Advice on Graphics Cards

[Abriael]

I think I'm gonna go with gtx, and upgrade my system over time when I get the cash. It's kind of hard, what with having so little spare cash to play with, but I just want something for my PC that will show the game decently. You all have given awesome advice on the subject and I do appreciate it. Just one question: Would it be cheaper to upgrade the system or buy a new computer decent for gaming? Keep in mind, I have NO IDEA how to upgrade a system myself, so I'd likely have to pay someone to do it for me. ^^;

Looking at your system, it's probably better to start with the video card and buy the rest of the pieces when you can afford them.

Though the only thing you need to be careful about is that the gtx 660 requires a 450W Power source. I actually have a friend that managed to have it run on a 400, but I can't guarantee it'll work on less than 450 (luckily a good 450 PSU is rather cheap, and if you find yourself changing it, I'd advise to go slightly higher for fodder's sake).

Once you have the video card, that is actually VERY easy to install on your PC (uninstall the drivers completely, turn everything off, unplug everything, open case, unplug power connector on GPU, if it even has one, remove screw or screws attached from side of GPU at the back of the case, then lift the little lever at the right of your old GPU where's attacked to the mainboard to unseat it. Being VERY careful not to touch the mainboard too much, as you could damage some component, especially if it's a cheap that came with a pre-built comp, seat the new video card, operate the lever to push it in nicely (be delicate), put the screw(s) back in place, attach the power connector from the power source, close case, replug everything, turn PC on, install drivers, reboot. Though if you have to change the whole power source as well, it gets more complex), you can buy the rest of the components when you can afford it.

Count that with your current obsolete system you'll probably have to buy the Motherboard/CPU/RAM all in one go to make sure that they are compatible.

You may be able to salvage the case (even if i normally advise to get a new one if the old case is from a pre-built PC, because they suck. The Antec 300 has WONDERFUL ventilation and is dirt cheap. Doesn't have pretty lights, but pretty lights don't play games) most probably the DVD reader, hard disk and such.

On the other end the GTX 660 will fit nicely with anything you will buy and won't bog it down for at least another couple years and possibly more if you're not much of a stickler for top performance.

To build your computer, if you don't wanna follow tutorials online (there are plenty on youtube, and they're very well done), the best way is to go to the usual techie friend that will build it for you. Upgrading the video card is really a matter of 10 minutes, building a whole PC can be done in a hour and it's fun, so most techies worth their salt will jump to the chance with a smile and even come with their own thermal paste

Ultimately, I always advice building parts and then assemble them yourself or have someone that will do it for you, as you have control over the quality of the components you buy, especially the less publicized ones like PSU, RAM and Motherboard. Many pre-built PC manufacturers will use low-quality no-brand bulk components and horribad Asrok motherboards to keep the price low, but then you'll find yourself with a sub par kit despite the fact that the specs look good on paper.

A final personal piece of advice: for the love of god do not go too cheap on the Power source. It's the single most underestimated piece of a PC because it doesn't directly contribute to its "raw power", but a low quality no-brand PSU will very possibly fail under stress, and a PSU failure can *burn your whole system* or almost if you're unlucky, and even if you aren't and your motherboard doesn't fry, saving your components, replacing a PSU is a pain in the rear. Go Antec or Corsair for safety and great warranties. Maybe go a little smaller in wattage if you want to save, as their output is great and normally over their specs, but don't save on the brand.

Edit: For an alternative solution, I've done some research on your motherboard and it's actually not as old as I thought (why would the manufacturer put a dual core on it, I don't know, but oh well). If you never saw it, here's the baby if you're curious to see it.

After you get the new video card (this is the best quality/price ratio you can get considering the rebate, and it has awesome cooling) you could get this processor to work with it, and upgrade the RAM to 4 GB with this memory , and get a very workable gaming PC with no real bottlenecks.

If you do this, though, I'd advise getting at least a 500-550 Watt power source of a good brand, like this one (that has a 20 bucks rebate on top of it, making it super cheap).

The system that would come out of it would only have one flaw, besides the cooling on the motherboard itself that is a little sad (i could almost hear it scream when the PC is under load), the MOBO doesn't support PCI Express 3.0 or even 2.0 (it has a paltry 1.0 slot). While modern video cards will still be compatible, it's a further bottleneck. It isn't too bad, so don't overworry about it. It's just not optimal.

Memory, Processor and power source are a grand total of 155 bucks, which isn't too bad at all.