An Idiot Needs Your Expertise

[beece68]

I am looking to upgrade my video card on an old computer. I have no clue whether I need a PCI or PCI express card.


Just some things that may help:

I have a Gateway 505GR , has a 300 Watt power supply and I'm currently using a Radeon x700 Pro card. I'd like to upgrade to something better ($100-$150 range max).


So I guess the questions are:

1. I know my current card is PCI, but how can I tell if I can run something that is PCI Express?

2. What kind of cards are decent in this price range/compatibility with this *** PC?


I'd appreciate any help that you can give. I'm clueless on this stuff.

 

[rolli59]

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/4054/4054sp3.shtml
You have PCIe x 16 slot and it is a mini tower. I would suggest HD4650/70
4650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141113
4670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102854
Both cards will run on a 300watt PSU

 

[beece68]

Thanks Rolli, I appreciate your quick response and research.

 

[jyjjy]

You should be able to handle an HD5670;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161319

 

[Userremoved]

GT240 low end but should play games.

 

[sinners_body]

if i were u i would buy GEFORCE 9800gtx...it will be affordable for u ....:|:| buying a ATI thing is a risky business sooo take a wise step ATI's is not a highly rough & tough GPU as far as GEFORCE is......

 

[Truhls]

if i were u i would buy GEFORCE 9800gtx...it will be affordable for u ....:|:| buying a ATI thing is a risky business sooo take a wise step ATI's is not a highly rough & tough GPU as far as GEFORCE is......

please dont listen to this guy....for one im not even sure if you could run a GTX on a 300w power supply unless you got an eco one which usually arent worth it. Two ATI was wiping the floor ( and imo still is ) with nvidia in the GPU market.

 

[jay2tall]

I would look at a 5670, It is probably the most you can squeeze out of your PSU and still be ok. It doesn't require a PCI-E power connector and pulls its power from the PCI-E bus.

 

[Userremoved]

Would it not be safer to go with a card that only requires 300w? The Gt240 might not be high end but it runs Crysis at very high!

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Would it not be safer to go with a card that only requires 300w? The Gt240 might not be high end but it runs Crysis at very high!

No it doesn't. GT240 maybe plays Crysis on low-medium.

 

[notty22]

The GT 240 is a ok card. Right now there are big rebates on all gt 240's at new egg.
Choose a gddr5 model, they are a little quicker. This one as a 35.00 dollar rebate and a free game, final cost is 58.00 dollars
evga gt 240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130533&cm_re=gt_240-_-14-130-533-_-Product
list of gt240's by price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=gt%20240&bop=And&Order=PRICE

 

[rolli59]

Guessing the age of the computer pointing to a PCIe x 16 version 1.x. I still recommend the HD4650/70 based on all the posts in here about trouble getting the new PCIe 2.1 cards working on older motherboards without BIOS update. (presuming that Gateway does not have one)

 

[Userremoved]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Plv1QU9aA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6sjQH8R7bc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNv2dTvrAj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDbIXYHUIDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKw3N1h02yI
So if cant run on high explain me why these videos are running it on high?

 

[jyjjy]

The HD5670 only 10w more than the GT240. If he can use one he can use the other I would think and it's noticeably faster as well as DX11.

 

[Userremoved]

The HD5670 only 10w more than the GT240. If he can use one he can use the other I would think and it's noticeably faster as well as DX11.

really? Well then the 5670 looks like a very good deal!

 

[jyjjy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Plv1QU9aA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6sjQH8R7bc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNv2dTvrAj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDbIXYHUIDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKw3N1h02yI
So if cant run on high explain me why these videos are running it on high?

You CAN run it on high, but you wouldn't want to. Even with the low quality of Youtube video you can tell from those videos that the frame rate is quite low.
FYI youtube is really not the place to go to get info on videocards. There are tons of respectable tech websites with reliable benchmarks while some grainy footage posted by some random person on youtube proves absolutely nothing.

 

[Userremoved]

You CAN run it on high, but you wouldn't want to. Even with the low quality of Youtube video you can tell from those videos that the frame rate is quite low.
FYI youtube is really not the place to go to get info on videocards. There are tons of respectable tech websites with reliable benchmarks while some grainy footage posted by some random person on youtube proves absolutely nothing.

True I'm an idiot .

 

[jyjjy]

Well there's even one you linked that gives you FPS in the video info;

"This is Crysis Warhead being played on an Nvidia GT 240 (Specifically the Palit 1GB GDDR5 "Sonic" Chipset) graphics card. All settings are set to as high as they go for my resolution (1280x1024).

FPS Without Fraps: Average 25FPS, Lowest 8FPS
FPS With Fraps: 18FPS Average, Lowest 4FPS"

With frame rates dipping down into single digits that isn't going to make for smooth gameplay at all. Most usually consider a game smooth if FPS stay above 30.

 

[Kohlhagen]

if i were u i would buy GEFORCE 9800gtx...it will be affordable for u ....:|:| buying a ATI thing is a risky business sooo take a wise step ATI's is not a highly rough & tough GPU as far as GEFORCE is......

You do not know what you are talking about. Do more research, the 9800GTX probably wouldn't even fit in his tower, and the power supply would take a crap.. The PC also uses a Pentium 4, which means any highend GPU will be bottlenecked heavily by the processor and a complete waste of money..

Go with a midrange GPU, don't buy anything over 100 dollars, you will see no increase in FPS or quality without sacrificing FPS.

 

[jyjjy]

I didn't realize it was a P4. Might as well just save some money and get one of the 2 cards rolli linked initially. I don't think you'll really see any difference with better cards than those.
If you are going to upgrade the computer in the not too distant future then get the HD5670 for something that may be worth putting in a new system. perhaps in crossfire.

 

[beece68]

Thanks all. I just went with the HD4670 that Rolli suggested. I just need something to do some minor gaming on until fall when I can afford a decent computer.

All your input and research was much appreciated.

 

[beece68]

Best answer selected by beece68.