Unsure of what graphics card my PC can handle

[brewy100]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to PC gaming and I am overwhelmed by all of the technical stuff you need to know. You name it I aint got a clue. I have read a lot of useful posts etc and I am starting to learn the basics but in the meantime I have a question. I got a new PC last week from Zoostorm. Even just posting the specs for me is difficult as I don't know exactly what I should be putting so apologies in advance if this is too much info or not enough etc:

I have Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit
CPU - Pentium Dual Core E6600 (Wolfsdale) 3.06ghz, 2 cores, 2 logical processors
I am told by my manufacturer that the PSU is 300W
I have 4GB RAM
I currently have no graphics card at all, just the integrated graphics that came with it. I believe they are called Intel G41 Express Chipset
My maunufacturer tells me it has a slot for a PCI-E graphics card (although when running CPU-Z it just seems to list it as PCI, no mention of an E at all). I am hoping my manufacturer is correct when they state that ALL of their PCs have PCI-E slots.

So, with all that in mind I just want to know what a decent graphics card I could get. I am only starting out so don't intend any major uphieval in terms of upgrading. I know my PSU is pretty wimpy and needs beefing up and that it will limit the choices of graphics card I can get. I don't need a [powerhouse PC, I just want to be able to play the likes of Stalker etc to a good standard. What is a good PCI-E graphics card that my PC could handle and that doesn't cost the earth (£75 max).

Many thanks,

Chris

 

[DjKraid]

Well for starters I would say that you should get a better PSU. Anyhow, If you are not sure of what connectors that you have got you can always open the case and see (here is a good pic of pci / pcie slots). If you open the case you can also see what PSU you have got

Anyhow, if I were you I would upgrade the PSU and then the graphics card but that again would maybe require a bit higher budget or then I would get a 2nd hand graphics card...something like a nVidia GT9500 or something like that

 

[ravisunny2]

Hi Chris :wave:

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[brewy100]

Many thanks for your advice. I have opted against a new PSU at this stage till I know what I am doing. Have just installed a new graphics card this morning (Geforce GT 430) and whilst it obviously isn't going to set the world alight, it has made massive improvements to my gaming and that will do me for now. Once I have upskilled a bit more I will look to add a new PSU and graphics card in a few months.

Many thanks

 

[cliffordcooley]

It would help you and us if you could locate the make and model of your motherboard. This way we can all look up the specifications to your board.

How to Check the Make & Model of a Motherboard

 

[Dpatt711]

With a 300w PSU you ain't doing any GPU upgrading....

Upgrade to a decent 450w+

I say decent because a PSU is worth investing a little extra money for quality...

 

[pass]

..something like a nVidia GT9500 or something like that.

 

[Maledictor]

I have got the same problem here. Unsure where to put the little money I got, but I really want to improve the performance in BF3, Skyrim etc.

Build:
Win 7 Pro 64-bit
ASUS P5E motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX
4 GB DDR2 RAM

And I got PCI-e slots.

So would a CPU upgrade or a GFX upgrade best improve performance in games. I am probably limited to around 100-150$.

I really hope that I can squize one more year of acceptable gaming out of this PC before I go all-in on a rebuild.

Hope to hear from you experts.


Kristian

 

[LNCPapa]

A little overlocking and all $150 on a new GPU. This is advice for the thread-jacker.