Graphics Card Upgrade

[BladedEdge]

Hello there, tom's HARDWARE community! My simple question of the day is...

What can I upgrade my graphics card to?

Now...what I will need my computer for:

A few old games, such as half-life 2 eps, Awesomenauts, Garry's mod, and the odd
generic mmo

Now for my specs(please don't laugh, this is an inherited PC!)

CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3500+

GPU:GeForce 8600GT

PSU:Unsure, but will open case later, please go on the assumption of 400w?

Ram:18gb - 6gbs used, not really sure why the other Ram is unusable?

Mobo:Unsure, don't know how to check.

The second to last thing I want to talk about is heat. I am unsure if my case has fans installed, so it may have passive cooling.

If so, I was thinking of going with a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-Graphics-PCI-Express-Dust-proof/dp/B004XANO24/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top , But after thought and consideration, what if there isn't enough cooling?
There is also a silver thermal thingy on the back of my case where a fan should be and it says to not take it off so I don't know if i can put a fan there. Also if I was able to put a fan at the front of the system and create positive air pressure, would that be helpfull to my system.
PRICE POINT: £30-60

Phew!-*mopes brow*

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[thasan1]

for £60 you can probably get Radeon HD 7730, though im unsure if it has benn released yet. this card is also good.

 

[doucejos]

Alright first of all you probably have a too old pc for a gpu anyway, I would say, Just save your cash and go take a hammer and pound the **** our of that pc keep the case you might want it...

 

[KieranDavidW123]

Hello there, tom's HARDWARE community! My simple question of the day is...

What can I upgrade my graphics card to?

Now...what I will need my computer for:

A few old games, such as half-life 2 eps, Awesomenauts, Garry's mod, and the odd
generic mmo

Now for my specs(please don't laugh, this is an inherited PC!)

CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3500+

GPU:GeForce 8600GT

PSU:Unsure, but will open case later, please go on the assumption of 400w?

Ram:18gb - 6gbs used, not really sure why the other Ram is unusable?

Mobo:Unsure, don't know how to check.

The second to last thing I want to talk about is heat. I am unsure if my case has fans installed, so it may have passive cooling.

If so, I was thinking of going with a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-Graphics-PCI-Express-Dust-proof/dp/B004XANO24/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top , But after thought and consideration, what if there isn't enough cooling?
There is also a silver thermal thingy on the back of my case where a fan should be and it says to not take it off so I don't know if i can put a fan there. Also if I was able to put a fan at the front of the system and create positive air pressure, would that be helpfull to my system.
PRICE POINT: £30-60

Phew!-*mopes brow*

Thanks in advance guys!

Your current system might bottleneck the 6670 a little bit, Those games would only require probably a 6450: http://www.amazon.co.uk/VTX3D-Graphics-PCI-Express-DirectX-Technology/dp/B005YZO3MW/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1369576508&sr=1-2&keywords=amd+radeon+HD+6450

But I would need to see a picture of your motherboard and I would need your Power supply wattage if you want to upgrade to a 6670.

Regards,

Kieran

 

[maxalge]

Hello there, tom's HARDWARE community! My simple question of the day is...

What can I upgrade my graphics card to?

Now...what I will need my computer for:

A few old games, such as half-life 2 eps, Awesomenauts, Garry's mod, and the odd
generic mmo

Now for my specs(please don't laugh, this is an inherited PC!)

CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3500+

GPU:GeForce 8600GT

PSU:Unsure, but will open case later, please go on the assumption of 400w?

Ram:18gb - 6gbs used, not really sure why the other Ram is unusable?

Mobo:Unsure, don't know how to check.

The second to last thing I want to talk about is heat. I am unsure if my case has fans installed, so it may have passive cooling.

If so, I was thinking of going with a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-Graphics-PCI-Express-Dust-proof/dp/B004XANO24/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top , But after thought and consideration, what if there isn't enough cooling?
There is also a silver thermal thingy on the back of my case where a fan should be and it says to not take it off so I don't know if i can put a fan there. Also if I was able to put a fan at the front of the system and create positive air pressure, would that be helpfull to my system.
PRICE POINT: £30-60

Phew!-*mopes brow*

Thanks in advance guys!

Install this:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html


Go to the mainboard tab, post back with "manufacturer", "model", under graphics interface write down "version" and link width "max supported".




Also opening the case and looking at the power supply wattage would be a good idea.

 

[KieranDavidW123]

Hello there, tom's HARDWARE community! My simple question of the day is...

What can I upgrade my graphics card to?

Now...what I will need my computer for:

A few old games, such as half-life 2 eps, Awesomenauts, Garry's mod, and the odd
generic mmo

Now for my specs(please don't laugh, this is an inherited PC!)

CPU:AMD Athlon 64 3500+

GPU:GeForce 8600GT

PSU:Unsure, but will open case later, please go on the assumption of 400w?

Ram:18gb - 6gbs used, not really sure why the other Ram is unusable?

Mobo:Unsure, don't know how to check.

The second to last thing I want to talk about is heat. I am unsure if my case has fans installed, so it may have passive cooling.

If so, I was thinking of going with a http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-Graphics-PCI-Express-Dust-proof/dp/B004XANO24/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top , But after thought and consideration, what if there isn't enough cooling?
There is also a silver thermal thingy on the back of my case where a fan should be and it says to not take it off so I don't know if i can put a fan there. Also if I was able to put a fan at the front of the system and create positive air pressure, would that be helpfull to my system.
PRICE POINT: £30-60

Phew!-*mopes brow*

Thanks in advance guys!

Install this:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html


Go to the mainboard tab, post back with "manufacturer", "model", under graphics interface write down "version" and link width "max supported".




Also opening the case and looking at the power supply wattage would be a good idea.

Yes please do as we can google your motherboard and see if it has a spare PCI e x16 which you plug your GPU into.

 

[BladedEdge]

Ok! I will try to post my results of cpu-z and the mobo, but gou-z says I have a 116x pci-express card?

 

[KieranDavidW123]

Ok! I will try to post my results of cpu-z and the mobo, but gou-z says I have a 116x pci-express card?

Don't you mean x16 pci e slot?.