Graphics Card Upgrade

[jlocasto42]

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Hi. I am looking to upgrade my graphics card in my PC. Here are my specs:

HP Compaq 6005 Pro Microtower
Win 7 Pro (32 Bit)
AMD Athlon II x2 215 Processor, 2.7 GHz
4096MB RAM
Power Supply: 320W
Card: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290
Display Mode: 18680 x 1050 (32 Bit)

I want to get something that will make my games run faster. I do plan to also upgrade the RAM at some point, it can hold up to 16GB. My budget is really anything from 100-200 bucks as long as it will be ok with the PCI slot and the power supply. I don't have to stick with NVIDIA either. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

[Hezx]

You dont need any more RAM really... Unless you are running many video editing software at a time or stuff like that....

Power Supply

And its because you have a professional video card that it runs games slow.. not made for games...

Also would you be willing to upgrade your CPU??? your pretty much on the bottom of the list for dual-core CPU.... your mobo can handle a good amount of Phenom II's....


But before I give you a GPU... How many monitors are you running?

[jlocasto42]

I think that upgrading my CPU is something I couldn't do by myself... I am currently running one monitor. Is there a card I can pick up at Best Buy and slap in there?

[Hezx]

Umm... well... it depends on the best buy.... I have 3 around here and they all carry different things.... but yes you can do that.... Where I live they have the 550Ti.. 560.... and 560Ti.... Also AMD 6770 and 6950... Which all those cards are good... but the 560Ti is out of your budget... so the 550Ti or the 560 might be more in budget... or the 6770

[jlocasto42]

Thak you for the help. With any of the cards you listed, will they work with my power supply? I don't mind going over a little if it is smoething I can get ASAP.

[Hezx]

No.. and it probably has a very low 12V rail any way... But best buy also carries PSU if you dont want to wait for delivery...

I know best buy carries the GS series Corsair

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Gaming Series GS600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

But they have 600-800W... you would only need a 600W for those

[jlocasto42]

Thanks again. So do you think I can purchase these 2 products and easily install them? I'm referring to the AMD Radeon HD 6770 and the power supply you listed above

[Hezx]

Yes... ALl you do is unplug the power supply from all things.... unscrew it from chassis and put new in there in reverse..... Graphics card is just a take out the old slide in the new.... BUT>..... first make sure you remove ALL nvidia drivers before you do that.... Use a driver sweeper or something of that nature....

Download Driver Sweeper 3.2.0 Free - An application that allows you to remove leftover files from your HDD - Softpedia

And then install the card.. you can either run the disc or install the dirvers from AMD.com

[jlocasto42]

Looks like the best buys near me have the power supply in stock and only this card: GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card. Your thoughts?

[Hezx]

If its a EVGA its a good card... You dont NEED 2Gb of VRAM but... if thats all they have then its okay....

It will put you over budget with both the PSU and Card.. but you will be much better off then you are now...

Only problem is that your CPU will MAYBE bottleneck you system since its so low....