Do I need a new graphics card?

[tsunamii]

Basically I've ran games on my 7 year old monitor at an extremely low resolution, I recently upgraded to an ASUS MS226H and tried to run my games at 1920 x 1080 I got extremely low FPS at this resolution and I'm assuming it's because of my hardware, I'm running Intel Core 2 Duo 4gbs of ram and a geforce GT 220 graphics card, Is this just my graphics cards fault or do I need to upgrade both in order to get smooth fps at 1920 x 1080 resolution? Was reading an article on WoW: Cataclysm performance on this site earlier, a Radeon 5870 graphics card seemed to come out top at ultra settings, So I'll probably go for this one. But will this fix it with just an upgrade of my graphics card? I'm pretty dopey when it comes to high tech computer stuff
If it is all I need to get smooth fps, is that all I need to buy? I belive I have a 500w power supply.
Thanks! <3

 

[hell_storm2004]

Which model of Core 2 Duo do you have? The GT220 isn't much of a card at HD resolution.
For now i would like to say it is your card. But do mention you complete system that you have right now and the PSU along with the brands.

 

[VGKitov]

Well in my opinion the GT 220 is your main problem (could you give your full specs and the PSU brand ) The GT 220 is a very low spec card I think it's alot weaker even than the older 9600GT. Besides 1920x1080 is a very demanding resolution, as far as I know as the resolution increases, the CPU useage decreaces and the load is transferd to the GPU.

PS You could keep the GT 220 as dedicated PhysX card.

 

[tsunamii]

Win 7 64bit
2 x 2gb G-Skill ram
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.40GHZ
the gt220 is an asus
and i'm pretty sure this is the power supply i have, seems kinda bad :\ not sure on these thinggs though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817165024
Is that all you wanted to know as far as full specs, if there's something else I need to post just let me know.

 

[VGKitov]

I think, that with these specs the GT 220 is what is holding you back, you may try to OC the CPU if you can . The 5870 needs a minimum of 500W PSU, and I dont't know if Linkworld is a good brand . If I'm getting this right it doesn't even have a 6PIN PCI-E connector"( The 5870 requires 2 PCI-E 6PIN connectors).

My opinion is that at 1080p the CPU is not going to hold you back.

 

[tsunamii]

So right now it's only the graphics card? So I can just buy the 5870 graphics card, and I'll probably get a new power supply, does anyone know of any good ones? That's all I'd need to buy to get the 5870 to work right, no other bits?
I'll upgrade the CPU eventually, just wanted to know if I could upgrade the graphics card right now to play at that high resolution.

 

[VGKitov]

Well you shoul see a big increase of FPS, but dont expect it to be exatly the same as the benchmarks seen in these reviews ( They use high eng CPU, RAM, SSD etc). By the way is your RAM DDR3 or DDR2. I recomend you this PSU, I know it's overkill but it seems to be the same price as the 500W version : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017&cm_re=ocz_600w-_-17-341-017-_-Product.

 

[hell_storm2004]

Budget please for the PSU and GPU? Also mention the model number of the CPU.

 

[tsunamii]

Thanks for posting that PSU I'll look at it in a minute
and well I seen that 5870 for $290 on new egg and the 6870 for $225 is there much of a difference in both, in the Cataclysm performance guide didn't seem too much, and err I guess the price of the 5870 + a PSU so around $400 I guess.
and I'm pretty sure my ram is DDR2 :\

 

[VGKitov]

Im haven't had much experience with Intel CPU's so hell_storm2004 will probably give you better info about your CPU performance

 

[tsunamii]

How can I find the model number of my CPU? I just found a E4600 in the information about it, Is that it?
and Thanks VGkitov <3

 

[mrjericho1991]

oh common now why 5870 when you can have gtx 460 in just under $180,its best bang for bucks right now,and will surely do good at high resolutions but still your cpu will be bottleneck,i would suggest to get a core 2 quad q8200 and then overclock it,however if you can over clock your current c2d to 3.3ghz then it will be fine.just get gtx 460 you will have physx and dx11 all in one package.

 

[mrjericho1991]

here you can have it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127551

 

[VGKitov]

You are welcome

^^The GTX 460 is very good, but he seem to have decided on AMD (correct me if I'm wrong)

Well why don't you get the 6870 it's cheaper and should draw less power, the 5870 shoul be a little faster, but it's 65 USD more, you decide.

 

[hell_storm2004]

For $300 you should be looking at HD6950. Way better and way newer than the HD5870.

E4600 is the model number. Although i can say that you may face bottleneck issues and lower performances in games that do use more than 2 cores. And if you are not going to stick to a single card solution in the future then Corsair VX550W should do the trick.

Your RAM has to be DDR2 coz LGA775 chipsets came with DDR2 only. Unless you have an G41 chipset.

To check the PC details use a software called CPU-Z.

Two more things, motherboard model (use CPU-Z) and which monitor do you have?

 

[mrjericho1991]

no,get gtx 460 ,6870 isnt worth it.cheaper and more awesome.in less than $200

 

[hell_storm2004]

no,get gtx 460 ,6870 isnt worth it.cheaper and more awesome.in less than $200

Who's talking of 6870 here?

 

[tsunamii]

I will be upgrading my cpu, was looking at one of the i5's just wanted to upgrade the graphics card first, I'll have a look at this 6950 but out of the other two, the 5870 and the 460 GTX what do you think, which would be better hell storm?
and my motherboard model is a P5N-MX, and I posted the monitor in my first post, ASUS MS226H
Also about this overclocking the other guy said "you can over clock your current c2d to 3.3ghz" is this possible, and is it worth me doing it?
Thanks again!

 

[VGKitov]

More awesome doesn't seem to be a great argument

PS I read about flashing a 6950 to 6970 is possible, even if it fails it's worth to give it a try.
(If you are intrested gust Google it, also there is a growing number of threads in Toms)

 

[VGKitov]

Overclocing is very specific for every CPU, but it should be possible from what I read. Before you OC do your homework and see how to do it properly

Your MoBo doesn't seem to support The i5 or i3 etc CPUs, but t does support Quad Core CPUs. It uses the LGA 775 socket as hell_storm2004 noted above.

 

[mrjericho1991]

oh common now its stupidity a gtx 580 is worth from a 6950,to see a difference of 10 or more fps.

 

[tsunamii]

Overclocing is very specific for every CPU, but it should be possible from what I read. Before you OC do your homework and see how to do it properly

Your MoBo doesn't seem to support The i5 or i3 etc CPUs, but t does support Quad Core CPUs.

Yeah I found out about that, I was looking at one of the CPU+Motherboard bundles on newegg.
The other guy said I can overclock it to 3.3 GHZ from 2.4 is this safe? :S been reading that you shouldn't do it too much D:

 

[hell_storm2004]

Ok. Since you are going to upgrade your CPU soon, it would involve a complete overhaul whichever way you go, from what you have.

After two weeks Intel's new lineup will hit the market. So i can say forget the current i5's.

Ideally it should have been CPU+RAM+Mobo then GPU+PSU. But shouldn't be a problem.

HD 6950 is a great card, is more of a direct replacement of the HD5870.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/31.html

Take a look at the benchmarks provided as well.

 

[tsunamii]

Ahhk,
Well thank you guys you've pretty much answered every question i've had i'm gonna go do some research about this overclocking and some graphics cards and stuff, definately helped me alot! Thanks! <3

 

[VGKitov]

Yeah I found out about that, I was looking at one of the CPU+Motherboard bundles on newegg.
The other guy said I can overclock it to 3.3 GHZ from 2.4 is this safe? :S been reading that you shouldn't do it too much D:

If you are using your stock cooler it is not recomendet. I didn't know you are going to get a new Motherboar, hell_storm2004 said you should probably wait until these new Intel arrive, I think that then if you decide to still get the i5 it should be a lot cheaper. hell_storm2004 sorry for quoting (not exatly quoting) you so many times.

You are welcome