Need help with GPU

[Mamoulian War]

Soo, I was just gifted Intel Core i3-2100 3.1GHz and 4GB RAM, Win 7 and MB Intel Desktop Board DQ67OW.

 

It has only integrated GPU, and because it is my first ever Intel computer, I might need some advices from more Intel savvy members here.

 

I have no clue how ****ty is the CPU and MB, so if anyone is able to recommend me any GPU which will not be bottlenecked by them, I'll be very very grateful. Thank you.

[Bartimaeus]

What're you thinking of spending? You have one PCIE 2.0 slot, (x16, it seems), which should still be able to handle just about any single chip card. CPU's a little bit of a different story...but it's not too bad. Decent speed, dual core with hyperthreading. I'd imagine it should be handle to hand anything new under...$200, maybe a little more, maybe a little less? Someone else should chip in, though, before you decide anything.

Edited July 8, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Mamoulian War]

I want to change only a GPU. All I want, is to run Witcher, Witcher 2, Wasteland 2, Numenera Torment and Project Eternity

 

I am not a PC gamer anymore, so I would like to have best GPU as cheapest as possible (or in other words - GPU with best performance for dollar ratio not to powerful for this PC)

 

My last PC I bought was Athlon 64 3500+ with 2 GB of RAM in 2007 and later purchased Nvidia GeForce 9600GT for it... So I am really out of touch with newer stuff, especially Intel processors and ATI GPUs.

[Bartimaeus]

Sorry, I meant spending money in terms of only your GPU, too - that was unclear, though.  At $80, this would be a pretty fantastic card for your build, (there's some additional 10% off coupon using MasterPass or something that brings it down to there - alternatively, use the $15 off of $50 iPhone promotion they currently have running). The card is equivalent to...a $150 or so 265, if I'm not mistaken. On the other hand, I hate PowerColor, so best of luck if you do go that route, (again, someone else should provide input).

Edited July 8, 2014 by Bartimaeus

[Mamoulian War]

I forgot to mention that I am EU guy , so some of the brands like PowerColor are not available in my country But thanks for your input. Really much appreciated. I'll try to find something comparable with brands which are available here.

 

Any other recommendations are still welcome

Edited July 8, 2014 by Mamoulian War

[AwesomeOcelot]

Radeon R7 260X. I'm an EU guy and brands like PowerColor are available in my country, pretty much every manufacturer of graphics cards is from Taiwan.

[Mamoulian War]

Ok to complicate it even further. The PC has only 32bit version of win 7 :/ So with 4GB RAM on board the big memory GPUs are useless :/

 

 

And you should not be surprised that not all EU countries are equal for multinational corporations... Just ask Sony how many EU countries still do not have PSN available as an example...

[Bartimaeus]

Time to reformat!

[Mamoulian War]

Time to reformat!

 

OK... Reading the forums If the PC comes with OEM 32-bit of Windows I am ****ed and I have to buy Win 7 again if I want to change to 64bit...

 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/windows-7-pro-oem-32-bit-64-bit/279a9ccb-a1dd-493c-ad27-6496353f7395

 

Now I am reminded again why I switched to Linux and consoles 7 years ago...

 

 

Or has anything changed recently? (the answer was posted in 2009)

Edited July 8, 2014 by Mamoulian War

[Bartimaeus]

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you didn't already own a copy of it. Uh...well...unless you were willing to go through more dubious methods because it's a stupid and arbitrary distinction between the two, there's not really a way to get around it.

[AwesomeOcelot]

You're already losing 1GB+ of your RAM, time to get a 64bit version.

[Humanoid]

I think the advice provided in the link is incorrect, in that while it's not technically supported, there are actually no such things as 32-bit keys and 64-bit keys. Microsoft don't *want* people doing it because they're not the support point for OEM software, the system builder is, and so there's no way of ensuring the system builder would continue to support the system if the end user upgrade to 64-bit.

 

You must acquire 64-bit installation media, yes, but Microsoft freely provide the ISOs for all versions - available here. Activation may be a bit janky, but any activation problems can be solved be either installing without a key and using a regedit "hack" to fix it or just using phone activation.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Humanoid

[Sensuki]

A certain Windows Loader by a fellow named Daz, might be a good place to start.

 

I would recommend getting a second hand card instead, there's absolutely ZERO point buying an R7 260X when you could get a HD7950 or HD7970 for less money and it's better.