Graphics Card bottleneck question

[shin1990]

Hi Im new to tomshareware and sorry if i post this in the wrong section. I just have one question about upgrading a graphics card. I currently have a Hp pavilion p7-1003 and the integrated graphic card is ATI Radeon 4200. My CPU is AMD athlon II X4 650 3.2ghz. I was wonder if the gtx 550i is capable without the cpu being a bottleneck? or is it not enough to get the full potential of the gtx. is there a graphic card enough for this cpu without being a bottleneck? any suggestion would great!. or can i actually upgrade the cpu? cause i bought this comp pre built.

 

[kajabla]

I think a 550 Ti would be fine. +1 above. Make sure that your motherboard and PSU can support it, though. What are the models of those?

 

[ilysaml]

The CPU Cache will hold you back in some particular games, that's the major differences between Ahtlon II CPUs and Phenom IIs

 

[shin1990]

how can you check your motherboard models? my power supply is 250w, i know i have to get a better power supply...the games il be playing is like sims 3, dead island and mostly online games. no bf3 or cod..

 

[kajabla]

Yeah, get a Corsair Builder 430W. They're very cheap and quite reliable. The motherboard's model should be printed somewhere on it in lettering slightly more noticeable than the part names.