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Gaming graphics card compatibility?
My PS3 just crapped out on me and burned my SSD hard drive, so I'm pissed and I'm moving to PC gaming, even after spending $120+ on Battlefield 3 Premium.. [angst]... anyways, my main computer is actually built pretty solid, so I'm converting into a full gaming computer. I'm actually wondering if this new graphics card is that much better than my current one? Any other upgrade suggestions are most welcome!!
I'm looking to get 2 more of the full HD LED Viewsonic monitors like the one i currently have to make a 3 monitor gaming station using the Sapphire 7950 FLEX edition (eyefinity) graphics card:
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DL-DVI-I-SL-DVI-D-P...
I'm at a loss as to whether this will work in my current configuration. I've read that you should consider these things:
1. AGP or PCIe (pretty sure I'm PCIe x 16 lanes?? but the amazon listing says it's PCIe 3.0??)
2. Does Voltage / Amperage match the motherboard?
3. Is the power supply powerful enough to run everything i have, plus the graphics card?
I looked at the specs all over the web and it says this:
384-Bit GDDR5 Memory PCI Express 3.0. Is GDDR5 backwards compatible or does that even matter? Long version or short version is fine, I just need to know if I can just install the 7950 Sapphire HD FLEX edition. PLEASE HELP!!! o_O
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MY COMPUTER SPECS:
Power Supply (PSU): CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
CPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V LGA 1156 Intel H55 Micro ATX Intel
Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB Kit (2x8 GB Modules) 1600MHz 240-pin DDR3 Non-ECC CL10
Internal HDD:
1x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB (7200 RPM SATA III 3.0Gb/s) 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
2x Western Digital Green Drive 2TB (NOTE: SATA III is backwards compatible)
CURRENT Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100292DDR3L Radeon HD 5450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready
Sound Card: Auzentech AZT-XFHTHD X-Fi HomeTheater HD Sound Card
Monitors: ViewSonic VX2450 w/wm LED | Dynex 32" Class / 720p / 60Hz
Cooling: 4 Fans
2 Answers
- KenLv 68 years agoFavorite Answer
No current graphics cards use AGP motherboard connections anymore. We have been with PCI Express x16 for a while now. The current version is 3.0, but don't worry so much about that because all PCIe x16 versions are forward and backward compatible. The difference between 2.0 and 3.0 is very slight if noticeable at all. The graphics cards memory is GDDR5 which makes no difference. Its fine. All current gen. cards use GDDR5 memory.
Wow a Lynnfield processor! That sucker is old.
Unfortunately its about time to upgrade your CPU. The socket LGA 1156 has been dead for a few years now and you could be holding back (read: Bottleneck) a card as powerful as the Radeon HD 7950 slightly by sticking with the i5 760.
I would upgrade to LGA 1155, and get a i7 3770k with a Z77 chipset.
And I would never run a Radeon HD 7950 on only a 550 watt PSU. It's a bad idea to go with the bare minimum (which is 500w according to AMD), because you should always allow for a little headroom of about 100 extra watts or so.
Here's what you need:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
If you think you might add a second 7950 later then you need this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Your voltage /amperage doesn't matter. That is, as long as you get one of the PSUs I listed which both have adequate +12 volt rails.
Also - are you sure that's what monitor you have? And if so why are you only running it at 720p? It has a 1920x1080p max resolution. Use it!!! At 32" it's noticable and that 7950 is shackled at 720p.
You need to be running 1920 x 1080 minimally @ 60hz.
And comparing your Radeon HD 5450 to the Radeon HD 7950, would be similar to comparing a Nintendo NES (the original) to your PS3. Huge difference. Nor sure if you were joking about that or not. Look at this comparison chart.
- Anonymous5 years ago
You need to check what the "dedicated video memory" is, share system memory does not count for most games. If it has none (possible), forget it as a gaming video... Windows does not allocate "dedicated" video ram, hence this issue - you must find out how much dedicated video ram it has.... Windows can only allocate shared system ram (much slower for video)