Need help finding a Graphics Card that will work with my PC!!

Azrael7700

Beta member
Messages
1
I have a Gateway GT5408. I want to throw in a 650 Watt PSU and a new graphics card. Will a Sapphire Vapor - X Radeon HD 5770 fit in my case? Will it Bottleneck my CPU? (I was told by someone that it would). If it will is there another card I could use? The PC is old and I don't want to upgrade the OS, mobo, or CPU. I don't think I can oc the CPU, and if I did the case may not be vented enough to handle the heat.

My budget for the card is $100 - $125 USD. Any suggestions?

I am not a hardcore gamer, but would at least like to play some games. The integrated graphics doesn't allow for any games to be played on this thing. I was looking for something that could play gameslike Amnesia, Penumbra, and maybe some others (The Sims 3, yea..I'm a girl!). Don't want to spend a whole lot of money and don't need the most powerful card on the market.

This is the card I was thinking of getting.

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VX-2L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

My Specs.
OS: Vista SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 @ 1.80 GHz , 1.80 GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR2
Current PSU: 300 Watts
ouch.gif
(switching it out with a 650 watt)
MoBo: Intel D945GCF (Pretty much the same as the D945GCL...just made exclusively for Gateway...from what I am told)

Please help! It seems the more I research the more lost I get!:rolleyes:
 
get that graphics card it is good and in your budget im not shure what you mean by bottleneck
650w is fine for that
 
In a single card system, you could easily get by with a 500w or 600w PSU - providing it is a good make and model. Which are you planning to get? Corsair, Antec, and OCZ are generally the best brands in lower end systems. If you have not purchased one yet, you might consider these:

Corsair Builder Series 500w - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139018


Corsiar Builder Series 600w - $45 AR plus $3 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139019&cm_re=corsair_power_supply-_-17-139-019-_-Product

For the extra $5 I would go with the 600w even though it probably has more power than you will even use in your current system.

The 5770 is a decent video card, but I have no idea if it will fit in your case. You should be able to find a link online somewhere - at AMD or the vendors site - that states the length of the card.

I recommend the GTX 460 768MB card (although I don't know if it will fit either since I know nothing about your case. It is a solid card that can be found at a discount right now because it is being replaced by the GTX 550 Ti, but the new card is slower. The 768MB version of the GTX 460 is only slightly slower than the 1GB version, but costs substantially less. See the slight performance difference in this article (which also shows the performance of the HD 5770 for comparison):

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-gf104-fermi,2684.html

Note that on the THG Best Card for the Money article linked below, the GTX 460 1 GB is one of the cards recommended at the $200 price level. This card is almost as fast and as shown in the review above, and costs quite a bit less..

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-graphics-card-geforce-gtx-590-radeon-hd-6990,2879.html

For a specific card, I recommend the MSI Twin Frozr because of its effective but quiet heatsink/fan, factory overclock, and good price – only $130 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127519&cm_re=gtx_460_768mb-_-14-127-519-_-Product

You can find more information about video card reviews for these and other cards at:

Upgrade Guide to Video Card Reviews

Neither of those cards will "bottleneck" the CPU - just the opposite - the CPU will be a bottleneck that keeps the cards from operating at their peak performance, or as fast as shown in the reviews. However both cards will still have a significant impact on performance. How significant the affect of the bottleneck is depends on the game and how much it depends on the CPU. And don't forget that when you upgrade your system you could take the video card into the new system.
 
Back
Top Bottom