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

Upgrading Video card or no?

by Sep 2, 2013 4:27AM PDT

Hello,
I have an older machine and can't afford to really get a new system atm. I play online games like wow and ffxiv mmo, and was wondering if buying a better video card would help my bad fps problem.

I know I have a piece of crap machine so here it goes..
I have AMD Athlon 64 Dual core 3.10ghz
with a Asus M3A78-CM motherboard and a Nvidia Geforce GT 240 video card. Running Windows 7 with 4 gigs of ram.

Atm until I can afford a newer machine, all I want is better fps and it doesn't need to be ultra graphics or anything, just running around without being so choppy in 25 man wow's and normal FFXIV gameplay would be good enough. Would a better video do this for me, and if so can you recommend a video card that will use its full potential in my motherboard without bottlenecking a great deal?

Thank You

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
Best to check at the link be for the GPU options that give .
by Sep 2, 2013 5:15AM PDT
- Collapse -
Answer
Maybe
by Sep 2, 2013 7:03AM PDT

The 240 is a 70w card.
A hd 7770 is a 80w card.
Just a guess your psu will support the extra 10w.

The 7770 is quite a bit more video power but that does not mean you will see more fp/s if video power is not the hang up.

You will need a pci-e power connector from the psu......best check.

- Collapse -
Answer
Depnds on PSU really
by Sep 6, 2013 9:31PM PDT

Your CPU is probably not a huge issue but upgrading a graphics card that significantly improves frame rates is tricky.
You have to see what speed your PCIe slot runs at? Plus, you have to possibly upgrade power supply to run any significant card upgrade. As I said, your motherboard maybe somewhat limiting your options if your PCIe slot runs at a 2.0 or 1.1 speed. If its newer it might run at the higher speed. This makes a big difference on weather a new card can fully improve speeds or is de clocked because of your motherboard.

Back to PC Hardware forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info