Graphics card

**friedzombie** · February 19th, 2012, 09:16 PM

Hi, i bought a desktop pc about 6 months ago. I decided not to get a gaming pc as i mainly play games on my xbox. I now regret my decision

My question is what do i need to upgrade to make my pc a half decent gaming pc. My current system is as follows

Intel core i5 2400
Microsoft windows 7 home premium 64 bit
Asus P8H61-M LX2
4GB DDR3 1333mhz
1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Onboard Intel GMA4500
Onboard 7.1 Audio
400W Xigmatek PSU

I want to be able to play games like call of duty and Skyrim. I will need a new graphics card and was hoping someone could give me some advice. Also i'm not sure if i'll need a new power supply? I'm hoping not but if it's essential i can do it. I'm not too bothered about having the best system going but wouldn't mind it being able to play new games for the next few years if possible. I'm a bit of a pc novice so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

**ShyguyXPC** · February 20th, 2012, 01:27 AM

Pretty much just need a good Graphics card and your set, your PSU is a decent one.

Newegg.com - XIGMATEK NRP-PC Series ACXTNRP-PC402 400W ATX12V Ver.2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

32A on +12V rail, so thats plenty for a good medium range Graphics card.

What case do you have, and whats your budget on these upgrades?

**Benedettowide** · February 20th, 2012, 07:20 AM

You can get a HD6870 for your PC. Its not expensive and should do the job properly as gaming PC. but it's really depends on the budget you have.

**friedzombie** · February 20th, 2012, 08:14 AM

The case is a piano black ATX. My budget is somewhere around £100-150.

**stroyal** · February 20th, 2012, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by Benedettowide

You can get a HD6870 for your PC. Its not expensive and should do the job properly as gaming PC. but it's really depends on the budget you have.

That's a great card, but would challenge a good 400wat power supply, as it calls for a 500watt.
You would need, at least a quality 450W.

That power supply would run a 5770/6770.
Nvidia 550Ti.
The new 7750

There are a few others, but wait for Shyguy, he knows this stuff, right off the top of his head.

Is that a full size case???

For $238/150quid, you could, get a 500watt power supply, and step up a few grades, on the card.

The 6770, is no slouch, though.the 550Ti, is even better.

**ShyguyXPC** · February 20th, 2012, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by friedzombie

The case is a piano black ATX. My budget is somewhere around £100-150.

ok, but that doesn't tell us what case you have, all you did was describe what its color and case standard is... tells us nothing of the case itself in regards to how much actual room it has.

we don't want to suggest a Video card that won't fit in your PC.

**friedzombie** · February 20th, 2012, 08:28 PM

Ah ok, here's a link to the case i have

Piano Black ATX - Dino PC Ltd

I really appreciate all of the input from everyone, i'll do a bit of reading up on your suggestions tomorrow hopefully

**ShyguyXPC** · February 20th, 2012, 09:02 PM

unfortunately it doesn't show the inside of the case which is what we needed to see.

but from the picture its hard to say, but looks like an average Mid size ATX case.

Something like a Radeon 6870 would work good, or on the top end of the price/performance budget a Geforce GTX 560 Ti.

Novatech GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1024MB GDDR5 | NOV-560

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [687A-ZHFC]

but those might be pushing it a little, and need a better PSU with some power to spare, since they're 160-170W video cards.

they should work on the PSU.

But a good alternative, a bit less powerful, but its on par with some games to a Radeon 6850 and in some cases better than a Geforce 460 1GB.

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 7770 OC EDITION 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [11201-02-20G]

best of all, these 7770's only consume about 80 Watts of power, half as much as a Radeon 6870, and they do come pretty close to it in performance.

In Battlefield 3, the 7770 is about on par with a 6850. and less than 10fps below a GTX 560 (which is about the same as a 6870). this is on 1080p resolution, which is where these cards shine, lower res, their not as good as prior gen cards.

Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3 : AMD Radeon HD 7770 And 7750 Review: Familiar Speed, Less Power

In Skyrim, tides are changed a bit, the GTX 460 still beats it out a bit.

Benchmark Results: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim : AMD Radeon HD 7770 And 7750 Review: Familiar Speed, Less Power

with that said, OCuK has an EVGA GTX 460 on sale this week for even less:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [01G-P3-1372-AR]

uses about 160W of power, but there's enough left over in budget to possibly get a replacement PSU with a bit more power to run this card and the rest of the system.

grab something like this PSU and you'd be set, though with shipping and what not, its about 15 pounds over your budget

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [01G-P3-1372-AR]

its an option anyways.

But even in games like Metro 2033 which is a known resource hog and brings top end hardware to its knees, the Radeon 7770 still holds on pretty good:

Benchmark Results: Metro 2033 : AMD Radeon HD 7770 And 7750 Review: Familiar Speed, Less Power

If it were me, with your current budget, I'd consider just getting the 7770 (the Overclocked one linked above) and you'd be fine.

I'm guessing your still new to PC gaming compared to console, and the lower power 7770 would be a good option to start with, with out spending big bucks on beefier hardware.