Upgrading my card...

B

Belle6715

New Member
Hiya guys,

Back in July I made a few posts about building my own gaming rig and I ended up going the route of a pre-built (at my parents' persuasion, of course). I was never really happy with the graphics card this thing has, a Radeon HD 6570. My games lag--not as much as I suspected they would, but noticeably enough--and with Christmas coming up I'm wondering if now is the time to upgrade.

Instead of rattling off the specs of my computer I'm just going to post a link, I hope that's okay. http://bit.ly/T6Ungr

I have not made any changes since I bought it other than upgrading to Windows 8. Since I am a novice at this sort of thing I have a couple of concerns, such as the graphics card fitting. As far as I can tell, after some research, the card I have is something like 6.4 inches in length, while the GTX 660 Ti (the card I'm considering) is over 10. Eesh. I have no idea about this because I haven't looked too much inside my case yet.

The other thing I'm worried about is possible bottle-necking. Do I need to upgrade my processor (i7 2600s)? What about power supplies, will I need a new one? The only information I can find about the one I have now is that it's 300W. I suspect it's crappy just because this is a pre-built computer.

Also, any suggestions of cards in the $300-$400 price range are more than welcome.

I'm kind of scared to open up the case at all. I'm somewhat attuned to always managing to break things. Haha. I hope you guys don't mind another of my rambling posts.

Belle
 
Before you could be told, would need to know what size card will fit. Open it up and measure in inches how much room you have. From where the card screws down on the back panel toward the front. But either way you will need new power supply.
 
Alright, done. Since I am a moron, I've taken pictures so hopefully you guys can tell me :) I was actually surprised. My guess is that, if the new card will fit at all, it will be very tight. I apologize for the crappy pictures, haha.

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Thanks!
Belle
 
Should be enough I think. First, you'll need a better psu, I would recommend a CX500-600 from corsair (600w for some headroom) and get an hd7850/hd7870. Cpu should be ok, sad you didn't get one with no S.
What's your resolution?
 
Go for a 7850. I think it's around 200 dollars, so under-budget, but by no means is it an under-performer.
 
Resolution's 1920x1080. Thanks for the input guys :) I really appreciate it. I'm going to go with the 7850 and the CX600.

Belle
 
Only concern would be the power cable being in the way so you might have to cut the ties or something or you might need a extender which is like 5 or ten bucks on ebay
 
Awesome. I'm about to order them now in a moment, and I just want to confirm that everything will (or should!) go smoothly? :)

Belle
 
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