Too long; didn't read is at bottom 
Hello,
I am interested in buying some new hardware for my computer to get a better gaming performance. What I had in mind the most was obviously to upgrade my video card.
First off, I'll tell you about what I plan to do with the extra performance that I want. I am a World of Warcraft player. I also like to play Call of Duty 4 (which is decent fps with my current pc, except on very full servers or when there's alot of smoke etc) and Modern Warfare 2 (sucky FPS on this, about 25-40ish). With the upcoming expansion of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, I really want to enjoy the new graphics of it aswell. Because of right now, my graphics settings of World of Warcraft are pretty low. I have shadows completely out, which I really miss because it makes the game so much nicer with shadow effects. My settings are mostly turned down because I raid 25 man's, and I need the best fps possible there; I get around 10-20 with my current graphics settings. My goal with a newer computer is to be able to turn all the graphics up and to get a good fps, even to raid with. If that's not possible I'm still fine with some medium graphics but some good frames per second while raiding new content.
I currently have a Nvidia 9600 GT. After browsing some sites, I found a nice video card that I'm really liking, mostly because it has decent performance for a decent price. It is also a perfect budget for me which is around 150 euros/200 USD/130 GBP) That is the MSI Cyclone N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC. (note: that's 768 MB version, unlike the 1GB version)
- MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more (link to the video card page on msi.com with specifications etc)
Now, I've been doing some research, and so I made a checklist for myself to make sure I don't buy a videocard that doesn't fit or that isn't compatible with my motherboard etc.
So I googled my motherboard, and after seeing some pages I realised that my motherboard is pretty 'basic' as it is described. See these links to see what I mean:
I have the Nvidia nForce 630i.
- Tech Specs (last column)
- Features & Benefits (last column)
I also have 4GB of RAM memory.
I saw my motherboard has a PCI-E x16 slot on this page. However on the video card I'm interested in its site it says the bus standard is PCI Express x16 2.0.
Does this mean the video card isn't compatible with my motherboard?
Should I just buy a new motherboard because it isn't designed for gamers and is pretty old? Will it not perform well enough with a video card upgrade?
I am very open for suggestions. Please also note that I have a budget of around 150 euros/200 USD/130 GBP and am trying to avoid a whole new PC as it is still very decent, just not for today's games that I want to play.
Thank you in advance,
Icefuzion.
TL;DR: Trying to buy a video card, don't know if it's worth buying it and don't know for sure if the slots are compatible with my motherboard. Would like some suggestions.
Hello,
I am interested in buying some new hardware for my computer to get a better gaming performance. What I had in mind the most was obviously to upgrade my video card.
First off, I'll tell you about what I plan to do with the extra performance that I want. I am a World of Warcraft player. I also like to play Call of Duty 4 (which is decent fps with my current pc, except on very full servers or when there's alot of smoke etc) and Modern Warfare 2 (sucky FPS on this, about 25-40ish). With the upcoming expansion of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, I really want to enjoy the new graphics of it aswell. Because of right now, my graphics settings of World of Warcraft are pretty low. I have shadows completely out, which I really miss because it makes the game so much nicer with shadow effects. My settings are mostly turned down because I raid 25 man's, and I need the best fps possible there; I get around 10-20 with my current graphics settings. My goal with a newer computer is to be able to turn all the graphics up and to get a good fps, even to raid with. If that's not possible I'm still fine with some medium graphics but some good frames per second while raiding new content.
I currently have a Nvidia 9600 GT. After browsing some sites, I found a nice video card that I'm really liking, mostly because it has decent performance for a decent price. It is also a perfect budget for me which is around 150 euros/200 USD/130 GBP) That is the MSI Cyclone N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC. (note: that's 768 MB version, unlike the 1GB version)
- MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more (link to the video card page on msi.com with specifications etc)
Now, I've been doing some research, and so I made a checklist for myself to make sure I don't buy a videocard that doesn't fit or that isn't compatible with my motherboard etc.
So I googled my motherboard, and after seeing some pages I realised that my motherboard is pretty 'basic' as it is described. See these links to see what I mean:
I have the Nvidia nForce 630i.
- Tech Specs (last column)
- Features & Benefits (last column)
I also have 4GB of RAM memory.
I saw my motherboard has a PCI-E x16 slot on this page. However on the video card I'm interested in its site it says the bus standard is PCI Express x16 2.0.
Does this mean the video card isn't compatible with my motherboard?
Should I just buy a new motherboard because it isn't designed for gamers and is pretty old? Will it not perform well enough with a video card upgrade?
I am very open for suggestions. Please also note that I have a budget of around 150 euros/200 USD/130 GBP and am trying to avoid a whole new PC as it is still very decent, just not for today's games that I want to play.
Thank you in advance,
Icefuzion.
TL;DR: Trying to buy a video card, don't know if it's worth buying it and don't know for sure if the slots are compatible with my motherboard. Would like some suggestions.
