Should I upgrade the graphics card?

JaydenKade83 · Jun 29, 2015

My nephew has a Gateway computer that he bought himself - here are the specs: http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-sx2110g-uw23-e1-1500-1-48-ghz-6-gb-500-gb/specs/
I'm wanting to help him run newer games better. Can I just upgrade his gpu? If so, what should I get?

tiny voices · Jun 29, 2015

His CPU is too weak for modern gaming and even a low end GPU would be bottlenecked by it.

There is not much to do for that system. He would need to build a new one if he wants to game.

JaydenKade83 · Jun 30, 2015

tiny voices :

He is 12 years old and his mom said building a new computer is, unfortunately, not an option. I printed and took the specs to Micro Center. The guy at MC looked something up on his computer and then suggested an "ASUS NVidia Geforce GT 720 2GB DDR3". I went ahead and bought it ($57.99). I also decided to replace his 2 GB Memory stick with another 4 GB ($32.99) so he would have 8 GB instead of 6 GB.

I had no trouble with the Memory, but the video card didn't seem to physically fit in the PCI express slot even with the smaller low profile bracket. I realize his upgrade possibilities are limited, but is there another gpu I can try?

tiny voices · Jun 30, 2015

A gt720 is not for gaming. It won't really help him. His CPU is going to limit him too much. Even a high end GPU won't help.

Every GPU uses the same motherboard connection.

I'm sorry, but he won't be playing modern games on this PC.

JaydenKade83 · Jul 1, 2015

tiny voices :

Saying that he won't be playing modern games isn't very helpful! :no:

The problem with the graphics card is that the guy at Micro Center sold me a quiet fan-less one instead of one with a fan, the air vents were too wide to fit in the space provided. I didn't know there was a difference. I got the replacement video card (with a fan) installed and he has noticed a significant improvement in his game play. My nephew is extremely happy with it. It took a few days of learning, but this uncle did good. He's happy, so that is money well spent.

I came here hoping to save time, but if I can figure out this stuff on my own, I guess there's no need to come back here. More optimistic help would have been appreciated.

tiny voices · Jul 1, 2015

Out of curiosity what games was he trying to run better?

If he was trying to play modern AAA games at 1080p that would be very difficult. We generally assume when people say they want to play new games they mean at 1080p. I'm assuming he is playing at a lower resolution to get playable FPS or the games he is playing at not very demanding.

Sorry for "not being optimistic" but we get alot of people asking questions like this and if we told people to go buy a gt720 and you can play games we would get alot of back-lash when they still can't play certain games.

logainofhades · Jul 1, 2015

That system is not meant for gaming. It is a low end budget system for browsing the net and office work.

Search

Should I upgrade the graphics card?

JaydenKade83

Reputable

tiny voices

Titan

JaydenKade83

Reputable

tiny voices

Titan

JaydenKade83

Reputable

tiny voices

Titan

logainofhades

Titan

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page