22 replies to this topic

[Gotta Go]

I am currently updating my system and I am having some problems figuring out what video cards would be available that meet the system requirements.

Currently I am running a core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz, Windows 7 64-bit, 4 GB RAM, but a weak video card. (Note: I have to use half-height cards due to small case.)

The minimum card requirements are: GeForce 8800GT / Radeon HD 5600/5700
The recommended card requirements: GeForce GTX 285 / Radeon HD 5830

What I would like to get is something middle-of-the-road or higher, but when I look at cards all the numbers start to run together and I don't know if what I'm looking at.

One card I was looking at was nVidia GeForce 8400 GS with 1 GB RAM, but minimum req. start at 8800GT so I'm not sure if the 8400 means it is under the 8800 or not. Same with looking at Radeon cards.

I can get the game to run but all I get is a black screen and some audio so I know I'm closer than I was last year but need a little more power on the video side.

Any help, advice, suggestions are appreciated.

[Spheroid]

Buy a new case. You can easily get ten years out of one. Does this upgrade have a budget?

[Koniving]

Some simple tips.
"2 gig" video cards are almost universally going to be better suited for what you want to do.
Though no matter what if you get a decent video card and stick to 4 gigs of RAM, you may experience disconnects (I did when I upgraded to play Bf3). Upgrading my ram solved that issue.

I don't know the story about GeForce these days.
I found this however.
http://www.tomshardw...fference-nvidia

This should certainly help.
Apparantly GS is bottom of the barrel, GT is modest, GTX is where you want to be if you can, and Ultra's just too expensive.

[Spetulhu]

Spheroid, on 01 May 2016 - 02:15 PM, said:

Buy a new case. You can easily get ten years out of one.

This. Unless you have some really hard requirements on storage space a suitable PC case isn't too expensive once you figure out what you need. If you want to play demanding games you do need a case able to house full-size video cards. A cheap case will probably bother you more with noise, and my first advice when someone is building their own PC is to spend some money on a quality case. Not only is there space to work with but the entire build quality will be better. You do not want to save money and buy some cheap knockoff "ATX" case where you have to bend drive bays in order to actually fit a full ATX mobo. Look at cases in your local (web)store, then copy-paste the names and check for articles on people testing them.

[S 0 L E N Y A]

-upgrade the case
-get a GTX970
-profit

[Gotta Go]

I received this system pretty much for the cost of shipping it to me. I realize I'm trying to shoehorn an elephant into a phone booth with trying to play MWO with this system. I can swing more RAM(probably), but I have to be very cost conscience when it comes to a video card since, lets face it, the sky becomes the limit with very little effort. If at all possible I am trying to keep the cost of a suitable video card to about $100. I realize that it might not be possible to play MWO at this time, with that cost limit, so be it.

Again, any suggestions, advice, opinions, please let me hear.

[Tarl Cabot]

Need the actual motherboard/system setup. If a mfg product, the brand and model. We can only be generic due to lacking lots of info. Does the system actually have a PCI slot and if so, what type?

Either use the dxdiag to generate the info or download and use Speccy

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 01 May 2016 - 04:56 PM.

[Gotta Go]

Tarl, Thank you for the heads up on Speccy, GREAT program.

Anyway, ran the program, lots of data, could you tell me what specifically needs to be posted to help try to solve this?

[p4r4g0n]

You might also want to indicate the minimum fps you would like the game to deliver while playing. This way suggestions can be made that take this into account rather than the very cheapest option which may deliver a frame rate you find unacceptable.

[Tarl Cabot]

Summary, then file and save as text file and post the contents. Also note the PSU that is in the case.

Edited by Tarl Cabot, 01 May 2016 - 05:59 PM.

[mailin]

Here's a Nvidia GTX750TI for just under $100.00

Note that it is PCI 3.0 and requires at least a 300w power supply.

If you have those things, it should be able to fit inside your case, unless it's a really tiny case.


Good luck.

[Rogue Jedi]

What is the wattage of your power supply, and what power connectors does it have spare?

To find that out look at the Power Supply Unit (the part where the power lead plugs in) it should have the wattage printed on it, then trace the bundle of wires coming off it and take note of what is not plugged in, the ones of most interest for connecting an extra GPU are molex which is a rectangle with 4 holes in it or the 6/8 pin GPU connector, which is usual 2 rows of 3 pins, sometimes with an extra 2 pins which will clip on to make it 2x4. most Graphics cards these days want 1 or 2 of the CPU connectors but you can get adaptors to make Molex connectors into GPU connectors.

if your Power Supply Unit is not at least 300w you may not have enough spare power for a GPU, and in my experience many Small Form Factor systems come with well below 300w PSUs, also the SFF cases often do not use a standard sized PSU so it may not be a simple case of buying a more powerful PSU, this is one of the reasons a larger case may be a good investment, although if money is tight I can certainly understand why you are reluctant to spend.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 02 May 2016 - 04:04 AM.

[Gotta Go]

Thank you for all the help, advice and suggestions. Since I am limited in the number of replies I can post per day(new player restriction??) I am going to tackle several of the posts in one shot.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************
Tarl, here is the summary of running Speccy, I edited out some of it due to the size, I think all the important data is here:

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

CPU: Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80GHz
Lynnfield 45nm Technology

RAM: 4.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 660MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0D441T (CPU)

Graphics: Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1152x864@60Hz)
128MB ATI RADEON X600 Series (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (ATI)
ATI RADEON X600 Series Secondary (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (ATI)
CrossFire Disabled

Storage: 232GB Seagate ST3250310AS ATA Device (SATA)

Optical Drives: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH30N ATA Device

Audio: High Definition Audio Device

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

Computer type: Desktop

PSU: 255W max output

PCI Data
Slot Proprietary
Slot Type Proprietary
Slot Usage Available
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation SLOT1
Characteristics PME
Slot Number 0

Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation SLOT2
Characteristics 5V, 3.3V, PME
Slot Number 1

Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage Available
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation SLOT3
Characteristics 5V, 3.3V, PME
Slot Number 2

Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x4
Slot Designation SLOT4
Characteristics 3.3V, PME
Slot Number 3
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
Several posts suggest getting a tower rather than the Small Form Factor(SFF) case I received.

It comes down to a tight budget, so I'm trying to avoid wholesale changes unless necessary. The question about getting a bigger case comes down to this, given the motherboard listed above by Speccy, can I remove it from the SFF and mount it in a mid or full tower or would another motherboard have to be bought?
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************
Power Supply Unit(PSU)

I opened the case and as listed with the other system specs the PSU has a max of 255W. I have a feeling just seeing what others posted elsewhere that a stronger PSU will be needed. Which because of the SFF case probably means getting a larger case. I was not able to find a PSU that would fit in my case due to size and Dell having unusual connections(so I heard).
************************************************************************************************************************************************************
I think I have covered most of the issues that are coming up, so I would like leave everyone with a quick synopsis of my online gaming experience.
First online game was on AOL called BattleTech by Kesmai. (Yeah I'm that old.)
Second was Gemstone III/IV by Simutronics. Text based so no graphics to deal with.
Third was/is Runescape, browser based. (Play for a while the stop, repeat)
Currently playing SAS4 on NinjaKiwi site.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Please understand I have a very low-level understanding of the various things that need to be understood to get this game to play, I am trying to figure out what my options are and what kind of costs I would be incurring to achieve those options. What I would like to arrive at is a list of what I need to get, and do, to play MWO.

So far several options are starting to appear:

Option 1: Get a half height card able to work with current system and PSU

Option 2: get a bigger case, bigger PSU, transfer internals of current case and new GPU.

Option 3: Chuck it all and start over( Wife has fit, I start sleeping outdoors)

[Kurbeks]

http://www.tomshardw...archy,4388.html - Tom's GPU hierarchy chart just in case

I would get new case (cheapest one Full Atx) + Good 12V single rail PSU and some videocard. You can even try getting used vid card, but better new one. Or wait until late summer/autumn as you will get much better vid cards then for same money or less. Both nvidia and Amd will release 14nm cards then.

P.S. Geforce 8400GS is not a upgrade from x600, they are same about same in performance, just 8400 is much newer.

P.S.S It would be also nice if you could post how much ram slots mainboard have either with speecy or Cpu-z.

"Graphics: Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1152x864@60Hz)
128MB ATI RADEON X600 Series (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (ATI)
ATI RADEON X600 Series Secondary (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) (ATI)
CrossFire Disabled"

If you using 1152x864 monitor then you don't need better gpu, or are you just using at lower settings. Also i assume x600 has 2 outputs - dvi and vga, not that there is 2 vid cards.


Also lastly with speccy if it does show. OR with Cpu-z show us what mainboard it is. It's probably some DELL Optiplex PC, but number or mainboard would be nice for upgrade part.

Edited by Kurbeks, 02 May 2016 - 10:37 AM.

[Quintus Verus]

I have a box running that exact processor as one of my 3 PC setup. First, you need to upgrade your case. You can get a Antec (200 or 300 I think) for like 45$. Then you can go with what ever you want. I've had 3 different video cards in it. (it was my main box like 8 years ago.) I currently have GTX 970 in it. (will pull 50-75 FPS @1080P. on high settings) Before that I had a GTX 670 same fps range but on medium and before that GTX 550ti on medium/low.

IF you upgrade your case, I would go with either GTX 970 or 960 depending on your budget. You can go with an ATI card if you need to save cash.
ATI 380x
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814126047

GTX 960
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127843

I would go 960 GTX and speed 100 to buy a 1080 24 inch monitor.

Edited by Quintus Verus, 02 May 2016 - 11:06 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Kurbeks, on 02 May 2016 - 10:01 AM, said:

Geforce 8400GS is not a upgrade from x600, they are same about same in performance, just 8400 is much newer.

8400gs is about 7 years old, and was an entry level card back then, the 8800 listed as MWOs minimum requirement was top of that generation of GPU

Kurbeks, on 02 May 2016 - 10:01 AM, said:

So far several options are starting to appear:

Option 1: Get a half height card able to work with current system and PSU

Option 2: get a bigger case, bigger PSU, transfer internals of current case and new GPU.

Option 3: Chuck it all and start over( Wife has fit, I start sleeping outdoors)

unfortunately you may have serious trouble finding a card which will work with the current PSU so option 1 is probably out, a half hour searching did not find anything which would be an improvement and work with your current PSU.
Look for "Nvidia Geforce GTX 700" series or "AMD Radeon"R7 or R9 series cards ^{(even the worst of those will be at least as good as the 7 year old 8800 minimum spec)} and check specification for 255w or less power requirement, then if you find something just to be sure post a link here and I will check it for you ^{(unless someone else beets me to it)} so you can be confidant it will be good enough

Usually I would suggest going with option 2, but unfortunately looking up pictures of the motherboard I am pretty sure it will not fit in a standard ATX case, the screw holes look to be in the wrong places and one of the back panel connectors is in the wrong place, one of the reasons I would never buy a desktop from Dell is they seem to avoid using the established standards whenever they can making repairs/upgrades a pain.

in this case, ^{unless you have more perseverance/luck than I do with finding a compatible GPU}, a new PC would probably be your best bet.
Sorry

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 02 May 2016 - 12:02 PM.

[Tarl Cabot]

I do believe that motherboard is a mATX and not a [color=#070F14]BTX. This allows them to provide different form factors. The pita would be the [/color][color=#070F14]I&O panel connectors.[/color]

http://www.computerf...ade-211775.html

Is this your computer?

http://accessories.u...ype=9&Tab=Parts

[Rogue Jedi]

Tarl Cabot, on 03 May 2016 - 03:50 PM, said:

I do believe that motherboard is a mATX and not a [color=#070F14]BTX. This allows them to provide different form factors. The pita would be the [/color][color=#070F14]I&O panel connectors.[/color]

http://www.computerf...ade-211775.html

Is this your computer?

http://accessories.u...ype=9&Tab=Parts

looking at pictures of the board everything looked in the "wrong" place, and screws did not look to line up with standard ATX positions, it could be mini ATX or mini ITX, but I do not know if an ATX case ^{(the standard for full sized cases)} would have fixing holes in the correct place for those, I have in the past been asked to fit dell Motherboards in other cases, they just do not fit.

[mailin]

I agree with Rogue Jedi that your best option would be to get a new computer. I know that that is not what you wanted to hear, but if you do manage to get a graphics card that will fit with all of the other parameters, in all honesty it won't run MWO very well. So, that would mean looking for a power supply to handle the demands of the newer cards. But, you can't fit one in your case, so you'll need to buy a new case, but that won't fit your motherboard, so you'll need to get a new mother board, but that won't work with your current RAM, so, you'll need to get new RAM. Save yourself the frustration, save up the money and save your sanity with a new computer at some point.

The simple fact is that while it may work perfectly fine for surfing the net and facebook, there is a limit to the useable life of a computer, and it sounds like maybe your bumping up against that. If you want to potentially save yourself some money building computer is actually very easy. I find the software gets a little tricky to install sometimes, but it is certainly not insurmountable. The beautiful thing about building your own computer is that upgrades become a LOT less nerve racking.

Edited by mailin, 06 May 2016 - 01:28 AM.

[Gotta Go]

Mailin, Rogue Jedi, and others bring up a good point but I am not able to play right now so even if I can't play MWO now the system is still a step up from what I had. Someone sent a picture that shows how "out of the box" I have been thinking.


Computer case, milk crate, cardboard box, ... I'll just call it Franken-puter.