Graphics Card

White Gold

White Gold

Weaponized Spatula
How can I upgrade my graphics card?

My online gaming experience is only getting frustrating due to my high ping. After weeks of research, I found out that I need a better graphics card...

Anyone know if I just need to upgrade it or buy and install a new one?

Thanks!
 
I'd think you'd have to buy and install a new one. I doubt that there's any kind of firmware update that will dramatically improve its performance.

But then, I couldn't tell you the last time I played a computer game, and I've never done any online gaming.

I think Chihi is pretty into gaming, so maybe he'll come along and answer your question.
 
Install a new one. The only way to get better performance is with a better graphics processor and more video RAM. IMO don't even mess around with trying to upgrade the one you have. New vid cards aren't all that expensive.
 
Your card wont help your ping. Your ping is a result of your internet connection, both speed and latency. As far as cards go though, if you have a desktop and a few bucks, you wont have a tough time. What game and what's your budget?

EDIT: to say that you may indeed be lagging due to your PC slowing down, but since you are saying your ping specifically, I assumed that your ping may actually be your problem.
 
ChihliDog said:
Your card wont help your ping. Your ping is a result of your internet connection, both speed and latency. As far as cards go though, if you have a desktop and a few bucks, you wont have a tough time. What game and what's your budget?

EDIT: to say that you may indeed be lagging due to your PC slowing down, but since you are saying your ping specifically, I assumed that your ping may actually be your problem.
Click to expand...

What he said....
 
ChihliDog said:
Your card wont help your ping. Your ping is a result of your internet connection, both speed and latency. As far as cards go though, if you have a desktop and a few bucks, you wont have a tough time. What game and what's your budget?

EDIT: to say that you may indeed be lagging due to your PC slowing down, but since you are saying your ping specifically, I assumed that your ping may actually be your problem.
Click to expand...

I play the Call of Duty Games...

I played Cod4 and had an average ping (40-70)...

now on Cod5, it is incredibly high(200-250)...

I would say that I could pay about 50? Maybe?
 
rocklegend0407 said:
ChihliDog said:
Your card wont help your ping. Your ping is a result of your internet connection, both speed and latency. As far as cards go though, if you have a desktop and a few bucks, you wont have a tough time. What game and what's your budget?

EDIT: to say that you may indeed be lagging due to your PC slowing down, but since you are saying your ping specifically, I assumed that your ping may actually be your problem.
Click to expand...

I play the Call of Duty Games...

I played Cod4 and had an average ping (40-70)...

now on Cod5, it is incredibly high(200-250)...

I would say that I could pay about 50? Maybe?
Click to expand...

What are your current specs? CPU, RAM and card.
 
CPU - Inpiron 530, Intel Core2 Duo processore E4400 (2.00Ghz 800FSB) w/ Dual Core Technology and 2MB cache
RAM - 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz

I am if this is the graphics card, but it sounds like it...
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3

Harddrive - 160 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
 
thats a pretty nice video card.

I don't think you're going to see a huge drastic improvement unless you buy a much higher end card.

It's almost certainly PCI-Express x16 so go on NewEgg.com and check out some video cards.


If you want to seriously improve your gaming experience, don't even look at a card under $200.
 
Well if I have a good graphics card then is that the problem for my high ping?

If not then what is the problem?
 
Youre not going to run cutting edge games on max settings and super high-res with that rig, but aside from trying all of that at once there is no reason it should be slowing down on you. What resolution are you running? It isnt a terrible machine for gaming, man. Eminence front is correct, without spending a nice chunk, you arent going to significantly improve that card.
 
Just looked up the sys reqs for CoD5...your cpu is the culprit.

"Processor: AMD 64 3200+/Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better

Memory: 8 GB free hard-drive space, 512MB RAM (XP)/1GB RAM (Vista)

Graphics: Shader 3.0 or better, 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6600GT/ATI Radeon 1600XT or better"


Now, your cpu is better in most respects than a single core P4 3.0, however, you have 2 cores each running at 2.0. Yes, more efficiently than an old P4 running at 2.0, but still, I am betting that's your problem right there. Pretty hefty CPU specs for a game, even a new one.
 
rocklegend0407 said:
I haven't tried lower resolution...

Is my resolution really the thing giving me high ping?
Click to expand...

Well, it COULD, but in your case no, see my post above. The higher your resolution, the more GPU memory you need and the harder the whole computer works in general. If you bog your computer down, then it could cause lag. But as I said, in your case your cpu does not meet the minimun requirements, so that's what I would blame first. You can get away with one component being slightly under the min req in some cases but not always, and if you do then your other components must be faster than the minimum.
 
rocklegend0407 said:
Which are and arn't in the miminum requirements?

Sadly, this language is foreign to me.., tongue0
Click to expand...

Everything you have meets the minimum except for your CPU. This game calls for at least a 3.0, you have a cpu with 2 2.0 cores.
 
rocklegend0407 said:
What do you suggest I get that will meet the minimum?
Click to expand...

It isnt that simple, unfortunately. Replacing a cpu isnt the same as replacing a video card or slapping in a new stick of RAM. Your motherboard has a socket which will only accept one type of CPU. The new intels are mostly socket 775 but I am not going to assume that that is what you have. Once you get the cpu you have to remove the cooler, clean the thermal paste off of it, add new thermal paste, put in the new cpu and re-install the cooler. It's kind of a pain. Then you will likely have to reset your bios with the new multiplier. Sometimes even windows will get mad at you when you change CPUs. It can be fairly painless or it can be really frustrating if you arent totally wiping your drive and reformatting.

If you want to try to get by with what you have, you can try to overclock your cpu which does not require you to replace any parts. Basically, you tell your CPU to run faster than what it is currently set at. I dont know how stable that CPU is for overclocking, you'll have to do your own research on that, but basically (and some motherboards make this a lot easier than others) you go into your motherboard settings, up the speed and usually the voltage, and monitor the temperature once you've overclocked it to make sure it isnt overheating.

To take that thing from a 2.0 to a 3.0 would be a pretty hefty overclock but intels seem to handle it pretty well for the most part. Since yours is a pre-built box I doubt the motherboard is one that's tailored to OCing but it can still be done.

www.tomshardware.com is the best online resource that I know of for any PC information, I'd start there if I were you and see about overclocking your CPU.
 
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