Is it worth getting a Graphics Card?

[minibois]

I want play games on my PC, but at the moment I can't play them on anything higher than 720p and low settings. That is mostly due to me not having a GPU in my system. (Obviously not a dedicated GPU, but a integrated GPU. See system specs.). I was just wondering if it was worth getting a GPU, or would it be wasting money since the rest of my PC is not that high end. I'm also not sure if my PSU can handle a GPU. I'm not looking to play games at ultra with 120 fps, but just being able to play games like Skyrim, Fallout, GMod, Bioshock infinite on high settings with a decent fps. My budget would be something around 250 euros (which is about 250 dollars). I probably want a NVidia GPU, but if an AMD GPU is recommended that is alright too.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks. 

 

System specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M4a89GTD PRO (Which includes 4 DDR3 slots and 2 PCIe slots)

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 (A AMD dual core, 3.1 GHz processor)

Memory: 2 2GB, 1600 MHz sticks.

OS: Windows 7 (64 bits, I think premium) 

PSU: 500W.

 

These are my most important system specs. HDD, OS and all other details are still alright. My case still has space for a GPU.

 

[Jobbe03]

I'd personally probably save up for a whole new system tbh

[OriginalPromise]

You should save up and try to build a new system from the first place.

~$800 should be enough to run games decently.

[Stefano]

You could get a new system but it will bottleneck any new card you get.

[nokturrduk84]

You need to change whole PC to play games.

[SeanAngelo]

no point in getting a gpu, just save up and get a whole new system, you'll see the performance difference

[AlwaysFSX]

For a €250 upgrade right now, I would get this:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 750K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (€61.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard  (€61.04 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Superclocked Video Card  (€100.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €223.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 23:23 CEST+0200

 

Just throwing in a new gpu won't do much because your CPU will hold it back a lot.

[Jumper118]

I want play games on my PC, but at the moment I can't play them on anything higher than 720p and low settings. That is mostly due to me not having a GPU in my system. (Obviously not a dedicated GPU, but a integrated GPU. See system specs.). I was just wondering if it was worth getting a GPU, or would it be wasting money since the rest of my PC is not that high end. I'm also not sure if my PSU can handle a GPU. I'm not looking to play games at ultra with 120 fps, but just being able to play games like Skyrim, Fallout, GMod, Bioshock infinite on high settings with a decent fps. My budget would be something around 250 euros (which is about 250 dollars). I probably want a NVidia GPU, but if an AMD GPU is recommended that is alright too.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks. 

 

System specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M4a89GTD PRO (Which includes 4 DDR3 slots and 2 PCIe slots)

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 (A AMD dual core, 3.1 GHz processor)

Memory: 2 2GB, 1600 MHz sticks.

OS: Windows 7 (64 bits, I think premium) 

PSU: 500W.

 

These are my most important system specs. HDD, OS and all other details are still alright. My case still has space for a GPU.

what brand psu is it? a phenom ii x4 and a 750 ti would be fine for what you want to do. then you dont have to get a new motherboard.

[WhatTheQuack]

On the Nvidia Side of things, the GTX 750ti and GTX 760 should be in your budget (based on a google currency conversion). If you are willing to spend a little extra, the GTX 770 would be a good choice.

 

I'm sure AMD will have better performing cards at this price, this seems to be the case at the moment.

 

However, as other people on the thread have said, you might be better of saving up for a whole new system, as it is likely that your GPU will be bottlenecked by your CPU

[knight_40k]

You don't need a whole new PC like others are saying IMO. A cheaper option is upgrade your ram to 8GB (4x4GB 1600MHz), get a Phenom II x4 955/965, and a Radeon 7850 or equivilent and you will be a happy camper.

[Clyne]

get a phenom x4, a r7 260x or a r9 270, and upgrade to 8gb of ram, it should be good

[RevoltTrain]

You don't need a whole new PC like others are saying IMO. A cheaper option is upgrade your ram to 8GB (4x4GB 1600MHz), get a Phenom II x4 955/965, and a Radeon 7850 or equivilent and you will be a happy camper.

A 7770 would be more than enough for him / her.

[Jumper118]

You don't need a whole new PC like others are saying IMO. A cheaper option is upgrade your ram to 8GB (4x4GB 1600MHz), get a Phenom II x4 955/965, and a Radeon 7850 or equivilent and you will be a happy camper.

 

 

get a phenom x4, a r7 260x or a r9 270, and upgrade to 8gb of ram, it should be good

the only thing is that we don't know what 500w psu he has and it might not have a 6 PIN POWER FOR THE 270X OR 7850. i would stick to a 750 ti until he tells us what psu it is.

[Clyne]

the only thing is that we don't know what 500w psu he has and it might not have a 6 PIN POWER FOR THE 270X OR 7850. i would stick to a 750 ti until he tells us what psu it is.

or a gtx 750 ti

[jnvqc]

What is the brand of the psu, if it is a generic non painted you should upgrade it.

I agree with knight_40k you don't need a new system, just upgrade your cpu and gpu, however, 4gb are fine (if you don't plan to game with tons of tabs open in the background and other programs.)

Keep in mind that uour motherboard ONLY supports am3 cpus.

[knight_40k]

A 7770 would be more than enough for him / her.

 

True. I just suggested the 7850 because I have one running with my Phenom 965 and that machine is still quite capable of mid-range gaming and I have the same motherboard as OP.

[RevoltTrain]

True. I just suggested the 7850 because I have one running with my Phenom 965 and that machine is still quite capable of mid-range gaming and I have the same motherboard as OP.

The 7770 is great as well, as long as it's the 2GB option:

http://www.amazon.com/GDDR5-technology-Graphics-Cards-HD7770-2GD5/dp/B0088PK040/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410731358&sr=8-2&keywords=7770

[Jumper118]

 

Intel Build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Micro Center) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($131.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $241.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 17:40 EDT-0400

 

AMD Build

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($74.24 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A55M-VG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($44.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  ($131.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $251.20

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-14 17:45 EDT-0400

 

You're gonna have to live with 4GB for now, but these two upgrades will give you a substantial performance boost. You'll be able to play all the games you listed at 1080p

 

a phenom ii x4 is faster than both of those cpu's and he wouldn't need to change his board. 

[Jumper118]

It'll still be around the same price either way. I can only find used tray ones on eBay since they're out of production. + a decent heatsink it'll be about $100. Might as well buy something new with which you have a decent upgrade path. It's only marginally faster when it comes to gaming as well

the pentium is the only option in that case. fm2+ has no upgrade path and a H81 board isn't that great. i would just get a phenom then save up for a z97 board and an i5.

[minibois]

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I had to look up what PSU I have, because it came with the case I have. I found that it is the "Antec earthwatts EA500 500W". I found it on Newegg, the item # is N82E16817371007, if you want to look it up. 

 

I'm not sure if I'm looking to buy a complete new system, as my system is not that old and runs anything else just fine. 

 

[thoristhebest]

I want play games on my PC, but at the moment I can't play them on anything higher than 720p and low settings. That is mostly due to me not having a GPU in my system. (Obviously not a dedicated GPU, but a integrated GPU. See system specs.). I was just wondering if it was worth getting a GPU, or would it be wasting money since the rest of my PC is not that high end. I'm also not sure if my PSU can handle a GPU. I'm not looking to play games at ultra with 120 fps, but just being able to play games like Skyrim, Fallout, GMod, Bioshock infinite on high settings with a decent fps. My budget would be something around 250 euros (which is about 250 dollars). I probably want a NVidia GPU, but if an AMD GPU is recommended that is alright too.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks. 

 

System specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M4a89GTD PRO (Which includes 4 DDR3 slots and 2 PCIe slots)

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 (A AMD dual core, 3.1 GHz processor)

Memory: 2 2GB, 1600 MHz sticks.

OS: Windows 7 (64 bits, I think premium) 

PSU: 500W.

 

These are my most important system specs. HDD, OS and all other details are still alright. My case still has space for a GPU.

just get a cheap card of amazon and try it. if not then get a new system. most games utilize 4 cores and 8gb ram now. so athlons are dieing a death! sounds like a nice little system thought man

[Jumper118]

 

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I had to look up what PSU I have, because it came with the case I have. I found that it is the "Antec earthwatts EA500 500W". I found it on Newegg, the item # is N82E16817371007, if you want to look it up. 

 

I'm not sure if I'm looking to buy a complete new system, as my system is not that old and runs anything else just fine. 

 

 

your psu should be fine for a 7850, 7870, 270 or 270X.