Guild Wars 2

Hello, I’ve been playing GW2 for since launch and its time for me to upgrade my graphics card. I don’t have a new computer but I’d like to spend about 320 USD or so to upgrade my graphics card so I can hopefully run on near max settings and at least get better frame rates in WvW.

My current graphics card is a Radeon HD 7750 1 GB. I’ve attached my dxdiag to this post.

Keep in mind I don’t live in the US so I won’t be shipping anything, I’m not too concerned about getting the best possible card for my money but rather just a good card that will improve my performance a decent amount. I’d also prefer a Geforce card since I haven’t had that many good experiences with Radeon cards.

Please move if this is in the wrong place, thank you.

Usually these are found in the tech section.

First what is your power supply, size and model. You may have to upgrade it as well if it’s not up to snuff.

I will say the GTX 660Ti if you don’t need to buy a PSU, a GTX 660 if you do as a good quality PSU in the 500-600 watt range will set you back $60-90 USD.

And still on XP? Really?

Behellagh.1468:

Usually these are found in the tech section.

First what is your power supply, size and model. You may have to upgrade it as well if it’s not up to snuff.

I will say the GTX 660Ti if you don’t need to buy a PSU, a GTX 660 if you do as a good quality PSU in the 500-600 watt range will set you back $60-90 USD.

And still on XP? Really?

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

Yeah I get that a lot about xp, I like it better than the later versions.

Can a mod move this to the tech section?

Behellagh.1468:

Usually these are found in the tech section.

First what is your power supply, size and model. You may have to upgrade it as well if it’s not up to snuff.

I will say the GTX 660Ti if you don’t need to buy a PSU, a GTX 660 if you do as a good quality PSU in the 500-600 watt range will set you back $60-90 USD.

And still on XP? Really?

I know more people still using XP than Win 7 and 8 combined honestly, and I repair computers for some locals, family members, and businesses. It will take several years for an OS to gain traction, MS are idiots for rushing new ones out the door all the time, especially the last few they have done.

Back on topic, I recommend anything nVidia, the GTX660 is probably the best solid choice. I bought a laptop with a Radeon 63xx and a Radeon card for my tower and both machines are completely disappointing compared to my other builds I have done with nVidia in the past. Overheating problems and low performance.

Will getting a 660 rather than a 660 ti matter much?

Ace.1726:

Will getting a 660 rather than a 660 ti matter much?

It is probably a noticeable boost but I play on a factory OC’d 650 and can wvw running at max settings. Only cost ~$100 last year when I bought it too.

Just upgrade to windows 7 and have 8gb of memory, your processor seems fine. This game is more CPU reliant anyway.

edit: The nvidia 600 series are all very low power draw, you can easily get away with 500w if you plan things out. There are PSU calculators around the web if you search a little. ex: http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com

Ace.1726:

Behellagh.1468:

Usually these are found in the tech section.

First what is your power supply, size and model. You may have to upgrade it as well if it’s not up to snuff.

I will say the GTX 660Ti if you don’t need to buy a PSU, a GTX 660 if you do as a good quality PSU in the 500-600 watt range will set you back $60-90 USD.

And still on XP? Really?

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

Yeah I get that a lot about xp, I like it better than the later versions.

Can a mod move this to the tech section?

Now here’s the problem. Not all 500 watt PSUs are equal. When it comes to having the power to support a $300 class video card, what’s important is the amount of watts it can deliver on the 12 volt part of the supply. Store bought PCs and very inexpensive power supplies that are often bundled with cases, even 500 watt ones, simply can’t deliver a reasonable chunk of it’s total power output at 12 volts. That’s my concern here. You may want to crack open the rig to take a look see. What you are looking for the sticker on the PSU and see if they list total wattage or amperage at 12 volts (watts@12v = amps@12v x 12).

As to performance difference between the GTX 660 and GTX 660Ti I can only point you at this chart from TechPowerUP.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Direct_Cu_II/27.html

So stock clock 660 vs 660Ti is about 15%.

Behellagh.1468:

Ace.1726:

Behellagh.1468:

Usually these are found in the tech section.

First what is your power supply, size and model. You may have to upgrade it as well if it’s not up to snuff.

I will say the GTX 660Ti if you don’t need to buy a PSU, a GTX 660 if you do as a good quality PSU in the 500-600 watt range will set you back $60-90 USD.

And still on XP? Really?

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

Yeah I get that a lot about xp, I like it better than the later versions.

Can a mod move this to the tech section?

Now here’s the problem. Not all 500 watt PSUs are equal. When it comes to having the power to support a $300 class video card, what’s important is the amount of watts it can deliver on the 12 volt part of the supply. Store bought PCs and very inexpensive power supplies that are often bundled with cases, even 500 watt ones, simply can’t deliver a reasonable chunk of it’s total power output at 12 volts. That’s my concern here. You may want to crack open the rig to take a look see. What you are looking for the sticker on the PSU and see if they list total wattage or amperage at 12 volts (watts@12v = amps@12v x 12).

As to performance difference between the GTX 660 and GTX 660Ti I can only point you at this chart from TechPowerUP.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Direct_Cu_II/27.html

So stock clock 660 vs 660Ti is about 15%.

I had a look and I didn’t see what you described, what happens if the PSU isn’t good enough and how much would one such PSU cost?

At NewEgg in the US I’m seeing $50-90 USDfor a 500 watt PSU that can deliver upwards of 400 watts or more at 12 volts (the CPU also draws a lot of power from 12 volts). Corsair, Seasonic, Antec, XFX all have reasonably priced PSUs that could support a GTX 660 or higher. But it is an added expense and then it becomes “why not buy a 600-700 watt one in case one day you want to drop $400+ USD on some high end video card … blah, blah blah”.

So no sticker visible on the power supply at all. So not even a manufacturer and model number? Did you build your rig or was it a standard model from someone like HP or Dell or is it a custom rig from some boutique shp?

I bought the computer off of a friend a year ago, there is a sticker but I don’t see what you’re describing. I may pick up a new power supply at the local computer shop.

Can anyone recommend a CPU upgrade for a similar price of 300 USD?

Ace.1726:

Yeah I get that a lot about xp, I like it better than the later versions.

The biggest problem with XP is, that you will have a hard time to find goot 64-bit drivers, or of course that 32-bit only supports 2 GB for a single application, and 4 GB total minus the mapped memory for a video-screen.

For your CPU upgrade, you will need to go into the BIOS on startup (F4 on mine, differs from model to model) and find out the model / make of the Motherboard.

Reason for this is depending on how old the Motherboard is, for example my board cannot take the newer CPU’s as there too big (my comps about 6 years old i think) and other parts like ram sticks also need (well ideally) to match up with everything, difficult to explain over text.

DrixTrix.7168:

For your CPU upgrade, you will need to go into the BIOS on startup (F4 on mine, differs from model to model) and find out the model / make of the Motherboard.

Reason for this is depending on how old the Motherboard is, for example my board cannot take the newer CPU’s as there too big (my comps about 6 years old i think) and other parts like ram sticks also need (well ideally) to match up with everything, difficult to explain over text.

Ok, in that case I think I’ll save up and get a new computer rather than trying to upgrade bits and pieces at a time.

Ace.1726:

DrixTrix.7168:

For your CPU upgrade, you will need to go into the BIOS on startup (F4 on mine, differs from model to model) and find out the model / make of the Motherboard.

Reason for this is depending on how old the Motherboard is, for example my board cannot take the newer CPU’s as there too big (my comps about 6 years old i think) and other parts like ram sticks also need (well ideally) to match up with everything, difficult to explain over text.

Ok, in that case I think I’ll save up and get a new computer rather than trying to upgrade bits and pieces at a time.

Not necessary. Your CPU should suffice for the time being.
- GTX650 or 660 for 100 euros
- upgrade ram to 8 gigabytes for 50 euros
- install windows 8 x64 for 50 euros

That’ll make your machine into greased lightning.

Don’t underestimate Windows 8, it is a very lean operating system and considerably faster than Windows 7. Proper multi-core support and x64 will allow you to access the raw power which your i5 CPU already has.

Ace.1726:

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

even PSU 550W cant run 660ti no matter what the manufacturing box says…
you will need to upgrade your PSU to 650 or even 700 w in order to run 660ti smoothly.

Lalangamena.3694:

Ace.1726:

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

even PSU 550W cant run 660ti no matter what the manufacturing box says…
you will need to upgrade your PSU to 650 or even 700 w in order to run 660ti smoothly.

Just wrong, in every way.

A 660Ti can indeed run on a 550W PSU, it can even run on a 300W PSU with 25A on a 12v rail. People get far to caught up in wattage which means nothing, it is all about amp draw. A good PSU with most of the power on the 12v rail will be able to power the card no problem, even if the “wattage” is low. Now, over buying a little does not hurt, but saying a 550W PSU can’t power a 660Ti is just not true.

And the GFX card is only one sink for 12 volts. If you OC your CPU and kick the voltage it needs to be stable, you can double the wattage required by the CPU which also comes from 12 volts. Toss in water coolers, LED case fans, interior lighting, fan control, sound card, smart NIC, etc that some gamers insist are necessities and it can add up.

But if all you have is a simple setup with a non-OC CPU, yes a modern 550 watt 80Plus class PSU should easily have enough power for a single 660Ti. Heck nVidia themselves list a 450 watt as the minimum.

Lalangamena.3694:

Ace.1726:

I don’t know what model it is but I do know that it has 500 watts.

I’ll check out the 660ti now.

even PSU 550W cant run 660ti no matter what the manufacturing box says…
you will need to upgrade your PSU to 650 or even 700 w in order to run 660ti smoothly.

Wrong. I’ve got an i7 920 and a GTX650 on 450W. Works like a charm.

Ace.1726:

Yeah I get that a lot about xp, I like it better than the later versions.

You’ve got 2 hyperthreaded cores, which can potentially deliver 4 threads. Furthermore you’ve got a videocard with 1gb ram and 4gb CPU ram while win XP only supports up to 3.7 total. That means half your ram is wasted. Even under x64 XP ram is not used properly.

Merely upgrading to Windows 8 x64 will give a huge performance boost without changing a single piece of hardware. And frankly, Windows 8 is a better OS than XP overall.