Upgrade to Graphics Card on Computer - £200 Max

[alowishus]

Approximate Purchase Date: Next week or so.

Budget Range: £200 max

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Movies, Report Writing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Graphics Card - Current = Nvidia Geforce GT230

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I'm not sure what is best - whatever has the best reputation or prices

Location: City, State/Region, Country - United Kingdom

Parts Preferences: Nvidia

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1280x1024

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Problems with card in running newer games.

Additional Comments: Just to explain why i am posting. My computer at the moment i feel is okay (runs newer games on recommended specs) apart from graphics which in some cases is minimum. However i don't know what graphics card is best and since i only want to upgrade my card i am not sure if it would be compatible with the components i already have.

I am currently using Geforce GT230

My other system specs are:
Intel Core i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20Ghz
6GB DDR3

I'm not sure about motherboard info etc.
http://uk.insight.com/en-gb/productinfo/desktops/HPWE166A00

That is basically all the specs above in that link. I'm not sure what else is needed. Assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[zared619]

I would go for the 7870 GHz edition if you can afford it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681

If not get the 7850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127688

If you really want Nvidia get the 660.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

 

[TheBigTroll]

I would go for the 7870 GHz edition if you can afford it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127681

If not get the 7850.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127688

If you really want Nvidia get the 660.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127699

Uk bro

 

[TheBigTroll]

its amd but amd offers much better price to performance ratio at the moment
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007LBIGKC/?tag=pcp0f-21

 

[zared619]

Uk bro

I realized that. I'm not from the UK, nor do I know any sites for tech stuff in the UK. I put the links as a reference to what I was referring him to.

 

[TheBigTroll]

im not from the uk either. but if you want to help the OP out a little more, you can just go to pcpartpicker and they will list the price for that component at that country

 

[zared619]

im not from the uk either. but if you want to help the OP out a little more, you can just go to pcpartpicker and they will list the price for that component at that country

Didn't know that. Thank you!

 

[TheBigTroll]

no problem

 

[alowishus]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Though another issue has came up with regards to this. Recently i've started to notice that my current GPUs temperature is ridiculously high. It's about 70C on idle and up to 90C in some cases while gaming.

If i get a new card such as the ones suggested will that help solve the problem or will there be new problems with the new card. I removed the dust earlier and the temperature hasn't really seemed to drop so i am wondering if it's a problem with the fan.

 

[zared619]

90 C while gaming is pretty hot, but its still below the max temp for most cards. If it didn't run hot before, and you haven't made any changes (overclocked it, removed a case fan, a case fan stopped working, or even if you increased visual settings on applications) then it is probably an issue with the card.
Can you hear your fan on you GPU running. At 90 C it should be pretty much at 100%, which would allow you to hear it.
If not, then try setting your fan speed with an application called Speed Fan. If that doesn't fix the issue then a new GPU or GPU cooler atleast is in order.

 

[alowishus]

90 C while gaming is pretty hot, but its still below the max temp for most cards. If it didn't run hot before, and you haven't made any changes (overclocked it, removed a case fan, a case fan stopped working, or even if you increased visual settings on applications) then it is probably an issue with the card.
Can you hear your fan on you GPU running. At 90 C it should be pretty much at 100%, which would allow you to hear it.
If not, then try setting your fan speed with an application called Speed Fan. If that doesn't fix the issue then a new GPU or GPU cooler atleast is in order.

I've just decided that i will get a new card. I appreciate the suggestions for the cards above but i'm afraid my budget is not what i was thinking it was going to be. It's substantially less.

I was looking at this card:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Radeon-HD7770-Graphics-GDDR5/dp/B00761YFGQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349113180&sr=1-1

I don't know if it is compatible or not though.

 

[zared619]

If you were looking at possibly getting a 7850, the 7770 is definitely compatible. At that price, they are about as good as you can get.

 

[alowishus]

Cool, thanks. My only other real concern is that is there enough power to use the card. I looked at this:

http://www.hwcompare.com/11944/geforce-gt-230-vs-radeon-hd-7770/

It seems to be that the 7770 uses more power than my current 230 so will i be able to run it?

 

[alowishus]

It states that it requires 450 watts but my psu is only 300.

 

[zared619]

It states that it requires 450 watts but my psu is only 300.

They always put their requirements a little on the high side. I would venture a guess to say that the 300 watt psu may be large enough, but it may not have a 6 pin power connector. Does your gt 230 have a power connector, I'm not familiar with that card?

 

[zared619]

From the looks of it, your system with a 7770, 1 hdd, 1 optical drive, 6GB of RAM, and an i5 2300 should be around 260 watts. I am not a psu expert, and I don't know how close you should cut it. However unless you have a high efficiency psu, I believe an upgrade is in order.

 

[alowishus]

I may avoid the risk and just go with something like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-GeForce-Graphics-Express-Dust-Proof/dp/B0084LE1XY/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1349132905&sr=1-1

 

[zared619]

Depending on how much you have to spend, the 7770 would definitely game better. If you have the cash get the 7770 and this.
http://www.cclonline.com/product/86909/CMPSU-430CXV2UK/Power-Supplies/Corsair-CX430-Builder-Series-430-Watt-ATX-PS/2-Power-Supply-Unit/PSU0385/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-q7W5WcIcToOphWzO.0jVOA

 

[alowishus]

Would i be better going with a 500w one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMPSU-500CXV2UK-Builder-Series-CX500V2/dp/tech-data/B005851O16/ref=de_a_smtd

It's literally only £10 more than the 430.

Also sorry for all the questions i only know very little about the compatibility aspect but if i got both this psu and this card it would work with my other components i already have?:

Iona Motherboard
https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c02014355&lc=en&product=4262655

i5 650
http://ark.intel.com/products/43546/Intel-Core-i5-650-Processor-%284M-Cache-3_20-GHz%29

Thanks.

 

[zared619]

Would i be better going with a 500w one?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMPSU-500CXV2UK-Builder-Series-CX500V2/dp/tech-data/B005851O16/ref=de_a_smtd

It's literally only £10 more than the 430.

Also sorry for all the questions i only know very little about the compatibility aspect but if i got both this psu and this card it would work with my other components i already have?:

Iona Motherboard
https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&dlc=en&docname=c02014355&lc=en&product=4262655

i5 650
http://ark.intel.com/products/43546/Intel-Core-i5-650-Processor-%284M-Cache-3_20-GHz%29

Thanks.

Don't apologize, I enjoy helping people out. You should try to actively seek information to grow your knowledge, and there are plenty of people that are more than willing to help!
To answer your question, the 500 watt won't get you anywhere farther than the 430 watt except for more power draw on your bill. Being that you only have one pci express slot for a graphics card, you can't SLI, and you could go as high as a 670 or a 680 before you need more power. The 430 is an excellent PSU, and it is made for people in your exact situation.

 

[alowishus]

Hi,

Sorry for bumping this thread but i just want to say thanks.

I got the 7770 and a new PSU (i went for the 500w anyway) and it's working great. Helped the solve the temperature problems (70c on idle to about 25-30c) as well as a graphical upgrade.

Thanks again for the recommendations and help.

Alowishus.

 

[zared619]

Hi,

Sorry for bumping this thread but i just want to say thanks.

I got the 7770 and a new PSU (i went for the 500w anyway) and it's working great. Helped the solve the temperature problems (70c on idle to about 25-30c) as well as a graphical upgrade.

Thanks again for the recommendations and help.

Alowishus.

That's great. I'm glad I was able to help you out.

 

[alowishus]

Okay i'm back, haha!

Everything was installed like i mentioned in the previous post but i usually use headphones at my computer so i didn't really notice this until earlier.

I think it's the psu but the computer is sometimes really quiet but then it starts to get noisier. What makes the problem strange is if i touch the case then the noise stops.

I sounds to me like it may be an electrical problem but it literally is totally silent otherwise and there are no other problems until this starts up.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5ztYHmsmJ0

I made a video to illustrate this better. Sorry i don't know if you can embed.

I don't even know if this is a problem. I mean it doesn't really bother me if the psu just has to work harder and stuff and therefore it just has to be noisier for a period i'm only concerned if there is a fault. I wouldn't know about fitting as i got someone else to fit it for me but they said there was no problems but it does seem unusual to me if i touch the case and it suddenly stops.

Thanks.