the PSU sticker you had to remove the PSU completely, yuck), and here's what I found: http://imgur.com/a/IPMCC
Read the descriptions of the images.
Recommend me what to do, please. I don't know if this card is ok, or I should go for another. Look the images and say me. Thank you again guys.

nostall · Aug 9, 2014

alancito10t :

1ST AND FOREMOST: CLEAN OUT YOUR COMPUTER! Your CPU cooler is packed with dust and dirt and probably not cooling your cpu very well. A vacuum or better yet some canned air and blow out all the dust and dirt; the canned air might be expensive, but it will be waaaayyyy cheaper the 4-10 hours of troubleshooting a failed computer because of heat.
Your power supply may not be enough for even the 640 card: It may say 500watts, but most of that power is concentrated in the 3.3 and 5 volt areas, and the =12 has only 16A. That is very little amperage for a 12v rail.
If you do the math you will see that the manufacture did not exactly tell the truth when they rated it at 500W.
Wattage is the simple formula of Volts X Amps = Watts. Doing the math, for all the rails, results in a grand total of 455Watts; and, even not knowing anything about this manufacture, I will bet it can NOT produce that much power. Probably more like 300 watts, especially when it is warmed up.
So, please tell us where you live and I/we can look up a couple power supplies that should help your entire system; and confirm that you are planning on purchasing the parts while in the U.S.

alancito10t · Aug 9, 2014

nostall :

Haha, yeah, after I took the photos I cleaned it. I didn't clean it since 2011 or even before.
Now that I saw the Skype conversation with my dad's friend, I saw that he told me not the 640 card; but the 610 card. That card won't handle anything, right? Even if my PSU supports it.
But ok, I live in Argentina. And yes, I confirm I will buy the parts while in the US, but think that I can only bring a $250 max.

nostall · Aug 9, 2014

The 610 card is an entry level, loooowwww end card. Probably just slightly better, or maybe not, then the intell 2000 graphics. Sorry to keep you hanging, but I have to take care of some family business for a bit. I will see what I can find in your price range and repost either later tonight (after 7p.m. Pacific time) or tomorrow mid morning.

alancito10t · Aug 9, 2014

nostall :

I really appreciate your concern. Don't know how to thank you.
PS: 750 Ti requieres Graphics Card Power 60W and Minimum System Power Requirement 300W, I may be wrong, but I have that..

God-father-board · Aug 10, 2014

alancito10t :

No your right. While you do have a very suspect PSU you might be able to get with it. The PSU says 500w max but clearly your not ever going get that with that PSU. Luckily your entire system is only drawing 170-200 max. I highly doubt your getting anything near 12volts out that maybe 11 max. I say your still fine because the 750ti, more specifically the EVGA 750ti draws 30w max and doesn't require a 6pin. Your PSU should be able to handle an extra 30w if it needs to.

alancito10t · Aug 10, 2014

God-father-board :

Would you explain me that? I don't understand why do you guys say that PSU won't never get that 500W.
And, then, why nostall said me that my PSU won't handle it? I should buy a new one?
Searching yesterday I found this PSU, which is not so expensive (94 usd) and another one a bit cheaper.
I don't understand a bit about this. I may know a bit about graphics cards but not about PSUs.
What would you say I should do? Buy one of this? Keep what I have?

nostall · Aug 10, 2014

Yep, God-father-board is probably correct, you could possibly run a 750Ti or maybe a 760 on your old PSU.
But if the PSU self-destructs it could very well take other components with it; such as the video card, CPU, RAM, mobo.
Power is not the place to try to save.
Here are a couple recommendations:
EVGA 02G-P4-3751-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card
$149.99
$139.99 after $10.00 rebate card
$5.67 Shipping (restrictions apply)
And either one of these power supplies:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151139&ignorebbr=1
SeaSonic S12G-450 450W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC Power Supply, Intel Haswell Ready
$74.99
Save: $5.00 (6%)
$6.31 Shipping (restrictions apply)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151127&ignorebbr=1
SeaSonic SSP-450RT 450W ATX12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC PC Power Supply 12cm Double Ball Bearing Series - OEM
$64.99
Save: $10.00 (13%)
$6.14 Shipping (restrictions apply)

I believe the price for these two things (video and PSU)is slightly under your budget.

I use Newegg as it is easiest for me to research and I have never had a problem with their service nor shipping; you can research for available components in your part of the world by using this link;
http://pcpartpicker.com/
And perhaps Amazon has a location down there, their prices and service are good, too.

UPDATE: Just saw your reply to Godfather.
Don't buy a Sentey psu, They are generally not well constructed. Take a look above.
Explaining power supplies would take hours. Here is a good guide for some of the basics, though written awhile ago.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/284314-28-power-supply-guides-info
Power supplies, like anything else, DO wear out over time. They contain capacitors, resistors, diodes, etc. etc. that will only perform their job for finite time period (Usually, but not always, measured in years or hours of operation). These parts may be made with the utmost care using the best designs and ingrediants (for lack of a better term) available, or they can be made with lesser quality stuff. Famous for really bad power supplies is the company Diablotek, but even the best of companies have power supplies made of lower grade components, and you can usually tell which they are based upon the length of their warranty. That is one reason that the 80+ power certification came into being.
Re. your power supply; again, look at the picture of the label and then do the math I listed above. It is not a 500Watt psu.
That implies that there probably is NOT 16Amps current available on the 12V rail after all.
Heat is a computers enemy, perhaps its worst enemy, and you have had that psu running your pc for at least 3 maybe 4 years and it probablly has gotten pretty warm: Even if it was made with the very best components, just due to aging it probably can't produce the necessary power for your system. I could be wrong, but is it worth burning up or shorting out other components.
Here a couple links to look at dealing with low end PSUs; the Seasonics I recommend are well made and should last a long time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk9OA7aKOE
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/26/exploding_computer_vs_reg_reader/

Hope this helps.
2nd Update: Check out this link for an excellent guide in purchasing a PSU.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
And these 2 for reviews:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/index.php
http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/psu_power_supplies/

alancito10t · Aug 10, 2014

nostall :

You're great man. Clearly. Now I understand everything. My PSU may be enough for the card, but it's best to not take risks.
The thing, nostall, is that I'm travelling to the US, and neither Amazon nor Newegg ships to hotels (I think Amazon yes, the problem is that I don't want to leave $150 in a hotel desk, it's a bit risky). I was looking to buy the graphics card on Best Buy; I saw it had almost the same price tag.
Aaaand, I can't bring a PSU from USA. It's a big thing, heavy, it's not the kind of things I'm allowed to bring. So I must find one to buy in here.
Here I found a place in Argentina that has more models available to buy: http://www.compugarden.com/informatica/fuentes-de-pc.html#%21dir=asc&order=price. Price is showed in ARS (pesos argentinos), my limit is 1100-1200 ARS.
Tell me if you find anything there.
Also, antoher question apart from the PSU, will the card fit into my CPU? I have it in the images I posted here yesterday (here they are again) and now I have that doubt. You know, I must be sure before bringing them.
Again really, I would want to say I love you.

nostall · Aug 10, 2014

The card will fit in the light blue slot just below your CPU. The 750Ti is relatively short so it should fit in there. You can measure from the back of the case towards the front (and try to do so over the top of that slot) and see if it will bump into anything. That link gives the size specifications; and the cooling system (fan and shroud) will be facing the bottom of the case. I am 99.9% sure it will fit.
I have looked at the list, and I don't see anything strikingly good, I will need some time for a little more research. I did see the ThermalTake TR2 psus: DON'T even consider them, they have a very high failure rate. I will have to do some more research, but if there is some way that you can make your purchase in the U.S. - at Best Buy, Circuit City, Micro Center - you might be much better off.

alancito10t · Aug 10, 2014

nostall :

All right, perfect. Then I don't have to care about that.
In the link I gave you, there's a Cooler Master PSU. Isn't Cooler Master a good brand? I heard of it a lot of times, and I thought that it was good. Because from Cooler Master I found this and this.
If you don't like Cooler Master or think it's not good, tell me another brands to search for. Actually I don't need a super extra mega platinum PSU, I just want it to work well, nothing further than that.

Another thing I don't understand is why the 550w is cheaper than the 500w one. Shouldn't it be more expensive?
Anyway, thank you again.

nostall · Aug 10, 2014

Don't know why the difference in price, but do know that the Cooler Master eXtreme power supplies are pretty much on everyone's "bad" list, just like the TT TR2.
The CM V and V2 models, using a different manufacture are getting pretty good reviews but not their older designs. Here's another list.
http://www.johnnylucky.org/power-supplies/psu-lemon-list.html

I was unable to find much on any of the psu's available at this etailer. Topower and Aerocool should be avoided; I found information on Sentey but only on their newer high power units, and I have mentioned the others.
I guess if I had to choose from this list I would gamble first on the Sentey BRP600.
I think this is about all I can help you with: that 750Ti card will play your games just fine, adding moreRAM will help, and if you can do it, really really try to get your PSU here in the U.S. while you visit.
If still looking for a local retailer/outlet, the look at the link with the power supply tiers and see if you can find something in tiers 1- 2B or if necessary even tier 3. Check specifications to make sure it has a minimum of 20amps on the +12V rails, preferably on a single rail.
Good luck! Enjoy you time up here.

alancito10t · Aug 10, 2014

nostall :

Chose this answer as best solution because of all the help you gave me.
Obviously I'll enjoy it! Yesterday I ordered the atraction pass and bought the city guide.
After 1 hour of searching into different stores, the only thing I found was sentey. sentey. sentey. sentey. oh, and thermaltake tr2. kings of the PSUs, right?
I found three PSUs, according to all the guides you gave me: the Antec VP500P (500W at 120USD), the Sentey BRP600 (600W, 125 USD) and the Seasonic S12ii bronze (520W, 160 USD).
The Antec one is from secondhand, it has been used, so I'm not really sure if I want to spend 120 dollars into a secondhand PSU.
The Sentey one is the one you would 'gamble first', and then, the Seasonic one has a 9.7 rating in JonnyGURU. It's not actually cheap, but it's worth it, right?

So, let's go then for the Sentey/Seasonic (or Antec, idk) here in Argentina, with the RAM and the 750 Ti on NYC, probably in a BestBuy store. Have a good day, nostall. I promise this is last question I will do.

nostall · Aug 10, 2014

Alincito, please ask questions. It is how we all learn. If you need to, start another post/thread, or continue here.
If you are buying the Sentey there in Argentina, then that is probably your best bet.
The Seasonic is the best of the bunch since the Antec is used,. If it were my build I would pay the extra and get the Seasonic that you found; an excellent PSU.
Have a fun trip.

Looking to upgrade my computer (possibly graphics card)

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