Upgrading My Graphics Card Help

[Abigailee]

I've been seriously considering upgrading my graphics card for a brand new one, i'm currently using the Nvidia GEForce 8400 512 mb Ram.

I'm hoping too find a card that will handle using shadows pretty well without too much lag and just general improvements within SL.

I'm limited too how much i could spend on a new graphics card aswell so if possible no more than maybe £80

Being from the UK limits where i can possibly order cards from so cannot use New Egg etc.

If you have any tips on which cards would work in my price range i'd be grateful :)

 

p.s: My System Specs are:

CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) 9500 Quad-Core Processor (2210.24 MHz)
Memory: 3072 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce 8400 GS/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 8.17.0012.8026
OpenGL Version: 3.3.0

libcurl Version: libcurl/7.21.1 OpenSSL/0.9.8q zlib/1.2.5 c-ares/1.7.1
J2C Decoder Version: KDU v6.4.1
Audio Driver Version: FMOD version 3.750000
Qt Webkit Version: 4.7.1 (version number hard-coded)
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Built with MSVC version 1600

 

Thanks kindly

Abi xx

[Sephy McCaw]

you could try overclockers, ebuyer or computer orbit(if you live in the northeast) i would advise you to skip pc world as they are just a bunch of rip offs. amd would be the cheaper card, but i would advise you to go for nvidia just for sl.... and 80 pound wouldnt get you and good card that would handle shadows.

 

nVidia 550ti alittle bit over your price, its on special offer and you wont get anything better for shadows i dont think

[leliel Mirihi]

I'm not shure what the exact exchange rate is but (from slowest to fastest) the GTS 450, GTX 550 Ti and GTX 460 1GB should be around that price point. They can all handle shadows fairly well. Note that the current viewer has some problems with those cards but it has been fixed in development builds and should make its way into a release soon enough.

For AMD the HD 5750, HD 5770 (note the 6750/6770 are just rebranded 5000 cards) or the HD 6790.

All of these cards need a beefier power supply than your 8400GS.

[Abigailee]

I was looking at a few on Ebuyer but i wasn't really sure which would handle SL, which would handle shadows etc but i'll certainly have a look at the GTS 450, GTX 550 Ti and GTX 460 and see how much each of them was.

I was briefly looking at this GT 520 Not sure if it's any good but it was quite cheap lol but then i was going by a old copy of a price guide from a local computer store where i live as i'd have too shop there and have them fit it for me. I'm not really tech savvy.

You mentioned a better power source, what would i need for that?

[leliel Mirihi]

Any decent quality power supply that puts out 500w or more will be fine, you can get one for 50-80 dollars US. You don't really have much of a choice on that, any card fast enough for shadows will need one. Check what kind of power supply your machine has now first tho, on the off chance it didn't come with a cheap POS.

[Abigailee]

Whew ok i think it'd be better if i get My RL Dad too help me with all this, he's the tech savvy member of the Family lol 

Thanks though for the tips and advice and i can pick through which of the Graphics i'd like and a new power supply and get me Dad too fix it when he comes again next year. 

[Damien Avedon]

Keep in mind that whatever graphics card you get will need as much onboard memory as possible.  Try to get a card that has at least 1 gig of onboard memory, since that will determine the quality of image you get as much as the card does.  If you can buy from Tiger Online, they have a GeForce 9800/1 gig for under $50.00 US.  The reason the card is so inexpensive is because it's old tech (but it's still a very good card).   Making sure you are running the most up to date Graphics drivers isa good idea too; check out Nvidia GeForce on the web and download their most up to date drivers.  That alone can make a big difference.

And...  Figure on at least 500 watts in your power supply, 600 to 750 is even better.  Having too much available electricity has never been a problem, it's when you have just barely enough that you run into trouble.

Good luck and have fun!

[Nyll Bergbahn]

The Nvidia GT 520 is cheap for a reason, it's a low level entry graphics card that you will not be happy with at all when playing Second Life or any other game for that matter. The higher the second number , the better for Nvidia cards. Try the 550Ti or 560Ti instead. The GTX 460 has come down in price quite a lot and could be a good alternative on a budget. Check the power requirements and get a suitable PSU too for whatever you buy. Buy online from a good supplier and avoid the big computer stores. The range of up to date products and prices are usually really bad, at least all my local ones are.