Graphics Card

[Anonymous]

Hey guys im looking to get a new graphics card for my pc at home. As i student the funds are limited. I never upgraded my graphics card before (the hardware isnt my strongpoint)but the standard one that came with the pc just isnt good enough.

Can anyone recommend a good one at a decent price that will run well with dual hd monitors and run tools like maya, mudbox, unity and udk fairly smooth.

I am currently running:

Windows 7 Home Premium
Processer: Intel Core i3-2100 cpu @ 3.10Ghz
Display adapter: Intel HD Graphics Family
Ram: 3 Gig (will also be upgrading this with graphics card)
System: 64-bit operating system

Cheers

[Anonymous]

You would need to give a bit more information to be honest. I’ve built a good few machines so I’ve experience in shopping around.

Whats your budget (be as precise as possible)

The bit thats gonna hold you back is the dual HD monitors. Dual hdmi ports are generally only on the higher end gfx cards.

Usually you’ll get one hdmi port and one dvi or vga with an adapter to hd.

I used to have an ati 4850 Which was old but still runs all the programs brilliantly. Upgraded recently to an nvidia gtx550 ti (powerhouse) but to be honest, the difference wasn’t that noticeable. I mean sure, the renders are quicker on the likes of 3dmax if you have a high poly count, and the fps is higher for games and engines but If i hadn’t timed it or ran fraps then I never would have notice.

So bottom line, pick a price, pick a card or 2 and We’ll help you pick out one.

P.s. don’t take good cooling systems for granted. A decent fan can have a huge difference with over clocking and performance.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Also. Make sure your motherboard has a pci express slot for the modern graphics card.

And BEWARE THE NEW RAM! Be 100% sure that your motherboard supports the ram your buying.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Make sure the power supply in the PC currently has enough to supply the new graphics card too. :)

[Anonymous]

My pc was only bought in November so Im sure the motherboard is compatible for new ram or graphics card. I may take it into pc world or some other shop and ask them just to make sure.[/quote:dea04788d6]

You wouldn’t buy tyres for a car without checking the size.

That is a very very bad idea. You bought it out of a store so you have absolutely no idea whats in it. It might be a very old motherboard. The difference between ddr3 ram and ddr2 is tremendous. you could have 3 gb’s of ram with absolutely no speed.

I highly HIGHLY recommend learning a little bit about whats in your PC before putting it under the knife. If it doesn’t support but the slot fits then you could do huge amounts of damage to your pc.

Pc world really isn’t needed. You just need to know the ram your buying and what your motherboard supports.

It kinda works like this,

DDR2
pc2 6400
pc …..
pc2 8500
DDR3
pc3 10600
…..
pc3 12400

DDR2 and 3 are different generations of Ram.
Higher numbers mean higher speeds of Ram. Usually a MB supports a few different types.

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2164950

Take a look at the specs section and youll see the different types of RAM supported.

[Anonymous]

Its DDR3 anyway i just checked.

My pc was only bought in November so Im sure the motherboard is compatible for new ram or graphics card. I may take it into pc world or some other shop and ask them just to make sure.[/quote:eac03176df]

You wouldn’t buy tyres for a car without checking the size.

That is a very very bad idea. You bought it out of a store so you have absolutely no idea whats in it. It might be a very old motherboard. The difference between ddr3 ram and ddr2 is tremendous. you could have 3 gb’s of ram with absolutely no speed.

I highly HIGHLY recommend learning a little bit about whats in your PC before putting it under the knife. If it doesn’t support but the slot fits then you could do huge amounts of damage to your pc.

Pc world really isn’t needed. You just need to know the ram your buying and what your motherboard supports.

It kinda works like this,

DDR2
pc2 6400
pc …..
pc2 8500
DDR3
pc3 10600
…..
pc3 12400

DDR2 and 3 are different generations of Ram.
Higher numbers mean higher speeds of Ram. Usually a MB supports a few different types.

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=ECE2164950

Take a look at the specs section and youll see the different types of RAM supported.[/quote:eac03176df]

[Author]

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