Graphics Card Recommendation

[oriole01]

Hey guys,

Pretty simple question here, I'm looking for a graphics card that can handle FM17 and FM16 at its highest graphics capability, as well as the capacity to run 40+ leagues without endless save and continue times. My current card is an ATI Radeon HD 4200, which I'm pretty sure came built-in with my 6-year-old desktop and currently is only able to run FM16 at a mediocre rate and struggles to run the FM17 match engine at its lowest settings. Motherboard is a Foxconn 2AB1. I don't play many games on my PC, so it's mainly just for FM and a couple of other titles. I'm sure the "New Laptop/Help Needed" thread has some good recommendations in there, but the size of that has swelled quite a bit and I'm not keen on wading through 100+ pages to find a consensus, so I'm asking for a straightforward answer here. Finally, money shouldn't be an issue as long as it's below 350 US dollars (275 pounds). I'd prefer something quality that costs less than that, though. Any and all responses are appreciated.

Thanks,
oriole     

[thomit]

The ATI Radeon HD 4200 is - as far as I know -  an onboard graphics chip buildt into your processor or chipset, and as such is not exchangeble. As you have a desktop computer, you should have space to add a dedicated graphics card - but seeing how old your current pc is (judged by the age of that graphics chip), it's doubtful if you would see a great improvement even if you were able to add the most powerful card that your motherboard could take. That's my guess, anyway. For other people to help you more, I'm sure they would like to know the brand and model of your motherboard  - that's info needed in order to know what graphics card(s) will be compatible with it.

[oriole01]

39 minutes ago, thomit said:

The ATI Radeon HD 4200 is - as far as I know -  an onboard graphics chip buildt into your processor or chipset, and as such is not exchangeble. As you have a desktop computer, you should have space to add a dedicated graphics card - but seeing how old your current pc is (judged by the age of that graphics chip), it's doubtful if you would see a great improvement even if you were able to add the most powerful card that your motherboard could take. That's my guess, anyway. For other people to help you more, I'm sure they would like to know the brand and model of your motherboard  - that's info needed in order to know what graphics card(s) will be compatible with it.

Thanks for the help thomit. I've edited the op to show my motherboard make and model. I'd imagine a Foxconn 2AB1 is also pretty standard fare considering the age of the computer. Unfortunate to hear that a good graphics card won't make a difference .

[Welshace]

http://www.pc-specs.com/mobo/Foxconn/Foxconn_2AB1/452/Compatible_GPUs

[oriole01]

7 hours ago, Welshace said:

http://www.pc-specs.com/mobo/Foxconn/Foxconn_2AB1/452/Compatible_GPUs

Thanks very much Welshace, I was able to make an informed decision with this. Chose the AMD Radeon RX 470, hopefully it makes the difference . This can most likely be closed now.

[thomit]

6 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Thanks very much Welshace, I was able to make an informed decision with this. Chose the AMD Radeon RX 470, hopefully it makes the difference . This can most likely be closed now.

 

It's not quite as easy as that. You also have to take into consideration whether your pc's power supply can accommodate a powerful dedicated graphics card. These things needs power, and the more powerful they are, the more power they demand from the power supply. Since yours obviously had no dedicated card to begin with, it's very possible - likely, even - that it's power supply is not the biggest in the world.

Then there is BIOS compatability.

That list Welshace provided seems to be a list of cards that has a compatible interface, i.e. cards that can be coupled with your motherboard via the PCIe interface. But apart from that bit, there no guarantee - indeed it's very unlikely - that any of the newer ones can actually be made to work in your computer. That is not down to the interface alone.

I think you should contact the people that made your pc and ask what cards you can get to work in it.

[oriole01]

5 hours ago, thomit said:

 

It's not quite as easy as that. You also have to take into consideration whether your pc's power supply can accommodate a powerful dedicated graphics card. These things needs power, and the more powerful they are, the more power they demand from the power supply. Since yours obviously had no dedicated card to begin with, it's very possible - likely, even - that it's power supply is not the biggest in the world.

Then there is BIOS compatability.

That list Welshace provided seems to be a list of cards that has a compatible interface, i.e. cards that can be coupled with your motherboard via the PCIe interface. But apart from that bit, there no guarantee - indeed it's very unlikely - that any of the newer ones can actually be made to work in your computer. That is not down to the interface alone.

I think you should contact the people that made your pc and ask what cards you can get to work in it.

Well the card I chose said 120 watts, my computer's overall is 250. I found a topic on HP's forums discussing graphics cards for my computer model. The one the moderator there recommended takes up only 4 watts less at 116. The site Welshace linked didn't have wattage information on my current card, so I'm a bit unclear as to whether it's going to work then. But if the one I chose uses pretty much the same power as the one recommended for my computer, then that sounds encouraging. I've got little knowledge of the inner workings of a computer, so should I be looking for a new power supply as well if it's going to be too much? And even if I get a new power supply, would it make a difference? The computer already makes loud humming noises when playing games or running strenuous software, and I recently had the game both shut off my monitor display and make itself quit because of a lack of memory available. I'm not going to be buying a new PC to play FM, which it sounds like you're implying here, but I suppose buying a new card would only make it worse if it indeed is going to be too much. I suppose I'm just asking whether using 120 out of the 250 is going to be too taxing on my computer, which is an HP Pavilion p6610f, released in 2010. I'm going to also have to measure the PCIex16 slot, which based on the dimensions of the RX 470 is probably going to be too small.

Anyways, the point of this thread was to find a specific card that would be a universal fit for most computers, but I guess I didn't realize there'd be a ton of research involved. Thanks for guiding me along here, 150+ bucks would be wasted without it (even though I'm not the one buying).

[thomit]

120 watts out of a total of 250 is a lot. For cards with that kind of power drainage, a power supply of at least 400-500 watts is usually recommended.

You should look at what cards were available in 2010. They should be compatible for the most part, but any newer ones can't be guaranteed to work in your machine. And then go for a card not in the "enthusiast/gamer" class, with considerably lower TDP (power drainage). Something around 50 Watts TDP could be possible. From 2010 ... If I remember correctly, something like the Nvidia GeForce GT 420 could do the trick, perhaps.  Then it's ebay/amazon or other vendors that sell older after-market or used (don't buy used graphics cards!) stuff.

As for memory issues; Getting a dedicated graphics card could actually help with that, because they come with their own memory and don't need to draw from the computer's shared memory. A dedicated card would relieve both the memory and the processor of much work.

[oriole01]

49 minutes ago, thomit said:

120 watts out of a total of 250 is a lot. For cards with that kind of power drainage, a power supply of at least 400-500 watts is usually recommended.

You should look at what cards were available in 2010. They should be compatible for the most part, but any newer ones can't be guaranteed to work in your machine. And then go for a card not in the "enthusiast/gamer" class, with considerably lower TDP (power drainage). Something around 50 Watts TDP could be possible. From 2010 ... If I remember correctly, something like the Nvidia GeForce GT 420 could do the trick, perhaps.  Then it's ebay/amazon or other vendors that sell older after-market or used (don't buy used graphics cards!) stuff.

As for memory issues; Getting a dedicated graphics card could actually help with that, because they come with their own memory and don't need to draw from the computer's shared memory. A dedicated card would relieve both the memory and the processor of much work.

Ok, I've decided on a GeForce GTX 550 TI, which was released a year later in 2011, and a Corsair CX500 power supply stacking up at 500 watts. The card's TDP is still about the same though. Those were both recommended for my computer by HP, so I'll take their word for it. It's going to be a few weeks before I'll be getting my hands on them, as it's a Christmas thing, so maybe I'll update on this then. I'm still going to have to measure the PCIex16 slot though, hopefully it'll be OK. Thanks again.

[thomit]

Yes, the 550Ti with a new 500W power supply could work.