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Budget graphics card upgrade for casual gaming

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Soon ( Next few weeks) BUDGET RANGE: 0-150

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming -- Modern games Ex: Skyrim, Most steam games at high quality, or at least smoothly

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: ATI Radeon HD 3200

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: 4gb Ram ( Being told only 1.9 is available.)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Any. County of Origin -- United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Reccomended card

OVERCLOCKING: Ermm...not sure!

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Would like to run most modern games at high quality. -- If that's not possible on this budget, please let me know.

I'd really appreciate any help with advice regarding purchasing a better graphics card for my PC, as I'm having a tough time running the games I'd like to.

I'm new to this, so please excuse any newbie errors, I did my best with reading the forums, but I'm still a bit confused.

Thanks!

More about : budget graphics card upgrade casual gaming

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My CPU is an AMD Phenom 9150e Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~1.8 GHz
Motherboard is Gateway RS780

Not entirely sure what the make/model of my power supply, and I'm not sure how to check it. I really appreciate the help, sorry if I'm a bit slow.
Graphics card Master

So the problem I see here is your processor.The 9150 is a bit weak for a quad core these days and it will bottleneck any of the high performance GPU's.You should still be able to run Valve games and Skyrim but please clarify what other "steam games" your going to play.

I'm guessing that since you've never had an discrete GPU that you have a generic 300watt or less PSU so that will need to be upgraded.To find out what PSU you have open your case and look at the PSU their should be a chart on it somewhere listing the info.

The best card you could get without causing a bottleneck would be a 6670.

MSI 6670 $100 + $7 Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Now the 6670 is on the lower end of power consumption because it doesn't need an additional PCI-E power connector but I would still reccomend upgrading your PSU.

Antec 500 watt $65 + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
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Thanks for the links, those both look like what I'm looking for. As far as the steam games I'm looking to play, I'd really like to be able to play most modern games without lag. I'm not asking to play them in the highest quality, just to be able to play them smoothly.
Graphics card Master

Well the 6670 should allow you to play most games somewhat smoothly wether it be on high or medium settings.But like I said before your CPU will hold you back.You might want to consider O.C.ing.That processor isn't that great at O.C.ing but any small amount that you can achieve will go a long way.

What's the model number of your gateway PC?

Are you using a 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows?

Probably won't be able to overclock a pc from gateway. The BIOS will be locked, and overclocking from the OS is dangerous and difficult. With that CPU, I would guess that a 5670 graphics card is the highest you can go without having to upgrade anything else. Maybe just a 5450.

It seems like I just have the wrong PC in general for gaming... If you were to reccomend a pre-built desktop PC, which would you reccomend on a...say 400-700$ budget? I know this is know off topic in this thread, but I don't think that I should post another one.
Graphics card Master

You should always build your own PC.It's a lot cheaper and it's a way to get to know everything and how it works.Nice hands on experience.

Do you think you can salvage your case and HDD?

Well the thing is do you want to conserve as much money as possible but still build a PC that can do moderate gaming or do you want to spend the full $700 and get the best you can buy?

Without knowing the games you want to play it's a little difficult to build a PC designed around your budget.

I suppose I could salvage the case and HDD. ( Don't know what I'm talking about )


Well the thing is do you want to conserve as much money as possible but still build a PC that can do moderate gaming or do you want to spend the full $700 and get the best you can buy?: Somewhere in the middle.

Alright, well some of the games i'd like to play are:
-Skyrim
-Guild Wars 2 Upon release
- Trine 2
- Minecraft
- Witcher 2
- Diablo 3

Best solution

Graphics card Master

Alright I guess I'll do it this way..

Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

GPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

So that's the list I was thinking of.Just add all the items to a cart to see the total.

BrianPCNoob said:
Ah... right. Is there any way to wipe my hard drive, aside from the OS?


Not in a reliable automated fashion. You'd pretty much be uninstalling all of your apps manually if you wanted to try to clean things up at the same time as the hardware upgrade.

Safest bet is usually to start w/ a fresh re-install of the OS and all your apps IMO, but that may not be an option if you've only got a recovery disc from Gateway. Other issue you might run into is reactivation of Windows when you change all the hardware w/ what is most likely an OEM OS license.
Graphics card Master

You can always install a version of Widows without entering the CD-Key(Illegally of course).The OS itself will work and will allow you to do what you need but you won't have any customization of backgrounds or styles.Their will also be an annoying ticker saying you need to enter your key.It still works though.
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