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Author Topic: Upgrading my PC graphics card  (Read 892 times)

Offline Vivitrix

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Upgrading my PC graphics card
« on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 16:48:28 »
Hey,

I'm looking to upgrade my Whole PC

I'm not entirely sure what I need to know in order to get the correct upgrade really.

My PC is an Dell Inspiron 530, which I think is 240 watts.
The graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro, the processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz.
« Last Edit: Monday, 07 Nov 2011, 15:31:40 by Vivitrix »
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Offline Alaïs

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #1 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 16:52:07 »
well, what's your budget?
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Offline Vivitrix

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #2 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 16:59:20 »
A credit card =P!!!

No, lol, I dont want to spend like £500, but if its worthwhile to spend say, an extra £100 in order to at least get some longevity out of it I don't mind that.

So, lets say £150, however if it looks like spending a bit more is worth it im not entirely against it.
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Offline Skraa

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #3 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 17:06:57 »
It's not quite as straightforward as you think. In WoW, especially in 25-man raids most of the lag comes from low end processor, while in other games it's the graphics card.

In your case it's very old graphics card and bit low end processor. Both could really use replacing eventually. Preferably sooner than later.
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Offline Vivitrix

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #4 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 17:24:40 »
Ok, is there any restrictions on what I can upgrade to?
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Offline Mansen

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #5 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 17:38:06 »
Considering how "old" your Dell Inspiron machine is, I wouldn't advice upgrading the Graphics card until your have switched out the Motherboard, CPU and RAM. (All at once I'm afraid)


It just wouldn't be enough of a noticeable upgrade compared to saving up for the other upgrade - at least for WoW. And there's also the fact that your case is Dell - not sure how easy those are to "replace" motherboard wise, so you might be looking at a new case as well. :(


Made a quick shopping list that is the current "gaming" midend machine, minus a graphics card, new power supply and a new case. :(

MSI P67A-C45 Intel P6 (87.98)
Intel 2500K (173.99)
Corsair Vengeance 6GB 1600Mhz (59.99) (Illa fails at looking up hardware in a hurry)

That's a total of about £320 - just to give you an estimate.
« Last Edit: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:24:34 by Mansen »
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Offline Vivitrix

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #6 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 17:52:03 »
So, its probably more economical to just buy a new machine...hmm
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Offline Gwannatar

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #7 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:05:56 »
apparently you need a good psu first mate, before you upgrade anything else. 240w is just too low for any upgrade that could be worth it.

think about it:

small upgrade -> barely noticeable or no improvement -> money for nothing.

big upgrade -> still little improvement since the overall machine is still too old -> high risk for your psu -> high possibility to lose big money in the future.

do not waste your money, i suggest saving it for better use. yes, you may be tired of the low performance, but you dont want to burn your mobo along with your old psu just because it couldn't handle the power that your upgrades require.

a cheap upgrade that doesnt consider your psu capacity will cost you more, sooner or later.

besides, only a gfx card upgrade wouldnt be enough to make a valuable difference in a machine that old, because you will also need to change your cpu, and mobo to more powerful ones to get the most of it. BUT all of that shiny new hardware would be just risked to hell if you didnt invest on a good psu.

i would NOT suggest any upgrades before getting the proper power supply that could handle it. be patient, save more money and upgrade the way it should be done.
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Offline Skraa

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #8 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:14:42 »
Quote from: Mansen on Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 17:38:06
Corsair Vengeance 6GB 1600Mhz (59.99)

Never this.

Stupid tall decorative cooling fins prevents using some CPU heatsinks, also you use PAIRS of RAM with i5-2500K, not sets of three. 2x4GB 1600MHz non-ECC 1.5v DDR3 RAM is what you want. Brand doesn't really matter.
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Offline Vivitrix

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #9 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:23:31 »
I understand all that, hence why I'm asking advice about how to properly upgrade, like i said, looking at it its probably easier just to buy a new PC, which i'm not entirely against due to decent 0% finance deals at local PC outlet.

So, with that in mind, what should I be looking for when purchasing a new PC however?

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Offline Mansen

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #10 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:23:35 »
I'll be honest - I wouldn't pick them either. But they were the cheapest I could...oh fudge. 6!? I really screwed the pooch on that one.


That should have been 2x2GB for a total of 4GB running at 1.5v (The cheapest were 1.6+ so I picked the first on the list with 1.5)


I guess that's what I get from trying to post something readable while doing my laundry :D


@Vivi: Judging from the contents of the machine and the fact that it is a dell (hard to upgrade) I would say yes - save up for a new machine build to last for a generation and a half instead of trying to upgrade your current one. Thén when the next upgrade comes knocking you'll have a much easier time of upgrading because the hardware you bought is built to last. :)


(I'd point you at a suggestion on Overclockers, but they just went offline for me, and I do not know any british etailers :( )
« Last Edit: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 18:29:53 by Mansen »
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Offline Kíì

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #11 on: Sunday, 06 Nov 2011, 20:16:28 »
Another option is to message me and sometime this week we go shopping and I'll assist :D
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Offline Idreil

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #12 on: Monday, 07 Nov 2011, 00:05:42 »
Please also note, A gfx card isnt always the only answer, if you have a awesome gfx card and your cpu is avg, then it might cause bottleneck too. so as  long as u have min duelcore 2.5 ghz +  jsut upgrading gfx should be fine
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Offline Mansen

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #13 on: Monday, 07 Nov 2011, 00:21:26 »
Quote from: Idreil on Monday, 07 Nov 2011, 00:05:42
Please also note, A gfx card isnt always the only answer, if you have a awesome gfx card and your cpu is avg, then it might cause bottleneck too. so as  long as u have min duelcore 2.5 ghz +  jsut upgrading gfx should be fine


This isn't true for WoW however since it requires more CPU and RAM power than graphics. I'm running the "best" gaming CPU currently out and my Graphics card is still not being pushed to the limit. ;)
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Offline Flippant

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Re: Upgrading my PC graphics card
« Reply #14 on: Monday, 07 Nov 2011, 01:46:21 »
Unless you're willing to upgrade motherboard (which means confidence to do that...) I'd go with a whole PC upgrade.

Any upgrade now on an older PC may not be worth it in the long run. The cost of a new PC vs. upgrading most (if not all) components, isn't really worth the potential hassle of getting components to work first time.

I'm OK building my own PC, however, the cost now of parts vs. new PC (with guarantee etc) isn't that big a deal. It used to be far cheaper to build your own. Don't think I'd bother in future.
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