Updating graphic card in old system

[Noodleguitar]

I was hoping to get some help from the people here that know a bit about hardware, because I am not familiar in that scene.

My PC is about 8 years old and while it's fine that I can't play the newer games, it's getting harder for me to play current games that are getting updates to graphics etc.

My current card is a GeForce 220 GT and is really the bottleneck at the moment. I'd like to upgrade it at a budget because I want to avoid buying a full new system, however, I'd like to get some more performance out of my current machine for a while.

I have had some recommendations from some of you already, including a 660 Ti and a 960 GTX.

My preference is going to the 960 GTX because it uses less power than the 660 Ti, but the problem is that I would still need to upgrade my power supply as well (current one has a max of 300 W). Running a caculator would put the maximum usage at 318 W and recommends a PSU of at least 400 W.

Does anyone have other recommendations for a GPU upgrade? Ideally, I'd avoid upgrading my PSU as well if possible. I'm looking for an upgrade to make my current games run a bit smoother, nothing too fancy.

My system:
AMD Phenom Quad-core, 2.6 GHz
4x 2 GB RAM (DDR2)
Motherboard has a PCI-E 2.0 (x16) slot

 

[Kenadian]

I still like the 960 if you can use it but think the PSU should be higher. There's no way you're getting 300 watts out of your existing power supply.

There's just no PSU that is actually 100% efficient so my guess is the cheaper they get the less energy efficient they get (as a rule of thumb).

Depending on which 960 you get you can expect it to draw between 85 - 100 watts under load. From what little I've read about your CPU it can draw between 65 - 100 watts under load as well.

You're already at 200 watts under load and we haven't addressed your MOBO, Ram, drives or whatever else you have plugged in.

 

[little P]

Noodle, never skimp on the PSU. That's my advice, and it's from experience. I tried to run a cheapo PSU once, it was near it's limit but like Duke says it wasn't giving me anywhere near the stated performance and I'm positive that's the reason my old PC imploded. Always go gold rated if you can, platinum if at all possible.

For reference, the 960GTX is around a 35% increase in performance from my old 650Ti BOOST 2GB and that was a great card. I think for your budget and expectations a 960 would do just fine. If you can find a 970 (I had the Gigabyte G1 edition) they are going for less than average at the moment because of the so called scandal involving 0.5GB of vram (silly imo). The 970 played everything at Ultra @ 1080p.

My advice is get a good PSU with a view to using it in your next system. You really are going to need to up the watts anyway from this point I'm afraid so it makes sense to get the best one for your budget. Then see if you can stretch to a 970, preferably a factory overclocked version. I ran the 970 on a PCI-E 2.0 (x16) slot just fine btw. If not a 960 is a good choice.

Perhaps it would help if you gave us a maximum budget to work towards so we can give you some exact recommendations?

 

[Noodleguitar]

Thanks for the advice already guys!

Ideally I'd get a GPU + PSU for around 200 Euros, but after looking around I noticed that it would be really hard to get a 4GB 960 GTX for under € 200 (new anyway). If I could use the card or the PSU in a new system I would set the target around € 250.

I did see that I can get a second hand 960 GTX for € 150 or less. What would be a safe, budget-like PSU capable of I'm guessing 500 W, if you know any?
My current PSU is this one: http://www.topmedia.nl/hipro-power-supply-300w-vostro-260-spsu-hp-p3017f3p.html

I did also read that upgrading a 300 W PSU to a 500 W might fry an older motherboard, but I have no idea how true or likely that is. The motherboard that I have is this one: http://motherboardreview2.blogspot.nl/2013/03/genuine-dell-f896n-0896n-motherboard.html

I checked the PCI-E slot again with GPU-Z. It's not version 2.0, it is 1.1 x16 so that means it might throttle the video card speed?

 

[Kenadian]

I figured given the age of your MOBO it was 1.1 but I don't know how big a deal that is? Sure it will likely be slower when compared to plugging into a 2.0 or 3.0 slot but it will be faster than what you're currently using which is what you're aiming for anyway.

As for the PSU frying the MOBO I've never heard of that to be honest? The wattage spec'd on the PSU is maximum available (similar to speakers) but not what will be delivered continually. You have to remember that your power continually fluctuates so you just want enough to power everything safely with a comfortable overhead available.

 

[Jeeve79]

yeah just upgrade with a cheap current gen or previous gen low range gpu and buy a good psu 650 W will give u enough for the future as well. Higher is better, no such thing as burning out a mobo. http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

 

[JohnnyK]

If you're on a tight budget we can talk about one of my 7950s; I'm running them in crossfire at the moment but I already have a GTX 1070 at home that I just need to put in the next few days.

The 7950 is a tad slower than the 960 (5 to 10% depending on model and game/driver) but probably still a huge upgrade for you. One of them was a tad overclocked from the base clock of 900 to 950, the other one ran at the base of 950 already.

Not sure where you live at the moment to check shipping costs though.

 

[Noodleguitar]

Thanks for the offer Johnny, but I think I'm going to go with the 960 GTX 4GB (got my eye on a second-hand one from my country). It uses less power and the fact that it's still slightly faster could mean that I'd use it in a new system at first once I make a full upgrade.

 

[JohnnyK]

Sure thing man, no worries and good luck!