Needing some help/suggestions on upgrading my g-card

[jdragon1783]

Heya guys, I'm kinda new here(I say kinda because when I usually google things pc related I get directed here 9 times outta 10 lol) but I figured I would sign up and start asking questions. Well obviously its about my graphics card. I want to upgrade to be able to play some games with no problems ( mostly FPS like Black ops). Now here are my specs

Asus CM5570 small form desktop pc.

Asus P5QL-VM EPU motherboard (heres a link to the asus site for more info) http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5QLVM_EPU/#specifications

I have a 120GB hard drive running Windows 7 ultimate and a 750GB HD holding all my pix, vids, etc.

Currently I have 4gb DDR2 SDRAM ( i have a few questions about that as well) I just recently noticed I had a faulty ram card, it was 6gb. (Love memtest86)

Intel Pentium E5300 / 2.6 GHz Dual Core

I think that may be all you need for info, if not I can get whatever needed. Well I asked the first question already about upgrading the g-card. I can't find any info on what card I can use with this set up.

Now on to the RAM. From what I have read about the MOBO I have, I can use Dual Channel RAM, the cards in now are single channel. Is their really a big difference between dual channel and single channel?? (I'm going to assume yes, but some explanation would be awesome)

As for a monitor, i'm using my tv via HDMI ( LG 55inch my girlfriend hates it lol but not me )

Any and all help, suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated. I know quite a bit about pc's but the inner workings and what not and what I can use, can't use is kinda new to me.
Thanks

 

[Sunius]

You never mentioned your budget.

RAM runs in dual channel mode as long as you followed your motherboard manual and inserted them to proper slots. Dual Channel RAM have advantages - it doesn't double the speed, but increases it quite a bit.

 

[popatim]

As for GPU, you are usually limited to half height cards in small form factor (SFF) cases which really limits your options. And then theres the power supply issue. SFF cases usually use small, and often non- standard sized PSU's leaving you with a further dilema of how to power a GPU.

You really have only a few options as there are not many half height gaming GPU's
1: run a low end GPU that doesn't need extra power from the PSU, something like the 7750.
2: buy a new , bigger case and power supply to support a nomal sized GPU and move your current pc's internals over to the new case - then get a GPU that meets the performance level you desire. The better the performance of the GPU the more it will cost and a quality 500W PSU will run almost any single GPU made. Something like the GTX690 is really two gpu's in one and you wouldnt be able to run that.

 

[jdragon1783]

Well the RAM is the reason I picked up the PC. A friend of mine who doesn't know a thing about computers. It was acting up, BSOD's mostly so she just up and bought a new one and gave me this one (free ). Found out it was a faulty RAM card. So I was tinkering and am just wondering what I can do with it really.

Budget is a bit on the slim side until after the holidays.

 

[jdragon1783]

As for GPU, you are usually limited to half height cards in small form factor (SFF) cases which really limits your options. And then theres the power supply issue. SFF cases usually use small, and often non- standard sized PSU's leaving you with a further dilema of how to power a GPU.

You really have only a few options as there are not many half height gaming GPU's
1: run a low end GPU that doesn't need extra power from the PSU, something like the 7750.
2: buy a new , bigger case and power supply to support a nomal sized GPU and move your current pc's internals over to the new case - then get a GPU that meets the performance level you desire. The better the performance of the GPU the more it will cost and a quality 500W PSU will run almost any single GPU made. Something like the GTX690 is really two gpu's in one and you wouldnt be able to run that.

It says its a SFF but its got quite a bit of room. Let me see if i can snag a picture of it, that may help.

 

[jdragon1783]

 

[jdragon1783]

anyone?

 

[Sunius]

I asked for budget in numbers... How much is slim? $100? $200? $300?

 

[jdragon1783]

I asked for budget in numbers... How much is slim? $100? $200? $300?

$200

 

[Sunius]

Could you measure width of your PC case? We can only see height and length from the picture.

That being said, if your PC is big enough, for that price your best bet would be something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($35.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $215.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-04 01:08 EST-0500)


The card wouldn't be able to show its full potential on some games, because of your slow CPU, but it will last you long and when you decide to upgrade your CPU in 2 years, you'll already have a decent graphics card so you don't need to upgrade that again.

Make sure to tell us the width of your PC first, before going ahead and buying it. We wouldn't want it not to fit .