Upgrade Advice/Assistance? GPU

[penpen002]

Hi. I'm not tech savy so, I am here to ask for your assistance.

I'm looking to upgrade my 4 year old GPU: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 250, 750 Watt Multi-GPU.
What requirements do I need to know before purchasing a newer graphics card? If the card has a set dimension, do I shop only for that recommend spec? Any recommendations? I've been browsing GeForce's website but it's greek to me...been out of the loop for awhile. Price range is anything around $350.

Games I often play WoW 10/25m raids and Final Fantasy XIV. There's nothing wrong with my card...haven't notice any problems while raiding. But I would like to play at max settings instead of recommended settings.


Is the NVIDIA's GTX 660 Ti an adequate upgrade? Thank you for your advice.

[Sthos]

What are the rest of your system spec's - specifically the CPU.

While a new GPU would help, it's only going to help so much. You will need a decent CPU as well.

[penpen002]

Oh! Hopefully, the CPU is good enough.

Here's the spec:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8MB Cache
Memory: 3GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 3 x 1024MB
Motherboard: Intel® Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory

[Sthos]

Haven't dealt with the i7-920, but if you were to overclock it that would help in your 25man raids, along with a new GPU.

The GTX 660Ti would be a great upgrade, they are price at $270-340 on newegg. The alternative would be the 7950 which is priced around the same. Either are plenty for for WoW - however getting in the cities and 25man raiding you will most likely see the FPS dip if you are running at 1080p.

But with everything at Med-Ultra (shadows/sunshafts would be lower settings) settings you should be able to hold above 30fps in 25m raids (don't quote me on that though)

[penpen002]

Neato Thank you Sthos!

[Fr3nzy]

I can push my i5-750 to around 3.4-3.5GHz, providing that your cooler is adequate I see no reason to overclock yours to this.

[Xuvial]

660 Ti is a solid card for your needs, but is your PSU up to it? What is your PSU wattage and brand/model if possible?

Also your RAM is a potential bottleneck, 3GB really isn't much. Are you running a 64bit operating system? If you are, upgrading to tri-channel 6GB kit (2GB x 3) will leave you far more wiggle-room for gaming & applications.

Finally, before we get into overclocking we need to know your motherboard model. What you posted earlier:

Motherboard: Intel® Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory

This really doesn't mean anything lol, of course it's socket 1366 and triple-channel...but we need a model code/number

I'm assuming you bought your PC as a prebuild (i.e. you didn't build it)? If it is a prebuild, we just need the PC model.

[penpen002]

Hi Xuvial-

Sorry, I've copy & pasted the specs from an old receipt.
Yes, 64bit OS/Wins7 and I am upgrading to x3 2GB for the wiggle room. (After seeing the deals on Newegg.)
My PC was purchased (as a gift) pre-built and the PC model is the oh so heavy Alienware Area51 X58. Hope this what you need.

Thank you for you input! I, a non-computer genius truly appreciate it.

[Xuvial]

You must have customized yours because the Area51 X58 was HUGELY customizable, I'm seeing specs & setups ranging anywhere from $1000 to $5000. They offered a big range of graphics cards and even power supplies.

The best thing to do is open up your case and read what's written on your power supply (the box-shaped thing out of which all the cables are coming out of). Read DC output or max wattage or something, it will be in the area of 300w-800w (or maybe more?).

Or maybe that "750 watt" thing you mentioned in your first post is the wattage of your PSU?

[penpen002]

Yes that's correct.

[Majesticii]

I can push my i5-750 to around 3.4-3.5GHz, providing that your cooler is adequate I see no reason to overclock yours to this.

3.4-3.5 isn't really high. I reach 4.0ghz at arround 1.2V without even trying.

[Dizey]

The system originally came with SLi GTS 250's. Given the power needed to run that config, power requirement for any currently relevant single GPU setup isn't even a question.

[Xuvial]

Yes that's correct.

Then you should be more than good to go to upgrade to a 660 Ti, maybe every a 670.

Do upgrade to a 6GB RAM kit if you can as well, you have 64bit windows so it will see all of it.

[penpen002]

Then you should be more than good to go to upgrade to a 660 Ti, maybe every a 670.

Do upgrade to a 6GB RAM kit if you can as well, you have 64bit windows so it will see all of it.

Thank you Xuvial! I am definitely going to upgrade and do just that. Appreciate your knowledge.