Will this graphics card support on my motherboard ?

maxera

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Hey guys I'm planning to upgrade to ATI Radeon 7850 by the end of this year.

So this is my specs :

Motherboard - MSI 770-C45
CPU - AMD Athlon II X3 455
RAM - 8 GB
HDD - 500 GB+
Graphics Card - ATI Radeon 3850
Power supply - 450W

As you can see I'm curious if 7850 can slot into my old motherboard. So can 7850 slot into my old motherboard without any error or problems ?
Yeah I'm going to upgrade my power supply too if this graphics card is suitable for my motherboard

Hope you expert can answer this. Thanks
 

blade061188

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The card will fit, but you will likely see a CPU bottleneck with that CPU,

What's your budget for the whole upgrade? We might be able to put together something that will be a better performing package for you.

What PSU are you thinking about upgrading to?
 

maxera

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May I know what is CPU bottleneck ?

I'm planning to upgrade to 550W PSU perhaps.

About that. before this I use motherboard that only support to ddr2 ram. After that I upgrade motherboard that can use ddr3 ram. ( I use my brother old MSI 770 - C45 ) . Then I had to find a new cpu and I pick that cpu and upgrade to 8gb RAM. It already cost me RM 500 total in Malaysian Ringgit /150USD ( based on google currency ) For another upgrade my budget is RM 1000 / 300+USD ( hardware price may differ from different country ) .
So yeah I'm planning to upgrade to 7850 card and 550W PSU.

So, if I can achieve this upgrade , I hope can run future game at high / med settings game .
 

blade061188

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Normally, your GPU handles the work of running a game. It has the hardest work to do, rendering all the frames. The CPU has to do a fair amount of work, but in most systems, games are GPU limited.

A CPU bottleneck is when your CPU can't keep up with your GPU, and your GPU doesn't operate as fast as it could because your CPU isn't "feeding" it fast enough.

If you upgrade as you plan, you will see a good improvement over the 3850, but your next upgrade should be motherboard/CPU.
 

maxera

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My resolution 1280 x 1024. Yeah just perfect for gaming resoultion ;)

Most of the times I play top games such as Starcraft 2 , Diablo 3, Company of Heroes , DOTA 2, Skyrim , BF 3 ( LOWEST SETTS now ) , AC series and others top games that will come out soon next year. If can great graphics card that can handle Company of Heroes 2 and Command Conquer Generals 2 ! My favorite games mostly are rts , rpg and fps .
 

blade061188

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128 and 256 are referring to GPU memory bus width.

256 is essentially a "wider" bus and can pass data faster. but this only affects the GPU memory speed. It doesn't affect what the card can or cannot render.

There are lots of other factors for GPU performance as well, like architecture and clock speed.
 

maxera

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So that mean if I use 6850 + my current CPU so they can run together better than with 7850 + my current CPU ? ( I only want combination that can run maximum that better than having CPU bottleneck )
 

maxera

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Thanks a lot man. You are being very helpful. +1
Really like tomshardware community.
6850 it is.
and last question which version should I get 1gb or 2gb since my resolution only 1280 x 1024 ?
 

blade061188

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Happy to help!

What is the price difference? You probably only need 1GB but more memory means more textures can be loaded. You wouldn't need it on anything that's currently out, but if it is a small price difference, it might be worth it.
 

maxera

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its 100 difference here. Quite expensive . 150 usd for 1gb version .
Do you think I need to change my PSU ? 400W * ( not 450W ) I think currently I'm using 370W including 3850 now. maybe it does not make any much difference ?
 

maxera

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Oh okay. Looks like I'm gonna invest in Corsair 600W+80 for 90usd ( 280 myr ) . Thanks again mate. Hope I can successfully upgrade my pc this december without any problem. :)