Installing New Graphics Card, Tips and Advice

B

Bigdude05

New Member
Hello Im new to the forums and need some help! I generally know what everything is called inside my computer and can label it easily but the jist of what Im trying to do is install a new graphics card.

For example my old computer had a 7600 GT nvida card and it could run games like crysis pretty smoothly even on high settings, it just took a long while to load up. (likely due to low RAM).

I now have a new computer and everything is generally faster, but thanks to my new card 9300 GE, games like crysis and anything slightly demanding can barely play, or not at all.

I'm new to switching cards so I was just wondering:

1. If you tell me how to post specs I can post them, and you can let me know if my computer would even be able to install the card (I think it should)

2. Is the 7600 GT even better? Or am I downgrading, and I screwed up with the 9300 GE somehow.

3. Steps I need to actually install, Im pretty sure I understand the hands on portion, but what do I need to do to uninstall old one/ install new one

Any help with this would be much appreciated. Thanks :)
 
The 9300GE sucks pretty bad. Probably the 7600GT is a better card. If the 7600GT is a PCIe card and your computer has a PCIe slot, yes you can use it. Download and save the newest Nvidia drivers for the card. Just uninstall the old nvidia drivers. Shut down. Install the new card. Boot up and install the new drivers you saved. Give it a go and see which one performs the best.
 
Alright sounds good, any advice on how I should uninstall old one from computer?

Should I just use device manager and uninstall.

Do I need something special to make sure all the drivers are gone, since I'm going down the series and not up Im worried about any complications.
 
Bigdude05 said:
Alright sounds good, any advice on how I should uninstall old one from computer?

Should I just use device manager and uninstall.

Do I need something special to make sure all the drivers are gone, since I'm going down the series and not up Im worried about any complications.
Click to expand...

Just go into Add/Remove programs and uninstall the nVidia driver software.
 
Thanks for the support. So I uninstalled everything from the old one completely, Installed new one, it was a bit funky, with things like green lines and such (not sure if thats normal), at first until I went to nvidea site on safe mode.

I installed the drivers from there for the (old) new card I put in. Its still acting a bit strange, such as when windows is starting up the screen goes black for a second then everything is fine. I used it for awhile and everything is working good.

I tried first playing a game like minecraft which isn't to demanding and the card seems to be working fine, then I tried Dead Island which I bought and wasn't even working on my old card, I got through the start menu and selecting a character but when I hit the loading screen the green line weirdness acted up again. It then stayed loading for awhile till I got a blue screen with an error. :(

Could this just be that my card is just old now and I should get an upgrade?

Hope someone can help! :confused:
 
You may be right.

Strangely now its working fine COMPLETELY. The game is running fine and all, only problem now is these occassional FPS hits!

Id be running the game then randomly the game would start experiencing some serious lag. I then would go to the menu (hit esc) and give it a second, and eventually the lag would be gone. It seemed to be happening randomly, I may test another game as well.

I also used this program to check temps on your sensors. My GPU came out at between 80-95C depending on if the game was on or not. I know that can't be to good.

Could this high temp be causing all this lag? Or is that permanent damage. I'd go grab a fan if I needed, but Im worried that won't stop the random lag anyways.
 
I'd say it's high temps causing the issue. The card you chose is junk all the same.
 
Yeah I kinda assumed that, Im considering getting a new card altogether.

Right now I have:

Penom 8450 Triple Core
(Same Graphic card)
3GB DDR3 RAM
HDD:500GB

(Thats all the specs I really know about it)...

I was looking at this card here:

Its a eVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI for 159.99$

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX30252(ME).aspx?curtab=0

Because they have a store right in my city as well.

I was hoping to be able to play games like Skyrim that are coming out, and the Dead Island I already have and such.

Would my computer be able to use this card? Do you think I would need more RAM or anything?

Thanks for all the answers for far!
 
Alright I popped it back open and got as much info on the side as I could.

its a LITEON:

Model No: PS-5301-D8HA

DC Output: 300W

Input: 100-127V
Output: 200-240V

Hopefully that helps!
 
Pretty lowend power supply, even for a 7600GT. Needs to be upgraded especially for something like a GTX 460.
 
Last edited:
Bigdude05 said:
Alright I popped it back open and got as much info on the side as I could.

its a LITEON:

Model No: PS-5301-D8HA

DC Output: 300W

Input: 100-127V
Output: 200-240V

Hopefully that helps!
Click to expand...

Hey, where in Canada are you? I love Memory Express, awesome computer store. Like Stranglehold said get rid of that POS power supply before you make any upgrades, let him know what your budget is and ask him for suggestions, he knows what he is talking about.
 
Thanks alot for response guys! I definitely can try and improve the PSU.

Stranglehold: Basically I can spend around 50-60$ on a unit, and I was hoping to find something from memory express. I live in winnipeg and theres a store right here as well, it would be easy for me to go and buy the parts from there.

Im not to sure which would be good from that store and around that price range, also able to support this card.

Anything else that I'll need to improve to run this card.

Is 2.1Ghz good? I forgot to mention thats my CPU Speed.

P.S Is this a good graphics card for the price? That should be able to play what I want right?
 
Last edited:
Haha I was looking at that same PSU myself! :)

For the card... is that Radeon better? Since they are the same price Id definetely take your advice and get the Radeon then. Don't think the store in winnipeg has any in stock though may have to hold out... I'll definetely comment back when I'm able to get my hands on them.

Thanks for the help!
 
If you don't mind buying used have you checked out Kijiji? I just looked in your area and there are a few decent ones for good prices.
 
man you wanna play crysis with that 9300 GE . hmm . not a good idea . to play like game crysis and other you need a hight card . for example ati radoan 4670 or ati 5770 . it wiser to byte the latest GPU like 68XX series . in nvidia go for GTx 5XX series . or t lease GTx 460 ........
 
Right now im content with the prices, so no worries.

Network N: I was trying to put a better card in, not use that one.

Also for the power supply, someone told me that you can blow your motherboard if it can't support the PSU your putting in. Is this true? Do I need to find that out, or was he wrong and I can just put any in there.

Sorry for asking, It just put a little fright in me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top