Graphics Card - Upgrade

Sonneta

Hi,

I have a computer here which my sibling has had for the past 2 years, it's pretty low-end and cannot play much games without having to lower the settings, and that's definitely unnecessary, especially when those games are low-end as well.

Anyway, I decided to buy him a new graphics card as a gift. I don't have enough money for a new computer, but I may have enough money for a new graphics card online, if one is out there. Right now, I'm really unsure if any 'new' graphics card put into this machine, will even be accepted. My sibling wants it to at least run 'GTA Sanandreas Multiplayer' with about 45-60fps stable. I'll give you the main info on the machine;

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System Information

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Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
Service Pack: 1
System Manufacturer: Packard Bell BV
System Model: ISTART 1379(UK)
BIOS: American Megatrends
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) D CPU 3.46GHz, ~3.5GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 1792MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

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Display Devices

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Card name: ATI RADEON XPRESS 200(x1100) Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Xpress Series (x1100)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 895 MB
Dedicated Memory: 255 MB
Shared Memory: 639 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)

braddun

power supply might not take graphics card


225W | 372W | 9.6W | 12.5W |
Combined Max Output: 450W

Sonneta

braddun wrote: »

power supply might not take graphics card


225W | 372W | 9.6W | 12.5W |
Combined Max Output: 450W

it says here the AC input is 220-240voltage?

Gumbi

Sonneta wrote: »

it says here the AC input is 220-240voltage?

Which is the voltage supplied by all standard plugs in the country. .. He's talking about power (wattage) provided by the PSU. Actually 450watts is enough for a single card nVidia system but I doubt your PSU is actually a decebt 450w unit.

thierry14

Gumbi wrote: »

Which is the voltage supplied by all standard plugs in the country. .. He's talking about power (wattage) provided by the PSU. Actually 450watts is enough for a single card nVidia system but I doubt your PSU is actually a decebt 450w unit.

750ti should work fine on this pc and a great card too.

Load of dell users with 300watt psu are using this card.

Gumbi

thierry14 wrote: »

750ti should work fine on this pc and a great card too.

Load of dell users with 300watt psu are using this card.

Would be grand for sure abd a nice upgrade. Wonder if droppinf a few euro on another 2gig of RAM be worth it too? I think it would tbh.

Sonneta

I opened up the case and i'll take down everything that seemed important on the PSU, not sure what order to go in though. By the way I appreciate the responses, thank you.



ATX Switching Power Supply
Ace (atx12 - v1.4/2.03 compatible)
Model: A500BR
VAC Max DC Output: 500w
VAC Input - Volt = 230w
Current = 5A
Frequency - 50-60Hz

thierry14

Gumbi wrote: »

Would be grand for sure abd a nice upgrade. Wonder if droppinf a few euro on another 2gig of RAM be worth it too? I think it would tbh.

Yeah I think an extra 2 or 4 gig of ram is the way to go as well.

Maybe drop the 750ti to 750gtx and spend the savings on ram.

It's a pity the CPU is too old to get the best out of those cards.

Sonneta

By the way, I only wish to play at least low end games, but given multiplayer is more demanding when it comes to objects and lots of in-game players, then i'll need at least a decent card for that. My price range is between 30-50eu.

tadcan

The 750ti is currently on sale for £103 on Amazon.co.uk vs €151 on hardwarsvand. As for ram Kingston and Crucial have programs that can scan your PC and give a list of all there compatible stock. It would probably be cheaper to check the results against eBay as old ram doesn't seem to go down in price.

Sonneta

Would ebay be a trusted site to purchase graphics cards online?

By the way, the graphics card I'm after requires 300watt PSU.

Is this compatible?

ATX Switching Power Supply
Ace (atx12 - v1.4/2.03 compatible)
Model: A500BR
VAC Max DC Output: 500w
VAC Input - Volt = 230w
Current = 5A
Frequency - 50-60Hz

Sonneta

Would ebay be a trusted site to purchase graphics cards online?

By the way, the graphics card I'm after requires 300watt PSU.

Is this compatible?

ATX Switching Power Supply
Ace (atx12 - v1.4/2.03 compatible)
Model: A500BR
VAC Max DC Output: 500w
VAC Input - Volt = 230v
Current = 5A
Frequency - 50-60Hz

game4it70

I wouldn't use ebay for a gpu.It would be easier to rma it if any problems arise with a bigger e-tailer.

As for that psu its cheap and nasty,you need to replace it if using a 300watt gpu.
Look at the Amazon reviews to give yourself an idea how bad it is.

Gumbi

Well the 750ti will probably be fine for that PSU regardless of how ****ty it is. But honestly the OP just wants to spend 50 quid on it so the best thing to do is get a cheapo GPU second hand from Adverts IMO and call it a day. 2GB RAM is not a lot either and might cause some issues in some games.

Gumbi

Something like would be grand. http://www.adverts.ie/graphics-cards/sapphire-r7-240-1gb-oc/6942820

TerrorFirmer

Don't bother.

You could put a €1000 GPU in there and games would still run like garbage because the processor is way, way too old. Even in 2007 that would have been ultra low end and struggled in most games.

Buy a 'new' PC. You can get Core 2 Duo machines for €80 these days with E8400 processors, 4GB ram, etc pre-owned. If you were to add a €50 graphics card to something like this, you would be in business alright.

The machine you have now though is a waste of time. You would be flushing money down the toilet putting a card in there unless you got an old €10 8600GT, HD6450, or something like that. Talk of putting a €100 GTX750Ti into this machine is absolute madness!

Gumbi

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Don't bother.

You could put a €1000 GPU in there and games would still run like garbage because the processor is way, way too old. Even in 2007 that would have been ultra low end and struggled in most games.

Buy a 'new' PC. You can get Core 2 Duo machines for €80 these days with E8400 processors, 4GB ram, etc pre-owned. If you were to add a €50 graphics card to something like this, you would be in business alright.

The machine you have now though is a waste of time. You would be flushing money down the toilet putting a card in there unless you got an old €10 8600GT, HD6450, or something like that. Talk of putting a €100 GTX750Ti into this machine is absolute madness!

I agree. I didnt realiss the CPU was so old!