I have a computer that I had built for me, and I have a NiVida Force 8400 GS video card. I have read that this video card, while it able to handle 3D graphics and is a good budget video card, is not all that is needed for graphically intense games. How do you know which video card you can install into your computer?|||Go to Tomshardware.com for comparisons. Most gamers use video cards in the 130 to 180 dollar range as cost=speed in video cards. Newegg.com for best prices. You will need a power supply in your desktop of 450w to 550w to power a decent card. Both are easy to install yourself or a brother or friend can do it. GTX550ti is a good affordable card at Newegg.com for $134.99 with a 20 dollar rebate at $114.99. This card will play 99% of the games. Go to this site-Canirunit- to see what you can play with your current card, it will scan your pc and tell you exactly what you can play and how well.|||You need to check your motherboard.
Depending on that, it will tell you what Video card it can support.|||Basically it comes down to 3 things:
1) Your motherboard's slot type. PCI-Express x16 is the current standard and all current/recent gaming video cards are made for that interface. In order to install any of those cards, your motherboard must have a PCI-Express x16 slot. While most motherboards manufactured within the last 7 years will have such a slot, really old computers might have an AGP slot, or only PCI slots.
2) The physical size of your computer case. Regular tower computers can (at least theoretically) use any PCI-Express x16 card you like. But many low-cost computers sold these days are smaller, slimline models which are much skinnier than a regular tower. Slimline computers can only accept low-profile video cards, because standard cards are too tall to fit inside the case. Slimlines also have weaker power supplies which often cannot be upgraded. So in a nutshell, slimlines are very restricted in their upgrade options.
3) Your computer's power supply rating. More powerful cards designed for gaming require more power than budget cards which are only designed for everyday use. Entry-level cards in the $60-$90 range require at least a 300 watt power supply. Gaming cards in the $100-$125 range usually require a 400-450 watt power supply and cards in the $125-$200 range typically need a 500 watt power supply.
However, most off-the-shelf brnad-name computers from companies like HP, Dell, Gateway, Compaq etc typically are built with weak power supplies which aren't good enough to support major upgrades. So moving up to a better graphics card often requires buying a new power supply as well. For regular desktops this is easy and inexpensive, but slimline power supplies are proprietary, so sometimes there isn't a better power supply available.
As far as knowing which cards to choose from, reviews are your best resource. Toms Hardware publishes a monthly roundup of graphics cards, which is a good start. It lists the best values in each price range:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fast…
Remember that that some games have much higher hardware requirements than others. So if you only play the Sims 3 and WoW you'd be fine with a $70 card, while someone who wanted to play Crysis, Metro 2033 & Battlefield 3 on high settings would need at least a $150-$200 card.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac…
http://www.techspot.com/review/359-nvidi…
No comments:
Post a Comment