What are some things to look out for when changing graphics card?

[Verthingale]

Hi, i am quite new to building PC's and looking out for hardware but i am planning to change my graphics card soon. I have a tight budget and i am not looking for a huge investment in graphic cards such as GTX 980's or titans. I am looking to buy a graphics card around 100-150 dollars. However is changing graphics card only as simple as buying it? What are some factors to look out for when changing my graphics card. Can i be sure that after i install my new graphics card my computer will run better and carry stronger graphics.

My current PC build is-
8 gigabyte RAM
64bit windows 10 OS
Intel core i5-4460@ 3.2GHz
Intel HD graphics 4600

I am looking to play games such as the witcher 3 in maybe medium-high graphics with at least decent FPS. Any suggestion to a cheap and good graphics card will be appreciated. Also do i need to look out for greater details such as power supply and motherboards in my PC when upgrading? Thanks in advance

 

[Gooobee]

Hello, I'd need to know your motherboard and power supply in order to help you further on which graphics card you can get to replace your current one.

 

[flarenial]

Power supply is a very big part of upgrading a graphics card. Some will have a low recommended power supply, some will have a very high recommended power supply. If you want to play Witcher 3 with medium settings at decent fps, you will probably spend no less than 100$ usd on the graphics card alone

Other than that, something else to look out for is if the graphics cards will require additional power connectors, what kind (6 or 8 pin) and how many

 

[dontlistentome]

Upgrading a videocard can be very simple. You install the card into the pci-express slot, then reboot. Install the drivers and you're done. That's best case scenario. If you install a videocard that does not require a power connector, this is how it goes. if you choose a card that requires a 6 or 8 pin pci-express connector, then you must also plug that into the card.

In your budget range a 1050 or 1050 Ti would be good choices. They either require no connector(1050) or come in models that require no connector(1050 Ti). You could run and enjoy Witcher 3 fairly well.

 

[Verthingale]

Hello, I'd need to know your motherboard and power supply in order to help you further on which graphics card you can get to replace your current one.

Thanks for replying, my motherboard is manufactured by gigabyte and its model number is H81M-S2PH (SOCKET 0)
my power supply is 380W.

 

[Verthingale]

Power supply is a very big part of upgrading a graphics card. Some will have a low recommended power supply, some will have a very high recommended power supply. If you want to play Witcher 3 with medium settings at decent fps, you will probably spend no less than 100$ usd on the graphics card alone

Other than that, something else to look out for is if the graphics cards will require additional power connectors, what kind (6 or 8 pin) and how many

Thanks for replying, i was going to get sapphire RX460 for the VGA however i will also consider some of the other VGA's that have been recommended by the others. (1050 ti).

 

[Verthingale]

Upgrading a videocard can be very simple. You install the card into the pci-express slot, then reboot. Install the drivers and you're done. That's best case scenario. If you install a videocard that does not require a power connector, this is how it goes. if you choose a card that requires a 6 or 8 pin pci-express connector, then you must also plug that into the card.

In your budget range a 1050 or 1050 Ti would be good choices. They either require no connector(1050) or come in models that require no connector(1050 Ti). You could run and enjoy Witcher 3 fairly well.

Thanks for replying, i was thinking of getting a sapphire RX460 for the VGA however i will look into your recommended choices. Also, should i get a VGA with vram or is it not necessary?