Criteria to select a graphic card

L

lnknprkfrevr

New Member
I want to upgrade from Nvidia 7300/7200 GS 256MB graphic card to a higher 1gb Nvidia graphic card. But i dont know how to do that. So please guide me what are the hardware limitations or the criteria (Supporting Motherboard, RAMs, PCI slots, Processor etc. ) that i have to keep in mind before taking a final decision on a graphic card. I have a Core 2 duo 2.33ghz processor and 1&2Gb(Total 3GB) RAM in 2 slots running Windows 7 Ultimate x86. I'm already using VGA and DVI outputs to TFT monitor & LCD tv respectively in duplicate display which are working fine. But when i play games like NFS Shift the screen lags a lot. My budget is 3000 INR. So i want the Criteria to decide on a 1GB graphic card. Thanks in advance. :)
 
look for like a radeon hd 5670 or 5570 or something similar to that, they are faster than the equivilantly priced nvidia cards.
 
do you know if your current graphics card is pcie-x16 or agp? those both are pcie-x16 and will work with your computer is that socket, that's all that really matters other than the brand, which you might want to ask us about before selecting.
 
jonnyp11 said:
do you know if your current graphics card is pcie-x16 or agp? those both are pcie-x16 and will work with your computer is that socket, that's all that really matters other than the brand, which you might want to ask us about before selecting.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the kind of reply I was expecting. Pcie-x16 , agp- this is terminology I wanted attain from this forum. Once I go to a PC hardware store for graphic card I should not have a blank face not knowing how and what to ask. So as I see my graphic card sits in a white coloured slot like the one for RAMs. So directly I can go to the store and ask for ' A nVidia 1gb graphic card ' ??
 
well can you pull out the gfx card an tell us how many little gaps are in the connection, i think pcie has one in a far side while agp has like 2 or 3 gaps in the connection. that will let us know which socket card you need to buy.
 
Well you'll need to look inside your computer first. Here is a picture for reference:

mballslots.jpg


Just unscrew the side panel from your case, take it off, and check for those slots.

Your power supply is also important. It will determine what sort of card you can use. It's a box with wires coming out of it. The most important things there are 12V Wattage and Amperage which will be listed on a sticker on the side of the PSU (power supply) - Note what it says and post it here. Beefier graphics cards require more power.

Furthermore, the amount of memory on a graphics card will tell you nothing of its performance! Things to look for include:

Stream Processors - Higher is better. Nvidia and AMD use different types. So an Nvidia card with 384 stream processors might be better than an AMD card with 800 stream processors. But it's still useful for comparing the same brand of cards

Memory bandwidth - Again, higher is better. Most cards come with 128-bit, 256-bit, 320-bit or such. A higher bit memory means more bandwidth.

Card series - For example, GTX 400 series, GTX 500 series, Radeon 5000 series, Radeon 6000 series are the latest series of cards from AMD & Nvidia.

Clocks - You'll see these listed on the box. For example:

Core clock: 675MHz
Memory clock: 4000mhz effective

The "effective" part means that the memory is 1000Mhz or 2000MHz. GDDR5 memory is generally "QDR" or quadruple data rate. GDDR3 is "DDR" or double data rate. What does this mean? It means that the memory can perform more than one thing per clock.

Going back to power supplies. You will likely need a new one for a new graphics card. Just get back to us with the specs.
 
Yes my graphic card is in PCI-Express X16 slot.
And also my mother board model is MSI 945GCM5-F V2 (MS-7267)
Now suggest me optimum NVIDIA 1GB graphic card which is compatible with my system.
 
linkin said:
Your power supply is also important. It will determine what sort of card you can use. It's a box with wires coming out of it. The most important things there are 12V Wattage and Amperage and brand name which will be listed on a sticker on the side of the PSU (power supply) - Note what it says and post it here. Beefier graphics cards require more power.
Click to expand...

didn't see you forgetting that.
 
claptonman said:
Sorry to say, but you have to replace that power supply. It will not power any new card.
Click to expand...
Yes I kind of figured that out when I saw it myself but still was hoping for something. So I think the wattage is 200w max. What is the Minimum wattage that you recommend ? 400w or more ?
 
you need to look for 400w at least. the best thing is either an antec or corsair, they both have value ones that are still of good quality and will provide plenty of power.
 
lnknprkfrevr said:
Yes my graphic card is in PCI-Express X16 slot.
And also my mother board model is MSI 945GCM5-F V2 (MS-7267)
Now suggest me optimum NVIDIA 1GB graphic card which is compatible with my system.
Click to expand...

How much you want to spend on a power supply and video card. You have a older socket 775. There is a overkill your looking at with that old of a computer. That is unless you dont care because you can move it, if you decide to upgrade your motherboard/processor and memory later.
 
StrangleHold said:
How much you want to spend on a power supply and video card. You have a older socket 775. There is a overkill your looking at with that old of a computer. That is unless you dont care because you can move it, if you decide to upgrade your motherboard/processor and memory later.
Click to expand...



+1

It's just not feasible to match 2011 components with 2005 components. Try looking on newegg for combo deals :D for example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.708324

great price to performance, only a couple hundred bucks. More than reasonable, and mobo is top notch.


btw stranglehold, how are those ssd? I need 2 myself..
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top