GPU upgrade suggestions?

[zoodles]

Hello everyone

I have a NVIDIA geforce 9500 gs, which is my reason for wanting to upgrade. It's fan is noisy and I know it's not powerful. I use my PC mostly for gaming which is the context of this question.

What are some upgrades I should consider?

I've researched quite a bit but I still don't know what upgrades are worthless or overkill. Specifically, I'm looking for a powerful card that will last me a few years. Here are my specs:

(System model: KT378AA a6552f)
(System manufacturer: HP-Pavilion)
IC2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
4GB DDR2 800 MHz
300W PSU
geforce 9500 gs @ 1680x1050

This might be more useful: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01492749&tmp_track_link=ot_faqs/top_issues/en_us/c01492749/loc:3&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=3752864#N1316

Because of my research I understand that my PSU is low, any suggestions for upgrading it as well would be nice. I don't really have a price range, but I'm curious about low-end to high-end products and the differences. If you know of any great values please let me know!

I'm more so interested to see educated perspective on these issues as opposed to just being told what card would work for me. But I'll take either option!

 

[dudewitbow]

if you want to play at 1680x1050 resolution, you only need a mid range card between 100-200 at most. a common choice in this would be the Radeon HD 6850, which prices at ~135-150. Though it will require a new power supply.

 

[zoodles]

What kind of graphic performance would that card, and the rest of my specs, give me on games like sw:tor, company of heroes, crysis?

Also, are there any requirements to upgrading my power supply? Things to consider?

 

[dudewitbow]

Set up so that it lists crysis on 1680x1050 through the series of cards.

as for power supply, things to consider are reviews, but if you have a general price range, you can find a psu. the lowest you can spend on a decent quality one would be ~45ish$ for a low wattage model that would work.

 

[zoodles]

Thanks for the informative answers you've given me.

I'm comparing some cards with the URL you provided, but now I'm left wondering what processes a game uses. The benchmark says the 6850 will get 45.7 fps with Crysis Warhead @ 1680x1050 but is the rest of my computer not a factor?

My computer has to be more involved in gaming than just the GPU, right?

I compared my CPU and it said Crysis Warhead @1680x1050 gets 69.8 fps. Is this because Crysis is designed to run on a quad core, to split the tasks, so I can get a max fps of 69.8?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions.

 

[dudewitbow]

the cpu will play apart into a bit a bit, the the gpu will be the larger factor.

 

[zoodles]

Best answer selected by zoodles.

 

[zoodles]

Thanks for answering my questions! Best answer to you for timely response.

Last question, is my 9500 gs the reason I can't run games very well these days? Or is my whole computer needing an upgrade?

I'm considering upgrading this computer or building a new one.

 

[dudewitbow]

the core 2 quad is okay. if possible a new build may be nice, but it probably wouldn't be 100% required on the resolution you are playing at. but its more or less depending on your budget. it would be more beneficial to start a new build, as fiding upgrades to a ic2quad would be way to expensive.

 

[zoodles]

I will keep that in mind. I'm going to do more research and figure out some price comparisons. Thanks for your help, and have a nice day.

I might just buy that 6850 and upgrade my power supply in the mean time. This 9500 gs is so lame.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey