Questions on upgrading my graphics card to play this game?

glamorousskies · April 2014

Okay so my computer is an AMD Phenom 2 x6 processor.
It has 6gb ram.
It has the ATI radeon 5670 video card (which i've been told is terrible and really outdated?)
It has a studio XPS 7100 motherboard and the PSU has 460 watts of power and is 12 volt.
I have decided on upgrading my video card so i can play the game at a higher FPS and on HIGH settings.
I am looking at getting the radeon r7 260 graphics card so i can play the game on HIGH settings with a good fps. (right now on high i am getting about 24 fps with this card i've been told i'll be getting at least 45 fps. does that sound correct?)

will i be able to put that specific graphics card into my system with that power supply and also i was told it might have a 3.0 graphics card slot and mine is a 2.0 express. can i still put that in it? also it will have a 6 prong connector, and mine has a 4 prong. can i just use an adaptor for that? Will my computer be able to handle that specific graphics card? here is the link too. http://www.lcdscreenforlaptops.com/lightspeed.php/default/xfx-radeon-r7-260x-pcie-2gb-ddr5-2xdvi-dp-hdmi-dual-fan-r7260xcdf4.html

glamorousskies · April 2014

bumped need advice!

lesso · April 2014

Chances are you will need a better power supply, the v2.0 PCI Express lane should be fine as usually hardware retains backwards compatibility.
note: however you will not get the same performance from the card as the v2.0 is obviously slower than 3.0.

The reason i would advise a better power supply is because the video cards power requirement isn't the only consideration.

For example typically your cpu will require roughly 125w depending on the chip of course, hard disks, cd rom drives and even usb drives all require additional power that is supplied by your power supply.

You noted its a 460W PSU which in theory is sufficient to run that card but when you consider your other components you may be happily playing a game and at the mercy of Mehrunes Dagon himself you begin to smell electrical smoke as your PSU catches fire.
Just think it could have been your house

Highway · April 2014

Hello!

I'm not a techie, but i did some research and this is what i found out.

radeon r7 260 as you stated uses a PCI Express version 3.0, but your graphic card is only running with a 2.0 PCI Express version. this is because your motherboard is outdated.

But it doesn't affect radeon r7 260 though. it is compatible backwards, meaning that it will work with your graphic card even though it's supposedly version should be 3.0.

Your fps is most certainly to jump up some whenever you upgrade a piece of equipment, the amount i'm uncertain about though. you'll have to wait and see.
There is also the fact, that you shouldn't buy too new/big of a graphic card, to older hardware. it will not use it 100% though i think in your case it will.

Before buying a radeon r7 260 graphic card though, you have to make sure you got enough space. I don't know what kind of case your computer is, but it is important to make sure you have enough space for your graphic card.

Here is what you should make sure you have:(length) 21.59cm, (height)12.9cm, (Depth) 3.81cm.

If you're unsure how to make the measurements, you can just measure your current graphic card, and add the last centimeters to it to see the size.

(this link is to make sure you use the measurements at the correct areas correct measurements)

Belrim · April 2014

460W PSU is ennough, the R7 260 has a low TDP, at 95W. And that is the maximum amount, under full load. Normal gaming situtations dont drain that much. And even if it did, 460W PSU has ennough juice to run a rig with 125W CPU and 95W GPU. Mobo, memory, drives etc. dont add much to that.

Anyway, granted, PSU is a thing that is usually good to overdo, voltages remain more stable when the power source is not working at near-cap loads.

edit: atleast 45fps on that card soudns a bit of a high estimate, in less crowded areas, why not, but in areas with more people and more complex terrain, performance will drop quite dramatically.