Looking to get a new graphics card, worried about power and/or bottlenecking.

[tresus125]

I built my rig about two and a half years ago with full intention to upgrade from the subpar onboard graphics to a real graphics card once I could come up with the money. Well, I have the money and I'm worried about not being able to get good performance because of my Older CPU. I'd like it if someone could explain to me how that kind of thing works and if its even an issue. I would like to be able to run Skyrim to where it looks better than on console, if that's realistic.
Here is the card I thought I might get, tell me if it would work w/ my specs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024

Here's my specs:
Windows 7
ASUS M5A88-M Motherboard.
Corsair Builder's series 600w PSU
2 WD 500GB HDD's (1TB total)
AMD FX-4100 Zambezi Quad-Core 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) CPU
NZXT M59 Case (Trying to be mindful of space a new card would take up in there)
8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
Onboard GPU.

I'd like to find a GPU that wouldn't be bottlenecking too much. If it is CPU or PSU that isn't good enough I can replace it.
Thanks!

 

[clutchc]

I can come up with no reason that card will not work fine for you. The FX-4100, while not the fastest CPU, is enough to keep up with the GTX 750 Ti. The PSU is more than sufficient. The only thing I can possibly suggest would be to maybe upgrade the motherboard BIOS to the latest version first. Although I really don't think that will be necessary. It should work fine.

 

[tresus125]

I can come up with no reason that card will not work fine for you. The FX-4100, while not the fastest CPU, is enough to keep up with the GTX 750 Ti. The PSU is more than sufficient. The only thing I can possibly suggest would be to maybe upgrade the motherboard BIOS to the latest version first. Although I really don't think that will be necessary. It should work fine.

Would you recommend the Superclocked, FTW, or simply the regular Ti? Thanks!

 

[clutchc]

I used the SC card in your link and was very satisfied with its performance. The FTW has a bit more headroom for OC'ing because of its beefier cooler and required 6 pin header. (Your PSU has that available, so no prob). The FTW is 9" long, but your case accepts cards up to 10" long, so again... no prob.

If you don't plan on OC'ing the card, you may want to consider this PNY. It has the fastest core clock out-of-the-box of any GTX 750 TI that requires no 6 pin connection: http://www.pny.com/GTX_750_Ti_2048MB_OC_PCIe?sku=VCGGTX750T2XPB-OC
I've also built with it. Equally good card.

Whichever route you go, it will be a major improvement over integrated graphics.

 

[clutchc]

One thing to note...
Depending on your budget, you can easily support a faster card than the GTX 750 Ti if you are interested.

 

[tresus125]

One thing to note...
Depending on your budget, you can easily support a faster card than the GTX 750 Ti if you are interested.

I'm spending a MAXIMUM of $200. What's the best card I can get with that that my system will accept?

 

[clutchc]

One thing to note...
Depending on your budget, you can easily support a faster card than the GTX 750 Ti if you are interested.

I'm spending a MAXIMUM of $200. What's the best card I can get with that that my system will accept?

With the Corsair 600W PSU, you can get a GTX 960 or R9-285: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600531760%20600537575&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=BESTMATCH&PageSize=30
...as long as the card length is below 10".

But realistically, keeping below the max budget, I'd suggest the R9-270X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600473875&IsNodeId=1
It is probably closer to a balanced card/ CPU combination than the above. Your FX-4100 is a bit of a bottleneck when you get in the above class of card.

 

[tresus125]

One thing to note...
Depending on your budget, you can easily support a faster card than the GTX 750 Ti if you are interested.

I'm spending a MAXIMUM of $200. What's the best card I can get with that that my system will accept?

With the Corsair 600W PSU, you can get a GTX 960 or R9-285: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600531760%20600537575&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=BESTMATCH&PageSize=30
...as long as the card length is below 10".

But realistically, keeping below the max budget, I'd suggest the R9-270X: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600473875&IsNodeId=1
It is probably closer to a balanced card/ CPU combination than the above. Your FX-4100 is a bit of a bottleneck when you get in the above class of card.

So if I wanted to get the 750 Ti SC, Could I run next-gen games on my current build? Could I run Skyrim on MAXIMUM settings?

 

[clutchc]

Here's the min and rec. requirements for Skyrim. You pass that easily.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:System_Requirements
As to max settings, it will depend on the screen resolution and if you play multiplayer or not. I assume they have MP hashed out by now.
Anyway, I don't know about max settings, but even at 1080p you should be able to play at very high settings. Here is a tweak guide for Skyrim written by one of the best, Koroush Ghazi: http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide#1
I recommend reading it and following some of the pointers Mr. Ghazi puts forth. His guides are the best in the business for getting the best performance for your system in games.