Videocard Upgrade

[rocknrollah]

Hi,

I didn't know where else to start this topic, so I hope I'm right..

I bought a computer like a year or two ago maybe 3, can't remember exactly, and the videocard that is in it is the Nvidia G210 512mb, It's just a basic card, I can run WoW, GW2, etc.. Ofcourse on low settings, I do get 100+ fps in WoW though, but I can't get above 50 in GW2 and the gameplay doesn't seem all that smooth. Here are the stats:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-210/specifications

Now, I wanted to upgrade my card just a little, right now I don't have the money to buy a whole new computer so, I'm stuck with a 300W power supply which doesn't give me alot of choices when it comes to getting a nice videocard..I'm also not really interested in upgrading my power supply and getting a SUPER videocard, just something to get by for a few months. So I ordered the Nvidia GT610 1GB. Haven't paid anything yet, by ordering I mean it'll be available in the computer store near me. The stats from this card are:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-610/specifications

I'm not a hardware specialist and I'm not looking for a BIG upgrade, just something to make my games run that little bit smoother. It has 3x the CUDA processors my current one has, more memory, higher clock speeds, directx 11 support instead of 10.1, opengl 4.2 support instead of 3.1 and also it's max. temperature is 102° instead of 105° and the power usage 29w instead of 30w.

So my question is, did I make a good choice, or is there a better card that can run on a 300W power supply. Thank you for your time.

[Shane]

That is a good upgrade.

Also keep in mind that 50 FPS is good. You want 30 or more when gaming. In fact (I play GW2) it even has an option to limit the FPS to 30. This helps keep cards from overheating by not having to work as hard.

Even so the new card will handle the games better and should make it even smoother

Shane

[rocknrollah]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, more fps is not my main goal, it's just that sometimes games don't seem to run that smooth or have some stuttering and I was hoping to fix that with this card. Glad I made a good choice!

[umpio]

Hey, here is a good comparison chart: http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GT_520/images/perfrel.gif
GT 610 is re-branded GT 520 with the same performance, and g210 is slower than the HD 5450. So you'll probably get about 50% performance upgrade. Note that these are all htpc media cards, not real gaming cards. As you can see there are 1000% more powerfull cards out there!

I was looking for this card: HD 7750 - Review. It probably could run on your 300w psu too (consumes 10w more watts than gt 520 on max), and it's a lot faster. You can compare its performance to HD 5770 in the first chart, so it's like 400% faster than GT 520. It is the best card currently by performance per watt. Of course it's little bit pricy but offers good performance for it's value.

[rocknrollah]

Thanks alot for your input! The HD 7750 is a bit out of my price range, I had enough money, but I went on vacation two times before I realised I needed to upgrade my PC a bit  . Also thanks for the charts, 50% should do it for now. I already get nice FPS in games (on low settings ofcourse), it's just that sometimes games don't feel that smooth and I'm hoping to boost that a little. The improved stats should help, but the main reason I'm also switching is the Directx 11 support and the Opengl 4.2 support, which should help with it, I think.

Thank you for your responses, I'm glad I didn't order the wrong card!


Oh and maybe one last question, is it a problem when a card is like a few inches smaller in width or length or do cards have to be exactly the same? (Not a hardware kinda guy  ) Thanks.

[Shane]

The only time card size matters is if it can fit in your case. Other than that it plays no role

Shane

[rocknrollah]

So I got the card and it's working fine, not a huge fps increase ofcourse, but the games run smoother. I do have a question though:

My card has a 1024mb DDR3. But when I open EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner, they say: Memory Clock 500 Mhz, now is there something wrong or are these just two different things? Like I said, I'm not really a hardware kinda guy :x

Thanks

[Shane]

500 Mhz is the speed of them memory 1024MB is the size of the memory

Shane