Fallout and graphics cards.

[Tan4500]

okay i recently got a gateway and was very happy with the purchase until i tried to play fallout 3 and NV, it has good ram and hard disk space etc but the graphics are on the lower en,it can handle tetris zone just fine though.

 

 

OS:MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

CPU:Intel Pentium E6700 @ 3.20GHz

Wolfdale 45nm Technology

Ram:6.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 398MHz (6-6-6-15)

Motherboard:Gateway SX2803 (CPU 1)

Graphics:Intel® G45/G43 Express Chipset

Harddrive:977GB Western Digital WDC WD10EARS-22Y5B1 (SATA)

Optical Drive:ATAPI DVD A DH16ABSH

 

i went on canyourunthis and tried 3 games Fallout 3,NV, and pyschonauts. and the site said my graphics card is too slow for not only the fallout games, but also Pyschonauts. I ran it with no problems but FO3 and NV were a different story, FO3 is slow at most times right after i get out of the vault... NV is decent but lags quite often when i have followers or when considerable firefights happen. both NV and FO3 were on lowest settings. Cyrt recommended a GTX 550 and i checked the price was around 140 bucks. Is that what i need to run these games on highest settings smoothly? in both fallouts i plan on using texture mods and spawn mods for mini armies and massive fire fights, in new vegas id like to use the open strip mod and populated casinos and i was wondering if the gtx 550 has enough horse power to play fallouts on those conditions smoothly. I am relativly new to pc gaming and hardware in general and id like someone to tell me if the gtx 550 is the part i need, and if it isn't then a graphics card that can handle that for under $150ish

[N3C14R]

That graphics card will certainly improve your overall FPS in Fallout but I would opt to get a mid range GTX460/GTX465 instead. It may be 1 generation older but it is much faster than the entry level GTX550 for around the same price.

 

The only thing to be weary is that the 460/465 uses more power than the 550 since its a more powerful card and it uses the older, less efficient GF100 chip, compared to the newer, revised GF110 chip of the 550. Make sure the PSU in your PC can handle the added power draw before buying either card.

 

If you're going for the GTX550 it is not a bad choice, it's soft on the power bills too, assuming other parts of your PC are also energy efficient.

Edited June 24, 2011 by N3C14R

[hector530]

the 6850 and 6870 performed better then the gtx 550/460. while costing about the same

 

6850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127566

 

6870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102913&cm_re=6870-_-14-102-913-_-Product

 

but you'll prply need a better PSU. they use more wattage then the nvidias

[Tan4500]

okay thanks, will those cards fit in my computer and work with its hardware and such. my model is Gateway SX2803 and im really new to pc gaming.

[Ghogiel]

Good question about the case size... and hardware.

 

If it fits a full ATX mobo then in theory any of those larger gfx cards will fit in there. Give or take moving a HDD out of the way depending on the inside of the case. if it is one of those little things, the length of some mid-high end gfx cards might not fit... without you getting macgyver on it.

 

I don't have a clue what your case is like. So cannot say. But bare in mind those better gpus are like a foot long and weight over 2kgs

 

The hardware: You need to check if your mobo has a pci express 2.0 x16 slot. If it doesn't... you are very limited in gfx options.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Ghogiel