Need advice buying a better graphics card
My son wants to get a better graphics card for the PC we bought jointly - I work, he plays games - but I don't know much about them. It seems the card on the machine he bought is integrated with the chip, but the PC has a PCI Express slot.
We had bought a 512mb Geforce 8400 low-profile card for the Dell we previously used, and although I have suggested we use that one, he's not too keen. (He's 15, I'm 65 so I tend to give in - we oldies are stupid that way). He wants a 2gb card. The Geforce 8400 fits perfectly, so it can be one of the same dimensions.
We have been on Amazon and there are plenty of cards which fit the bill, but to be honest I wouldnt' know which is good and which isn't from a kick in the face, so I thought I might come here for advice. His 'serious' gaming is done on an Xbox, so the card for the PC doesn't have to be a Rolls-Royce or anything, just something which is several steps up from the integrated one he has now. The PC is a custom built one from Fierce PC (if that means anything to anyone.)
I am also posting this on the PC and Mac forum in case they have something to tell me.
We had bought a 512mb Geforce 8400 low-profile card for the Dell we previously used, and although I have suggested we use that one, he's not too keen. (He's 15, I'm 65 so I tend to give in - we oldies are stupid that way). He wants a 2gb card. The Geforce 8400 fits perfectly, so it can be one of the same dimensions.
We have been on Amazon and there are plenty of cards which fit the bill, but to be honest I wouldnt' know which is good and which isn't from a kick in the face, so I thought I might come here for advice. His 'serious' gaming is done on an Xbox, so the card for the PC doesn't have to be a Rolls-Royce or anything, just something which is several steps up from the integrated one he has now. The PC is a custom built one from Fierce PC (if that means anything to anyone.)
I am also posting this on the PC and Mac forum in case they have something to tell me.
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Comments
So to clarify do you have a standard size PC now?
The best advice is to find out what games your son likes to play and is looking forward to. Some games are more graphics intensive than others. It is also a good idea to tell us of the sort of budget you are willing to spend on it. Graphics cards can cost from tens of pounds to a few thousand!!!!
A site called Tom's Hardware does a little guide to the best graphics cards by budget, might be some good bedtime reading for you
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899.html
I would suggest the following.
Asus AMD Radeon R7 240 2GB
PCI Express 3.0 and does not require a separate power source. The card is pretty small so you should have no problem fitting in the case. You will see a big improvement over the GPU but don't expect to be play all games at the highest settings. Still you should be able to play most games on medium or better.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Graphics-Express-Dust-Proof-ASUS-Utility/dp/B00FSC50N2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418034489&sr=8-1&keywords=Radeon+R7+240