Should I buy the gt 1030

[GreekTzatziki]

Hello everyone! I have an old pre built computer and I want to give it a boost. I'm planning to buy the gt 1030 and increase the ram from 4 to 8 gigabytes. I really like strategic games like civ V and VI and also Hearts of Iron IV. My CPU is an old Athlon ii x3 455. Will I be able to play these games appropriately on 720p? I also don't want to get a higher tier gpu than the 1030 as my PSU is really old and is only 300 watts.
Any help would be appreciated!

 

[JoeMomma]

A GT 1030 ($70) will help. There are quite a few single-slot low-profile models.

However the GTX 1050 ($120 for about 6x the {GPU cores x frequency} of a 1030)
or GTX 1050Ti ($160 for 8x 1030 core-x-freq) will work with a 300W PSU also.
But those can only be found as dual slot or full height cards.

 

[GreekTzatziki]

A GT 1030 ($70) will help. There are quite a few single-slot low-profile models.

However the GTX 1050 ($120 for about 6x the {GPU cores x frequency} of a 1030)
or GTX 1050Ti ($160 for 8x 1030 core-x-freq) will work with a 300W PSU also.
But those can only be found as dual slot or full height cards.

Are you sure that they are going to work with my PSU? It is a no brand one that came with my pc. But if it is compatible im pretty sure im going to buy the 1050.

 

[JoeMomma]

Are you sure that they are going to work with my PSU? It is a no brand one that came with my pc. But if it is compatible im pretty sure im going to buy the 1050.

You will probably be okay.

My GF has a small Lenovo with a 250W PSU and many people stuffed graphics cards that require 300W into it. The thing is a GT 1050 only uses 75W but has a 300W requirement. If you have overclocked your CPU and have 8 hard drives, 13 fans and RGB disco lighting, all of that stuff together may be over 300W.

 

[samer.forums]

you will regret getting that card. it will be a disaster in gaming.

If you must , look for used cards on ebay for what you can afford to pay. you will get a better card and a much faster one.

GTX 1030 is very slow.

and get the GTX 1050 ti with 4G GDDR5 not the 2G 1050 one if you want to pay for new

 

[10tacle]

I would not spend the money on anything higher than a GTX 1030 even if you had a PSU that could handle it. You are severely CPU bottlenecked with such an old, and by today's standards, very weak CPU. Anything higher like say a GTX 1050 would be a waste. Would it improve performance over the 1030? Yes, but you wouldn't be getting your full money's worth out of the more powerful GPU, especially running at 1366x768 resolution where CPU performance matters as much as GPU performance. An alternative to the 1030 is AMD's RX 550 or the slightly faster RX 560 for about $100 (US pricing). I would not spend over that on a GPU with your old chipset.

 

[dontlistentome]

Assuming your computer's motherboard is a standard design, it puts out 75W on the graphics card slot. So you can power any card that does not require a 6 pin pci-ex connector, up to a 1050 Ti.

Your games are strategy games. These games use the CPU a lot. For this reason, I don't think it's worth it to buy a 1050 Ti. I think your choices, in new cards, is really between the GT 1030 and GTX 1050. Considering you have an Athlon II X3 and considering you play strategy games, I don't think you'd see any practical difference between the two cards. The GTX 1050 would be able to play other types of games better, should your taste in games change in the future.

 

[GreekTzatziki]

I would not spend the money on anything higher than a GTX 1030 even if you had a PSU that could handle it. You are severely CPU bottlenecked with such an old, and by today's standards, very weak CPU. Anything higher like say a GTX 1050 would be a waste. Would it improve performance over the 1030? Yes, but you wouldn't be getting your full money's worth out of the more powerful GPU, especially running at 1366x768 resolution where CPU performance matters as much as GPU performance. An alternative to the 1030 is AMD's RX 550 or the slightly faster RX 560 for about $100 (US pricing). I would not spend over that on a GPU with your old chipset.

Hmm. I knew that my cpu is relly old but i thought that since it has 3 cores at 3.2 ghz, it would still be able to play the games I want.