Video Card Upgrade need help

BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

So I don't know a whole lot about computers, the basics you could say... I have an older computer
Gateway DX4831-07c with a ATI Radeon HD5570.. My PSU is only 300 W.... this explains why FPS sucks so bad.
Looking into upgrading my video card I realized I need more Power.
Will a EVGA 600W bronze certified power a XFX Radeon R7 360.. And are these compatible with my computer... and final question will this make my games look a whole heck of a lot better?

Comments

  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited May 2016

    Reminds me of this old EMachines I had that actually used a stock ECS board and was pretty easy to upgrade. Might seem funny to some but you get a good enough deal on one of those OEM boxes up front you can have some fun swapping parts in them. If I were you I'd not overdo it given the Core i5 750 is aging a bit, don't want to go overspend on an upgrade that you will just want to totally rebuild around in another year or two tops, especially with all the new hardware coming this year. I might get a 4GB R7 370 and a reasonably sized power supply. You won't need 600 watts, but as far as I can tell your system will take a standard ATX Supply. You can get a Corsair CX 430 for $19.99 after rebate, for around $150 total upgrade cost you should probably double your frame-rate if not more in most games.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202152

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

    TushonBluespoon
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian

    That's some good advice right there.

    BluespoonCliff_Forster
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    So im a ride on the edge of my seat kinda guy and placed an order probably about 20 seconds before you posted.. LOL
    I went with the 600W Bronze http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438014
    and the r7 360 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202196
    when you referred to overdoing my i5 did you mean in the Video card department and not the PSU department? If thats the case then I am all good with what I did as I dropped down from your suggestion of the r7 370 But I did up the 450 to a 600w. Hopefully I did not Charlie horse this one

  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Im in Canadian Currency so before rebates and after shipping handling taxes and all that jazz its about 250

  • Overdo I mostly mean budget for the upgrade. You could get a monster power supply and video card for it, but the potential for a CPU bottleneck and the fact that you will just want to rebuild in another year or two anyway you don't need to go sink too much into an OEM box upgrade, but what you ordered should be a nice serviceable upgrade, and the power supply will have some overhead so it can travel to a new system down the road if you want.

    Bluespoon
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Thank you Cliff, Exactly what I wanted to hear.

    Cliff_Forster
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Do you think I should look into upgrading my BIOS before installing the new card? I dont even know if this is a stupid question

  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian

    I'd say if you're not currently experiencing any problems, I don't see why you'd need to upgrade the BIOS. You should consider it if you have any problems after installing your video card, and even then it's probably not that. See if a newer BIOS addresses any problems you're currently having.

    BluespoonSonorous
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Excellent! thank you.

  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited May 2016

    @BlackHawk is shooting ya straight. Generally you don't want to update a motherboard bios unless you feel like you have a compelling reason. Right now Gateways website seems to be wonky too, support site offline, some research I do see they released some kind of update in 2013 but that may have been to support some new CPU's, generally a bios does not impact graphics compatibility because the card has it's own driver package.

    Here is what you want to do. -

    1. Download this tool - http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Clean-Uninstall-Utility.aspx
    2. Run it to nuke your current graphics driver software.
    3. Remove power, Open the case, carefully remove the card and power supply.
    4. Install the power supply without the new card in place (it will make it a touch easier)
    5. Install the new card and plug in the six pin power from the supply there.
    6. Power up and go here - http://support.amd.com/en-us/download - download the appropriate driver for your operating system
    7. Install driver package
    8. Tell us all how it games!
    SonorousBluespoon
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Power Supply just came in the mail, waiting for the Card now.. Sorta thought they would come together, oh well the anticipation continues... Again Thank you very much your help has lite the way tremendously.

    primesuspect
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    OHH BABY!!!, This is some sweet hot fire now.. Its like I went from Nintendo 64 to xbox 360
    The cats meow man, the cats meow.

    Cliff_Forsterprimesuspect
  • BluespoonBluespoon BC Canada Member

    Downloaded the free Starwars 4 hour trial 2 days ago before the swap over. And it crashed due to incompatible video card.. Now it runs like a dream.

    Cliff_Forster
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