Lookling for GPU and need suggestionsFollow

Thanks for listing your current specs. Always a good help in trying to advise someone on where to go.

Short answer:
You want at least an x60(replace x with 4, 5 or 6) GPU if you want nVidia or an x770(replace x with 5, 6 or 7) if you want AMD/ATI GPU. These are the GPUs that offer the ability to get medium to medium high settings at a comfortable frame rate. Both companies' GPUs are within your price range.

Long answer:
Even though any of these GPUs will give you a noticeable upgrade in graphics, they will still be bottle-necked by your CPU. In order to get the most from your GPU, you need a CPU capable of stressing it to it's fullest. What you currently have won't do that. The GPUs I listed above that are capable of medium-high settings will probably work out to the lower end of medium because of your CPU.

Think of it as a runner on a treadmill. In this case, the treadmill is your CPU and the runner is your GPU. Essentially, you will be putting a world class runner on a slow treadmill. Obviously you will want to get a faster treadmill(CPU). The problem with that is most of the newer bangingest(yes, I just made a word) for your buck CPUs won't fit into the same socket as your current CPU. This means motherboard upgrade. Cha-ching! Depending on what kind of RAM your new motherboard supports, you might also need to upgrade that. CHA CHING! I think you can see where I'm going with this...

My best advice is the same advice I give in nearly any thread like this. Either wait until you can save up enough for a completely new PC which is the most expensive option, wait until the game is released to see how your upgrade options will perform(which could either be cheaper or more expensive) or go with a PS3 which is the cheapest option.

tl;dr
If you can't live without playing before 2.0 then a new GPU will give you an increase in performance, but 'bang for you buck' is a package deal. There's a bit of a threshold on how many bucks you have to spend before they start making loud noises

Edited, Aug 1st 2012 2:19am by FilthMcNasty

Look at the two answers given. I did a quick search on your computer (and the board it has). It is a very basic board which has little to no "get up and go" to it. At least you have a pci-e slot.

The cheapest route at this time is a 70-100$USD PSU that is 650 watt or highter, an Nvidia 460 or 560 (or comparable ATI) (around 100-250$USD)<-- look on ebay for greatest deals.

Honestly, don't even try to upgrade this computer anyfurther, as it is a "branded" computer that was built only for a simple end-user (web browsing, simple type games, e-mail checker, etc). Your headroom in the case and the components is limited at best.

As the other poster stated, your best bet is to save up for a more modern gaming rig and expect to spend around 600-1000$USD for it. Most "pre-packaged" deals are more expensive than that of self-built.

I had a similar cpu with a gtx 460, and it severely bogged down the video card. So the performance increase won't be as noticeable as if you had a core i7, or any other more significantly powerful cpu. That being said, the gpu can always move to a new computer, so it's not a wasted purchase.

Thank you for all the replies. A little disheartening but I'd rather hear not so great news than BS advice.

About the 2.0 release coming up, is it going to be a completely new game that I'll have to re-purchase if I were to start playing on the current version before hand? I had also read speculation that the graphics engine was going to be rebuilt so maybe I can squeeze a little better performance out of this processor?

I never suggested they did.

It's just a guideline since the 460 and the 5770 are the lowest you would want to go to maintain solid performance. Sure those other GPUs put up a fight in benchmarks, but I'm 100% certain that none of those benches were run on an E5700. In a game that isn't optimized anyway, he's not going to get optimal results due to the rest of his hardware. A matter of a few FPS difference in a benchmark run on a machine pushing a current gen processor is meaningless here.


2.0 version will not require you to repurchase the game if you get it now. XIV should run better on the same setups after the graphics engine change, but it's all speculation until it's actually released.

Overclocking your processor will make a difference, but you'd want to get aftermarket cooling which is 50-100 bucks. Honestly your best bet is to just save up and try to build a new rig. You can try and stick a GPU upgrade in your PC now and get decent performance until you can afford the rest of the components for your rig.



Edited, Aug 1st 2012 7:59pm by FilthMcNasty

Just for reference, and just my opinion, future proof your purchase of a PSU (power supply) to at least 750 watt or higher (most here agree at this level), the cost diffence should be negligible. As far as the GPU manufacturers, again my opinion, but EVGA is sort of KING of the NVIDIA line, and here is one on EBAY for around 128+SH http://www.ebay.com/itm/01G-P3-1464-KR-NEW-EVGA-nVidia-GeForce-GTX560-SE-1GB-DDR5-PCI-Express-Video-Card-/221003469750?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item3374d553b6 or NEWEGG http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130765 160$$

I did a quick search on the PSU, still around 60-150$$ with/without rebates.

.

ok, i got a question here,

Got a I5 760@2.8Hz, 6GB RAM DDR3 1333
Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
Windows 7 32 bits

Today was told that my Windows7-32bits wont use more than 4GB ram, that I might change to windows7-64b to use my ram and video card real power, but checking in loadstone ffxiv especifications read that the game will run WoW32 mode if its installed on windows7-64 bits, so in the end its useless to change to windows7-64b till version 2.0 comes out. Is that true?

Do you guys heard/read if version 2.0 will run on 64 bits?, use directx 11? (if i remember well now its based on directx 9), when game came out i could play at high resolutions but after each upgrade it was getting slower and slower and had to switch to standard graphics (still looks cool tho) so was thinking to update my motherborad, chipset and ram but guess I will wait till version 2.0 comes out.

<sigh> This hobby is turning out to be alot more expensive and alot more research intensive than I had anticipated. After looking at what these stepped upgrades are going to cost, I've debated on buying a PS3 instead, but it's my understanding that a powerful computer will run circles around a ps3 anyday (hence the vast difference in cost). Then I've found that not all power supplies are created equal. While a power supply might be rated at the same wattage as another that costs twice as much, I essentially need to find a supply that has at least 30amps on the 12v output, will fit in my current case, and that won't cost an arm and a leg.

This has definitely been a learning process! The last time I built a computer everything was single core processors. You picked the fastest one and were done. Now there's hyperthreading and cache levels and this and that and it's all got my head spinning!

I'm still debating on which video card to get. It's down to either a Geforce 560ti 1gb or a Radeon HD 6950 1gb. They're both available in comparable price ranges and the 6950 seems to out perform the 560 on most benchmarks. Does FFXIV have a tendency to run better on either manufacturers card as opposed to the other?

In my opinion, AMD/ATI cards tend to have more stutter than nVidia. I dunno what it is, but the frames just seem smoother on nVidia cards even when the competition runs at a higher frame rate.