Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

How does newer GPU fit into older PC

Mar 14, 2015 2:53AM PDT

Hello everyone

Some time ago i got the PC from a friend who did not use it anymore. The specs are:
Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd. GA-A75-D3H. FM1 socket
Processor: AMD A8-3850 quad 2.9ghz, integrated graphics
RAM: 4GB DDR3
HDD: Hitatchi HD5721050CLA362 ATA drive 500GB
Operation system: Windows 7 32bit

I would like to use this computer for gaming but it is quite outdated for contemporary standards. How does a GPU GeForce GTX 970 fit into the system, if at all. Would it boost the performance of the system to be able to play games released in 2014 and 2015. Any bottlenecks or integration problems to be expected. I do not have any experience in tweaking computers so i would like to know in advance if the computer can easily be upgraded without extended knowledge by just buying some parts and attaching those. Motherboard is old and a processor upgrade is not an option. How would upgrading RAM to 8GB or 16GB affect gaming performance? Would SSD drive helb boosting performance?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Mechanical clearances?
Mar 14, 2015 2:57AM PDT

For that you have to take a gander at the case.

But the 4GB is too likely to have the memory in a single channel mode. These APU models only shine in dual channel mode.

As you didn't list the PSU or the machine full make and model, the PSU is suspected to be too low for such a powerful GPU.

Also it's on a 32 bit OS. Again folk, there is no "upgrade" to/from 32 to 64 bit OSes. It's a fresh install.

I can't guess why they didn't take the 64 bit on the get go. Odd choice today.

-> As it stands I would not upgrade this with a 32 bit OS. You'll not get the benefits.
Bob

- Collapse -
PSU
Mar 14, 2015 3:52AM PDT
- Collapse -
That PSU has 3 +12V 18A rails.
Mar 14, 2015 4:11AM PDT
- Collapse -
what kind of problems to expect?
Mar 14, 2015 6:42AM PDT

What problems may occur with installing geforce gtx 970. i chose this for good value for money. its power consumption seems to be quite low compared to other high end cards.Which card would you sugges? And what about memory upgradde. It seems right now i have 2x2GB of RAM. How much would another set of these chips benefit for gaming. Would there be significant increase with 16GB 4x4GB.

- Collapse -
No.
Mar 14, 2015 6:53AM PDT

The sweet memory spot for 7 or 8 is about 8GB RAM. Your claim about power draw for the card looks fine until I dive into the PSU details. If only that was a single rail PSU then it would not be in the danger zone.

You also are fighting the 32 bit issues that I won't repeat here. Gamers know it and here we see the 32 bit OS and what appears to be an effort to get a gaming rig.

In short because it's so well discussed the aperture opening for the high end gpu in a 32 bit space is going to hamper this could be great gpu.
Bob

- Collapse -
gpu upgrade
Mar 14, 2015 11:16PM PDT

i will install 64 bit win 7 to the system.
The main question remains whether this card (GTX 970) will make this pc a gaming machine. I asked a another forum about this and one of the replies was that the current cpu is a problem and is causing bottlenecks. Lower end card r9 270 was suggested. As i only want to buy something that is relevant in the near future i do not want to buy an older card. Planning to buy new computer in the future and i could take gtx 970 to next machine. What do you think about the relationship of gtx 970 and the uplisted cpu. As it should be the case that most of the computation work for games is done in the gpu how does lower end cpu relate to the computing process.
And of course a power issue. If the current PSU may lead to the meltdown of gtx 970 then of course upgrading is out of question.
So the main questions are: Is the PSU able to support gtx 970? Does the gtx 970 work with the current cpu and give the capability to play newer games?
Thank you

- Collapse -
Should be a fine gamer.
Mar 15, 2015 1:37AM PDT

HOWEVER there are gamers that want to record their gameplay. For that, it's a dud. That would take a new CPU, motherboard and more.

-> Are you asking about the 3 rail PSU? I thought we covered that. It's a problem item. Folk will try it, I won't.
Bob