Need a better graphics card (Help) (repost)

What PSU do you have? Is it a good brand?

Your CPU is sufficiently old that even a HD6670 might show some bottlenecking unless the resolution and settings were higher than you might normally use with that card. Fortunately, it should run even on a fairly minimal PSU, since it doesn't need auxiliary power. Anything more powerful, and we will definitely need to know more about your PSU (brand and model, not just wattage, or detailed information from its label).
If your PSU is particularly weak however, like 250W, then a HD5570 is the strongest card you should get.
A $200 budget will allow you to replace your video card with a HD6770 or maybe even a HD6850, AND get a new high quality 430W-500W PSU to power your system if needed.

You need to switch the processor and graphics card

best thing i found for you

Video Card ($179.99)
SAPPHIRE HD 6870 1GB

Processor ($188.99)
Intel Core i5-2400 (you may need to change the MOBO to support this CPU)

source:
http://www.squidoo.com/best-gaming-computers-2012

^Please ignore that utterly irrelevant, mindless post.
Wanting a better graphics card (with a $100-$200 budget) does not in any way translate into building an entirely new system, which is what replacing the CPU, mobo, and RAM amounts to; and arbitrarily putting a HD6870 (which needs a pair of PCIE power connectors) into a system with an unknown PSU is asking for a brief light show and likely the death of the whole system.

hi there posting my specs again seeing if yall can help me out a bit with getting a pretty decent graphics card maybe $100-200 (if possible) just let me know with some links and everything. i also do not know how to check what kind of power i have in my computer. do i have to open it up manually or will CPU z show it? thanks you again and here are my specs.

CPU: intel pentium D 946
core voltage 1.247 V
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.40GHz
core speed: 2400.1 MHz
multiplier x12.0
bus speed 200.0 MHz
Rated FBS 800 MHz

MainBoard: model : OEMD975XLAG1 AAD50908-200
chipset: intel i975x

memory: dual channel 4x 2gb memory stick total 8gb

graphics card (right now) : Nvidea GeForce 8400gs 1024 mb
clock:
core 135 MHz
shader 1402 MHz
memory 333 MHz

PSU model DPS-400RB A
it says on lable PSU has 400w max setting.

im basically trying to play SWTOR at pretty high settings and looking forward to getting a 32" monitor/tv. just wondering what i can get for a good price range and one that will do all the needs i want.

thank you again hopefully that will help out a lot more.

You may need to upgrade the rest of your system in order to run SWTOR at high settings.

okay....what is a better alternative than upgrading the whole system? hah

Most MMO's require more processing power from the CPU and less from the GPU. The card you have now may actually run the game just fine if you had a more up to date processor.

does it cost more to update processor? any one know a good price range and links to good processor

If you are really serious about upgrading to play SWTOR, start a new thread in the builds section stating what you want to use the computer for and your budget.

The power supply that you have is 400w and you will most likely have to upgrade that along with the motherboard and the cpu and video card. Everything is going to depend on your budget amount so dig deep and see what you can come up with.

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey

Need a better graphics card (Help)

While I agree, I don't think its going to be any improvement if he decides not to upgrade his single core proc... i mean, the max I would buy without upgrading that is a 5670/5570

I agree, but a Pentium D? If the OP is serious about playing SWTOR, something more than an old Pentium D may be necessary.

I do believe that you have to ask yourself the question of what do you want to do? Do you want to put a bandaid on your computer and try to get a video card that will work on your Pc. You may very well be able to do that and find a video card that will work but then what kind of performance are you going to get and what settings are you going to be able to use and what resolutions will you be able to run the game smoothly at. The whole purpose of getting the new video card is to enjoy playing the game or games you want. With an older system you will have to make comprimises and the one thing you don't want to do is waste money by buying parts and not being able to use them or buying parts and not being satisfied with the results. If you want to stick with just buying the video card then you have to look for one that will work with a 400w psu and not require an additional power connector.

GIGABYTE GV-N26UD-896M GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

For starters you can for under $200 upgrade both the power supply and the video card and this will give you the option of later on upgrading the other parts as you see fit.

Is that a single core? Minimum requirements for CPU is a 2.0 dual core (for SWTOR). So if it is a single core it won't run it that well I think.

And out of experience, your motherboard has PCIE v1.x and newer cards with PCIE v2.1 will most likely not work. AMD's 6000 series cards are 2.1.

awesome thank to everyone yay i think i wanna probably upgrade the PSU and the video card and go from there. sounds like a good option...

everyone else think that is a good way to go about it?

I say go for it then. You don't have enough to upgrade the rest of your computer at the moment and adding these two components will give you the best boost for your dollar. Keep in mind though that your CPU and RAM are holding you back, pretty badly too.