Upgrading graphics.

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ben1191

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Hi,ive been looking to buy a computer for the past month or 2,ive got around £400 to spend,i wanted a computer that can handle games (but not to a massive extent) such as empire total war and games like divine souls

i found this computer PACKARD BELL iMedia I4523uk at cheap prices | PC World but what i want to know is can i install this graphics card on the computer once ive bought it? ATI Radeon HD4670 1GB PCIE Graphics Card Free Delivery : ATI PCI Express : Maplin

If i can would that card be good enough to play games such as empire total war at max graphics? or even atall? Thanks.

P.S if you could find a graphics card better than that for around the same price id appreciate it. :thumbsup:
 
That should work fin. Why not build your own? You won't have all the bloatware, and you have a choice of more parts.
 
if i build my own woudlnt it cost more?

i did look at all the parts and it seemed to cost much more.
 
Hmmm, my first reply disappeared. Maybe because it was my first post here?

Note that graphics cards are often the most power hungry devices in a computer and according to the HD 4600 Series System Requirements, that card requires a 400 Watt or greater power supply. It looks like you would need to call PC World to see what supply comes with that PB because I don't see the PSU specs listed.

As far as building your own, yes, initially it generally does cost a little more to build your own because Dell, HP, and the others can buy 100,000 hard drives, motherboards, cases, etc. at a time at discounted wholesale prices and individuals just don't have that purchasing power. Plus when you buy a pre-built, you have 1 phone number to call if anything goes wrong where if you build your own, you may have to deal with each device maker individually. With self built, you are Tech Support (with the help of forums like this, of course!). But the learning experience of building your own is huge, and when you build your, with careful planning, you can select parts that allow for easier and future upgrading. So over time, you can keep your system current with gradual upgrades rather than a full computer replacement and that helps level out the costs. When you build your own, you can make cost cutting compromises that fit your computing habits, not what some maker thinks fits your needs. Plus you can take pride in saying you built your own too. The downside might be the instant designation as the family or neighborhood computer expert and goto guy. ;)
 
also if i bought this graphics card would i then need to upgrade the power supply?

Most likely...... A 4600 series card claims a psu of 400W, but its more likely 320-380W though in reality.

The systems a budget system, a an i3 and onboard gpu won't draw much power at all, so I'm betting its around 350W tops. Seen a post that someone was loking to get a new psu because it was too low to upgrade parts.

I'll price out a build for you and see how it ghoes.. Though it'll most likely be a AMD brand.
 
yeah im only 16 and a half so the money im spending is what i earned at work and i can only really afford a budget system :p.i just want a computer that can play games that you cant get on consoles as i have a ps3 and 360 already :p. i read that with a good card the i3 can play games like modern warfare 2 in decent graphics at 137fps?
 
Well as games are more about video cards... yha the i3 is just fine ;)

I just built a setup from OCs.uk.co for 539.88 inc VAT and comes overclocked to 4.0Ghz, 4Gigs of ram, Good psu and mouse/keyboard. All which can be used if you every upgrade again.

Your option is 429.99 plus VAT and you'll probably need a new psu too.


My build

Argon Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle - Gigabyte []
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) [GFC-00599]
HIS ATI Radeon HD 5670 512MB GDDR5 ICEQ PCI-Express Graphics Card (H567Q512) []
OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W Power Supply [OCZ600SXS2]
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) [ST3500418AS]
Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black []
Samsung SH-S223L/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM [SH-S223L/BEBE]
Logitech Wireless Desktop MK300 (920-001633) [920-001633]

Just a suggestion/pricing example. I could drop the price by about 70 if I switched the i3 to a amd Athlon x3.
 
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