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Hardware upgrade opinions

Thecoolman5

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Hi, I am looking for a new graphics card or processor that would increase my computers speed mainly for games. I currently have an Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS with an Intel Core2 CPU, 1.87 GHz (clocked at 3.33 GHz). I have 4 gigabytes of ram and am running windows 7 64-bit. Any ideas?
 
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Too vague what games and how much money
 
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Actually, it is not vague. the coolman, your CPU will be a bottleneck IMO with anything a lot better. You may entertain a 7770 radeon but I would not push anything higher and at that, your CPU will probably stilll bottleneck with a 7770. Your probably best staying with what you have.
 
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Your going to run into a cost vs performance issue. Or upgrade vs new system. If you upgrade to a point that money would be better spent on a new system. That said a 5750, 6770, 7770 would help and you could move it to a better system later. Would give you low/Med graphics in newer games. Any more and your wasting money.

They do have PSU requirements also of a 6 pin and 450w


The good news is the 5770 is 10X the card the 8400gs is

$85 after rebate

XFX HD-677X-ZAF4 Radeon HD 6770 Video Card - Neweg...

HIS H775FS2G iCooler Radeon HD 7750 Video Card - N...
 
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[Ion]

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Actually, it is not vague. the coolman, your CPU will be a bottleneck IMO with anything a lot better. You may entertain a 7770 radeon but I would not push anything higher and at that, your CPU will probably stilll bottleneck with a 7770. Your probably best staying with what you have.

Not true. The 8400GS is basically the worst DirectX 10 card ever made. It has 8 shaders. Even something like a $35 8800GT would blow it away. A HD7770 would be heaven. Yes, with an i5 it would be faster, but still, a considerably faster GPU would be the single greatest thing he could do for that system (unless he's running on an old 3600RPM HDD)
 

Thecoolman5

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My video card is the problem

Considering what [ION] said, I have owned my video card for countless years now and it's starting to fall apart. I found a good video card that was somewhat in my price range about a month ago. I don't really care about high quality graphics. When I get a new game, the main thing I want is for the game to run without lag. I got Need for Speed The Run 2 years ago for Christmas and my computer can't run it without lagging. However, got TestDrive Unlimited 2 for Christmas last year. Test Drive Unlimited 2 runs without serious lag when the quality is at its lowest. However, Need for Speed The Run plays with more lag than I can handle with the quality at it's lowest. The games both require about the same video cards and processors. :confused:
 

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Considering what [ION] said, I have owned my video card for countless years now and it's starting to fall apart. I found a good video card that was somewhat in my price range about a month ago. I don't really care about high quality graphics. When I get a new game, the main thing I want is for the game to run without lag. I got Need for Speed The Run 2 years ago for Christmas and my computer can't run it without lagging. However, got TestDrive Unlimited 2 for Christmas last year. Test Drive Unlimited 2 runs without serious lag when the quality is at its lowest. However, Need for Speed The Run plays with more lag than I can handle with the quality at it's lowest. The games both require about the same video cards and processors. :confused:

How much do you have to spend on an upgrade? And what are your other system specifications?
 

Thecoolman5

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How much do you have to spend on an upgrade? And what are your other system specifications?
I'm not really worried about money right now. The most money I am willing to save up and spend is propably 200 dollars. I have about 130 Gigs of hard drive space left. My computer is low profile. And I have a 2 terabyte WD external hard drive. One other thing, I don't really care how fast the game starts up. As long as the game actually starts and runs without lag, I'm perfectly fine.
 
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I'm not really worried about money right now. The most money I am willing to save up and spend is propably 200 dollars. I have about 130 Gigs of hard drive space left. My computer is low profile. And I have a 2 terabyte WD external hard drive. One other thing, I don't really care how fast the game starts up. As long as the game actually starts and runs without lag, I'm perfectly fine.

A couple a things.
1. You need to go to your User CP and fill in your system specs.
2. What games are you intending to play with it? Some are more CPU dependent than VGA.
3. Take a look in your case and do some measuring. Since you mentioned " My computer is low profile." Make sure how much room you have for a card. Some cannot take a long card and some are limited to a single slot card.
 
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What's your motherboard model? I assume you have a Core 2 Duo E6300, right? If you board doesn't support FSB1333 CPUs then get an used Q6600 or Q6700 and overclock it as much as you can. On a good day you can get a Q6600 for 80 on ebay. Take in mind that a Core 2 Duo heatsink won't be enough for a Quad but since you OCed it to 3.3Ghz I'd guess you have an aftermarket heatsink already.
 
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What's your motherboard model? I assume you have a Core 2 Duo E6300, right? If you board doesn't support FSB1333 CPUs then get an used Q6600 or Q6700 and overclock it as much as you can. On a good day you can get a Q6600 for 80 on ebay. Take in mind that a Core 2 Duo heatsink won't be enough for a Quad but since you OCed it to 3.3Ghz I'd guess you have an aftermarket heatsink already.

One of those would be perfect and would allow the games listed to be run lag free with some settings adjustments.
 
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He needs a low profile card

It would have been nice if he mentioned this in the beginnig as well as all his specs including the PSU make and model

Then the best card he can get is a low profile gddr5 7750, too bad that 650ti is so much better for the money.
 
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im sure there was a low profile 8800gt made you might find one on ebay.
 
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Just looked at eBay and it seems that the lower average price for the Q6600 is about $65 nowadays. Just make sure to get a SLACR core, those overclock better. The Q6700 is sitting around $85 if that interests you.

Don't forget to check if your PSU can power them.
 
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I could have bought a Intel Core2 Extreme Q6800 for $60 last week. I passed on it
 

Thecoolman5

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Ok. Well, I did a video card speed comparison online with my 8400gs and the 8800GT. The 8800 is amazingly faster. I appreciate all of your help with my slow system. I'll look up all of these video cards you guys recommended and eventually buy one. I don't think I'll worry about my CPU right now. I am pretty sure that my CPU isn't the main reason my computer is slow with some games. Anyways, thanks for the help!
 
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If you're running >2 year old games then I guess you're fine with your C2D. Still if you see a Quad for cheap you might want to snatch one up although I don't know if racing games benefit much from a Quad.

Enjoy your card :toast:
 

Thecoolman5

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Yeah, if I ever find a cheap motherboard with quad processors, ill think about buying it. I mainly prefer to play racing games but I currently own CoD MW2 and World of Tanks. Those run without serious lag. But they both have problems with the in-game vegetation.
 
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I have a pile of those 8400gs cards from computers I have upgraded for people that thought they were buying a gaming machine because the graphics card has 1gb turbo cache memory not realising it only had 256mb and is the slowest dx10 card in existence.

If you are upgrading to a full size case the best used cards for the cash are either a 8800gt or HD4850 512mb cards you will usually get them on eBay for under £35 and can still play any modern game with medium/high settings

Just make sure you don't get one of
The 8800gt Eco cards I have seen them neutered with a 128bit memory interface instead of 256bit and slow ddr2 instead of GDDR3 it ends up performing slower than a 9600gt
 
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Thecoolman5

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I am now deciding to buy the Nvidia GeForce GT 430 because its in my price range and its better than the one I currently have. Opinions?
 
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