GPU for older PC

hammond

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2009
41
0
18,530
Hey guys, I was given an old Gateway 700GR. Specs are as follows:

Windows 7 32-bit
3.4P4 HT
2gigs of ram
Not sure on the PSU, it's an Antec, but no writing other than that.
22" monitor (1680x1050 same res I use for gaming)

I was wondering if my 8800gt oc 512mb DDR3 card was causing a bottleneck. The card runs great on a newer PC I have but doesn't seem to do as well on this older rig. Is it just because of the other older parts or should I get a lesser card? It's mainly for my wife to play WoW on. Thanks.
 
Solution
According to Gateway your PSU is 300w so an upgrade would be a good idea. Something like this would do the job;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.478082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.470904
That total $233 before rebates and $197 after. Then you just need to add whatever video card you want. For your resolution I would recommend an HD5770 or GTX 460 depending on what you can afford but there are also cards closer to $100 that will do pretty well at 1680x1050(HD5750/HD4850/GTS 250.)
The processor is a x3 but the chip is actually a quad core with one of the cores locked. The motherboard allows you to unlock the 4th core in the BIOS. It isn't guaranteed to work but the...

njure

Distinguished
Aug 13, 2010
56
0
18,660
I wouldn't say that the 8800gt is the bottleneck, I would rather say that it is the bottle and the rest of the system is the neck. That processor I would say is the main reason why it doesn't work out.
 
I don't think you understand what a bottleneck is. Your processor is going to "bottleneck" the card in that it cannot process frames as fast as the card can. That means the CPU will limit the card from operating at it's full potential. There is no reason to buy a weaker card as long as your motherboard and power supply can use the 8800GT.
Actually I suppose a weaker card would be more power efficient but that is the only advantage.
 

njure

Distinguished
Aug 13, 2010
56
0
18,660
So.. Basically you need a CPU upgrade if you want an improvement, and with a CPU upgrade more stuff follows. You're looking at a new motherboard and new RAM as well. I would suggest a "bang for the buck" upgrade for about £200-300 where you upgrade these key components.

Well then. Not to be pushy but I will give you a list of price worthy components, and I'll be open minded to both AMD and Nvidia. I'll give you not one, not two, but six builds with a motherboard, processor and memory modules. Keep in mind that I check prices at Swedish sites ;)

Here goes AMD:

£369.33/575.83 USD

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, Quad Core, 3,2Ghz, AM3, 8MB, 125W, Boxed

Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4, Socket-AM3 AMD 790X+SB750, ATX, DDR3 , USB3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, GbLAN, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Corsair Dominator DHX DDR3 1600MHz 4GB Kit w/2x 2GB XMS3 DHX, CL9-9-9-24

£326.33/508.80 USD

AMD Phenom II X4 945 3,0Ghz, AM3, 8MB, 95W, Boxed

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD3P, Socket-AM2+/AM3AMD 790X+SB750, DDR2, ATX, GbLAN, Firewire, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Corsair TWIN2X PC6400C5DHX DDR2 4GB KIT Kit w/2x 2GB XMS2-6400 dimm's, CL5-5-5-18, 800MHz, DHX

£188.75/294.28 USD

AMD Athlon II X3 435 Triple Core, 2.9Ghz, AM3, 1,5MB, 95W, Boxed

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3, 870, S-AM3 AMD 870+SB750, ATX, DDR3, USB3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, GbLAN, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Corsair Value S. DDR3 1333MHz 2GB CL9 Unbuffered, CL9-9-9-24, 240pin, 1.5V

Okey AMD, you're out, let's get on the awesome Intel train.

£369.33/575.83 USD

Intel Core™ i5 Quad Processor i5-760 Quad Core, 2.80Ghz, Socket 1156, 8MB, 95W, Boxed w/fan

Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3, P55, Socket-1156 4xDDR3, ATX, GbLAN, USB3.0, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Crucial DDR3 1066MHz 4GB KIT, CL7, Kit w/two matched DDR3 2GB, 240pin

£343.53/535.61 USD

Intel Core™ i5 Dual Processor i5-650 Dual Core, 3.2Ghz, Socket 1156, 4MB, 73W, Boxed w/fan

ASUS P7P55D-E LX, P55, Socket-1156 DDR3, SATA 6Gb/s, USB3.0, ATX, GbLAN, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Kingston ValueR. DDR3 1333MHz 4GB, CL9 Kit w/two matched ValueRAM 2GB DDR3

£236.39/368.56 USD

Intel Core™ i3 Dual Processor i3-530 Dual Core, 2.93Ghz, Socket 1156, 4MB, 73W, Boxed w/fan

ASUS P7H55-V, H55, Socket-1156 DDR3, ATX, GbLAN, HDMI, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Corsair Value S. DDR3 1333MHz 2GB CL9 Unbuffered, CL9-9-9-24, 240pin, 1.5V


Anyway, good luck with that!

Edit* I just added the real prices instead of my estimates of how much a quid was worth ;) I also added dollars, it doesn't say on your profile where you're from..
 

hammond

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2009
41
0
18,530
Ok, sounds good. so just salvage the case and get a new motherboard, perhaps a core 2 duo and some faster ram? Will I have to get a new PSU when I change the motherboard? 200 sounds reasonable.
 
According to Gateway your PSU is 300w so an upgrade would be a good idea. Something like this would do the job;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.478082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.470904
That total $233 before rebates and $197 after. Then you just need to add whatever video card you want. For your resolution I would recommend an HD5770 or GTX 460 depending on what you can afford but there are also cards closer to $100 that will do pretty well at 1680x1050(HD5750/HD4850/GTS 250.)
The processor is a x3 but the chip is actually a quad core with one of the cores locked. The motherboard allows you to unlock the 4th core in the BIOS. It isn't guaranteed to work but the odds are very good(80-90%.) The power supply can handle any of the cards I mentioned and is modular for a less cluttered case. The ram is 4gb from a decent brand and DDR3 1600.
If you would like a case so you don't have to deal with swapping out the motherboards this one is serviceable and very cheap($23 shipped after the promo code);
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154102
 
Solution