Okay so I have a crappy walmart bought computer, it's a emachines. I feel okay with most of the aspects of it since I've upgraded almost all of it.
AMD Athlon II X2 235e Processor 2.7ghz
6GB of RAM
1TB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
Now I'm a pretty big gamer and I'm looking forward to some of the games coming out within the next year specifically Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. (I have no doubt I can run D3) As of now I can't even run The Witcher 2 on full without any problems. It runs at about 5-9 FPS.
This is more of my specs, and how I meet minimum for Witcher 2.
Now my question is, what should I upgrade to ensure I can run a game like Skyrim. What needs to be upgraded the most to run newer games?
I was told that I should upgrade my graphics card. That's why I've come here. My case is roughly 14 inches in length, not including whats in the way on the inside, So I need a nice compact card that has more "oomph" to it.
Tom's Hardware is a GREAT site for helping pick out new PC hardware. I've been a member for years. I mostly just follower their articles, which are amazingly helpful. Each month they'll come out with a, "Best -insert PC part here- for the money, -insert current month/year here." I'll be using the latest of those articles at the time when Diablo 3 release draws near to build my gaming PC.
So for you, everything looks solid other than you GPU. So I'd check out the Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2011 article, figure how much you want to spend, and read the description of the card to make sure it's the size you need, and suits what you're looking for performance wise.
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
With my system i can't run The Witcher on Ultra either (it's probably the DRM's fault, it's said that it causes performance issues to those who didn't buy the game digitally):
Runs flawlessly on High but with around 10-20 FPS on Ultra.
Note that it cost around 1,000 euro (should be around 1300 US $) Christmas 2009 with most expensive part being the graphics card. If you buy aimed you can get a very decent system without paying too much. Every PC I bought so far wasn't "top" or "a beast" like say Hpnot1Q's or Scyber's but it can run pretty much anything with minimal upgrades for about 4 years. Then i either upgrade or buy a new one.
The problem I'm having is I'm afraid most cards are going to be too large. The 470GT is too massive, like Godzilla huge. The GTX 560, and the AMD6950 are about 70-80$ out of my price range. I'm looking for something about 200$ max. The HD6770 looks like a good choice, was it a pain to install Runner? Never installed a card that took up 2 slots.
I've been checking out Tom's Hardware but no help so far there, the only suggestion I got was sell my PC and save up, which I know I don't need to do.
I need something very similar in size, I have the PNY GT 240, according to amazon it's dimensions are, 11 x 2.5 x 6 inches. No clue what that means all I know is I unfortunately have a small case.
Why take a previous serie ? Go with gtx 570 instead of the 470, its same price if not cheaper, and better in every aspect.
And if its not same price or cheaper, then you Americans and Canadian people be weerd :S, cuz it be here in Holland.
It's not cheeper, anywhere... what are you talking about.
Go with that recertified card while they still have it in stock. It has good reviews. 1 or 2 people complains about black screens (Card overheat, that's their fault). Other about faulty card (they can just rma)
Now I'm a pretty big gamer and I'm looking forward to some of the games coming out within the next year specifically Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. (I have no doubt I can run D3) As of now I can't even run The Witcher 2 on full without any problems. It runs at about 5-9 FPS.
Witcher 2 is horribly optimized, not really the game you want to use as the benchmark.
CPU is fine, besides the fact that it's an AMD.
GT 240 is... OK. Should be enough for Skyrim, but probably not maxed.
I don't know why that says 3.2 gb video ram that's a totally unrealistic number unless I'm missing something.
I would up the video card, maybe both, but video card definitely. 240 is kinda previous generation now. But I run stuff OK on my 330M, but I can't even run Oblivion properly maxed.
Which card, depends on what you can afford. Unfortunately I work with laptops right now so I don't really know the desktop cards, just go to newegg or something and find a card better than yours for a decent price lol.
Just make sure it's not a Radeon unless you like your computer overheating constantly, especially if another unit is going to be close to the VC (my dad had some issues with his sound card, btw, sound cards rock).
If you have such severe fitting problems get a new case ffs... fitting problems also means less ventilation and greater issues with performance, you people should have learned to buy proper cases by now...
Fitting issues. ON A DESKTOP. My laptop is freaking tiny and there's only one fan and you can't get to anything without disassembling the whole thing and youneed to take off the motherboard to get to the radiator and you talk about fitting issues????????????? /end of small rant
Why take a previous serie ? Go with gtx 570 instead of the 470, its same price if not cheaper, and better in every aspect.
And if its not same price or cheaper, then you Americans and Canadian people be weerd :S, cuz it be here in Holland.
It's not cheeper, anywhere... what are you talking about.
Go with that recertified card while they still have it in stock. It has good reviews. 1 or 2 people complains about black screens (Card overheat, that's their fault). Other about faulty card (they can just rma)
You claim he can buy a gtx 570 for the same price of a 470. He said the 470 was around 200$. Now your statement is true, they are both expensive for you. But that invalid your whole argument. Your argument would have been good if the gtx 570 was cheaper for you, at the same price than the 470, but it is in fact the 470 that have an higher price.
Its like saying, go get a ferrari, its the same price than a toyota in NL. Then you bring me evidence: toyota sells for 500,000$...
That just makes no sense. And stop being arrogant, it just makes you look bad.
Ok so apparently the GTX 470 is 13 x 10 x 2.5 inches which 10 inches wide is waaaay too wide. I also cannot afford another case right now. The Radeon HD6870 says 4.4 inches wide, which is much better. My case is only 7 inches wide.
AMD Athlon II X2 235e Processor 2.7ghz
6GB of RAM
1TB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
Now I'm a pretty big gamer and I'm looking forward to some of the games coming out within the next year specifically Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. (I have no doubt I can run D3) As of now I can't even run The Witcher 2 on full without any problems. It runs at about 5-9 FPS.
This is more of my specs, and how I meet minimum for Witcher 2.
Now my question is, what should I upgrade to ensure I can run a game like Skyrim. What needs to be upgraded the most to run newer games?
I was told that I should upgrade my graphics card. That's why I've come here. My case is roughly 14 inches in length, not including whats in the way on the inside, So I need a nice compact card that has more "oomph" to it.
Any suggestions?
Please I need some help.
So for you, everything looks solid other than you GPU. So I'd check out the Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2011 article, figure how much you want to spend, and read the description of the card to make sure it's the size you need, and suits what you're looking for performance wise.
AMD Phenom II x4 3.4GHz
4GB Ram DDR3 (1333GHz)
750GB HDD
6870 1GB graphics card
Runs flawlessly on High but with around 10-20 FPS on Ultra.
Note that it cost around 1,000 euro (should be around 1300 US $) Christmas 2009 with most expensive part being the graphics card. If you buy aimed you can get a very decent system without paying too much. Every PC I bought so far wasn't "top" or "a beast" like say Hpnot1Q's or Scyber's but it can run pretty much anything with minimal upgrades for about 4 years. Then i either upgrade or buy a new one.
I've been checking out Tom's Hardware but no help so far there, the only suggestion I got was sell my PC and save up, which I know I don't need to do.
I need something very similar in size, I have the PNY GT 240, according to amazon it's dimensions are, 11 x 2.5 x 6 inches. No clue what that means all I know is I unfortunately have a small case.
I updated my last post if you care to take a look.
This is the one I'm looking at currently. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133341&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video Cards-_-PNY Technologies Inc.-_-14133341
It's not cheeper, anywhere... what are you talking about.
Go with that recertified card while they still have it in stock. It has good reviews. 1 or 2 people complains about black screens (Card overheat, that's their fault). Other about faulty card (they can just rma)
A 470 for 200$ is a really good price.
But for 100$ more you could get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500166 one of the best (Has an aftermarker cooler on it, quiet and cold while overcloaked)
CPU is fine, besides the fact that it's an AMD.
GT 240 is... OK. Should be enough for Skyrim, but probably not maxed.
I don't know why that says 3.2 gb video ram that's a totally unrealistic number unless I'm missing something.
I would up the video card, maybe both, but video card definitely. 240 is kinda previous generation now. But I run stuff OK on my 330M, but I can't even run Oblivion properly maxed.
Which card, depends on what you can afford. Unfortunately I work with laptops right now so I don't really know the desktop cards, just go to newegg or something and find a card better than yours for a decent price lol.
Just make sure it's not a Radeon unless you like your computer overheating constantly, especially if another unit is going to be close to the VC (my dad had some issues with his sound card, btw, sound cards rock).
If you have such severe fitting problems get a new case ffs... fitting problems also means less ventilation and greater issues with performance, you people should have learned to buy proper cases by now...
Fitting issues. ON A DESKTOP. My laptop is freaking tiny and there's only one fan and you can't get to anything without disassembling the whole thing and youneed to take off the motherboard to get to the radiator and you talk about fitting issues????????????? /end of small rant
Evidence that you are wrong ? it says 300$ not 200$
ie: its not your 570 that are cheaper, its your 470 that are more expensive. On newegg a 470 is around 200$...
Its like saying, go get a ferrari, its the same price than a toyota in NL. Then you bring me evidence: toyota sells for 500,000$...
That just makes no sense. And stop being arrogant, it just makes you look bad.
My opinion of NL people was higher than this...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506 So any thoughts on this people?
It's a good card, gf using it in her build. No problem with it.
Whats your case ?
So they must be wrong? My case is 15 inches long and 7 inches wide.