PC Upgrade. Have a few questions.

G

GTRacer

New Member
Hi. I am not going to call myself a newbie, but I do have a lot to learn about computer hardware.

Here are my current PC specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8200 (2.33 GHz)
300w Power Supply
6 Gbs DDR2 RAM
NVidia GeForce 9500 GT (512mb ram)
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
(If you need more info, just ask.)

Currently, I am playing Skyrim on all of the lowest settings, and I keep going in and out of lag. I want to upgrade my graphics card. This is the one I have in mind:
http://www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gtx-560ti/specifications

I understand that I would need to upgrade my power supply to a 500w unit. This is where my first question comes in.
Are power supplies with more watts bigger in size?

Next, I know nothing about motherboards, other than the PCI-Express slot is on it. Second question:
Is the motherboard important enough to need to upgrade?

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti that I am looking at is approx. 8.5 in. long. I measured the inside of my case to be able to go up to 9 in. Last question:
If I cannot get the new card to fit in this case, would I be able to buy a new case and move all of my existing hardware components to the new case?

Thanks for any useful info!
 
Last edited:
GTRacer said:
I understand that I would need to upgrade my power supply to a 500w unit. This is where my first question comes in.
Are power supplies with more watts bigger in size?

No, it would be the standard ATX form factor. Make sure your current PSU is. Look for power supplies from brands like corsair, antec, silverstone, seasonic, PC power and cooling, or xfx.

Next, I know nothing about motherboards, other than the PCI-Express slot is on it. Second question:
Is the motherboard important enough to need to upgrade?

Not unless you want extra features, like another PCI x16 slot for an additional graphics card. Plus if you were to replace it, you'd have to reinstall windows with a new copy so there's another extra $100.

The GeForce GTX 560 Ti that I am looking at is approx. 8.5 in. long. I measured the inside of my case to be able to go up to 9 in. Last question:
If I cannot get the new card to fit in this case, would I be able to buy a new case and move all of my existing hardware components to the new case?

Yes, you can. Once again, make sure its form factor is the same. If this is a prebuilt computer from dell, HP, etc, it may not be ATX.

Thanks for any useful info!
Click to expand...

Answers to questions are in red.

When you do get a new graphics card, be sure to properly remove every last bit of the old drivers for your 9500GT before install the new drivers for your 560 ti.
 
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