My computer's like 2 or 3 years old now, and the graphics card obviously is going to be outdated. (Pretty sure it was outdated when I first bought it) With RuneScapes graphics increasing and other games as well, is there another cheap card I can buy somewhere that'll help give me a little boost? I pretty much just want a second card that'll help me run RuneScape better at max settings. Will a card like this also help me run Battlefield 3 or Skyrim on highish settings as well?

 

I don't know how to post my specs/show my current card, so if someone tells me how I'll do it. Just looking for a cheap card that's easy to find at stores.

I don't know what card to recommend that is cheap and somewhat decent, but you can access your system specs by opening Run and then entering dxdiag.

We'd need the spec's of your computer to give you advice.

 

 

1. Press the Windows + R key.

2. Type dxdiag in the Run box that has appeared, and press Enter or click Ok.

3. Click on the Save All Information button.

4. Ensure the file is named dxdiag, and save it to your desktop.

 

Open the text file and display the relevant information here.

 

We only really need the "System Information" & "Display Devices" information parts. Hopefully then someone can better assist you.

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System Information

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Time of this report: 8/28/2011, 15:32:10

Machine name: USER-PC

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.100608-0458)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

System Model: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

BIOS: Default System BIOS

Processor: AMD Phenom 8400 Triple-Core Processor (3 CPUs), ~2.1GHz

Memory: 2046MB RAM

Page File: 1933MB used, 2399MB available

Windows Dir: C:\Windows

DirectX Version: DirectX 11

 

---------------

Display Devices

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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip type: GeForce 8400 GS

DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_06E4&SUBSYS_82661043&REV_A1

Display Memory: 1011 MB

Dedicated Memory: 243 MB

Shared Memory: 767 MB

Current Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor: ACER AL2016W

Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll

Driver Version: 8.17.0011.9745 (English)

DDI Version: 10

BGRA Supported: Yes

Driver Attributes: Final Retail

Driver Date/Size: 4/3/2010 22:55:32, 9386600 bytes

WHQL Logo'd: Yes

I'd say if you don't want to spend a lot you could pick up a Nvidia 450 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card for like £80-90 that would run RS in full setting easy, & should give you halfway high setting on BF3 without breaking to much sweat. It's really down to you, I'd suggest 3GB of DDR3 Ram and even a quad core though if your looking to get the best out of it. But lets be honest in a year or 2 it's going to need to be completed rebuilt to run the newer games on high settings.

 

Just go with what you can afford. I'm half surprised it can't run RS in full settings right now?

 

Edit: changed it to a 450.

>Vista

>2 GB RAM

>Battlefield 3/Skyrim with high settings

 

Nope.wav

Pick up 4Gb of RAM. It's like $25 for DDR3, or a bit more if you are back on DDR2. Don't bother trying to use it with the old stuff, you're better off just getting rid of it.

 

Look up how many watts your PSU will put out. For a decent card you're going to need about 450-600, plus 1-2 6 pin PCI-e power cables. You can use 2 of the old 4 pin round cables on a mid range card, but it's less than preferable.

 

Now check to see if you have a PCI-e 16x slot. If you are on AGP, you'll have a hard time finding any decent modern card.

 

If you have all these, you should look at getting a Radeon HD 5770; they are around $100 right now and preform very well for the price. If you don't have a very strong PSU, consider this card. It will play most games at lowered resolutions, and doesn't need an external power adapter (It pulls all the power it needs from the PCI-e slot).

With that CPU and only 2GB of ram I doubt you're going to be playing BF3 or Skyrim at all on that machine.. no matter what the graphics card is.

 

I'm kind of amazed you can't run Runescape as is with that thing. Honestly upgrading more than that on just the video card is kind of a waste of money.

Surprised to see 1933MB pagefile used, if it's only idling/browsing, I'd expect a lot less, unless there's an awful lot of junk in the background

Get a HD 6770, it's better than the 450 gts and it goes at the same price.

Heres benchmarks for proof

 

[spoiler=Benchmark 1]

 

[spoiler=Benchmark 2]