Right, so recently, I've been buying games and etc and to my
utter dismay and horror, I keep getting messages like no supported
graphic card. An example of such a game would be Dragon Age
origins.
So, I was wondering.
Can graphic cards be changed?
Is it easy to change them?
If they can be changed, what kind of graphic card should I
get?
What's the price of a decent graphic card that is able to run
just about any game smoothly? I don't need stellar graphics, just
need gameplay to be smooth.
1. Usually, yes. Sometimes, the motherboard has no expansion
slots that a graphics card can be installed in. In these rare
cases, then you're pretty much stuffed. However, most, if not all,
consumer PCs have suitable expansion slots.
2. Yes, actually. Most graphics cards are installed into slots,
while some are integrated. There are some helpful guides available
on the internet, as well as How-to videos on Youtube. They offer a
step-by-step detail of how to change you graphics card. You'll be
surprised at how easy it is.
3. The important factors to consider are:
Age of system, CPU, Power supply, Expansion slots
available and the games you play.
Age of system: It's usually not much use to
upgrade a system that's over three years old. A Core 2/Athlon X2
based system usually still has some life in it, but anything older
than that usually doesn't gain that much from upgrading, or
severely bottlenecks the upgrade.
CPU: The CPU can be a potential bottleneck of
performance, depending on what CPU you have. That $600 graphics
card you wanted to buy might not be able to stretch it's legs and
rear it's fire breathing head, ya' know?
Power supply: Is your power supply good enough
to handle the increased power requirements of the new and more
powerful graphics card? Does it have the proper connectors? It's a
common thing to overlook, the humble power supply. Cheap and often
low quality power supplies are a ticking time bomb. Don't risk your
new investment to old dangers.
Expansion slots available: There are three
types of slots that graphics cards fit in, PCI, AGP and PCI-E. PCI
had been superseded by AGP in the consumer space for years, but
still remains in the server realm where the PCI-E slots are
reserved for network and storage connectivity. AGP itself has been
deemed obsolute by the faster, more general purpose PCI-E. AGP
slots are usually found in systems dating back 5 years ago or more.
PCI-E, or PCI-Express, is the dominant slot in modern systems, and
pretty much all new graphics cards are being released for the PCI-E
slot. Determine which slots you have, and then choose the graphics
card accordingly.
Games you play: No use buying a $300 graphics
card for Minesweeper, right?
The hot graphics cards, and definitely some of the best bang for
the buck cards are the GTX460 / 560 Ti from NVidia, and the
HD6850/70 from AMD. These cards cost in the $200-$350 range, and
are guaranteed to run games smooth at high settings at 1080p.
You can use a program like Belarc Adviser to check your system
specifications.