Yeah, I know there was just a topic like this.

Anyway, the computer I have came with a NVIDIA GeForce 7100, which I thought was pretty good, but apparently not. SWBF2 gets sucky framerate at even Medium settings, L4D I can only run at lowest settings. Assassin's Creed, Mirror's Edge, and GRID all nearly unplayable... It isn't my computer. 4 GB RAM, Dual-core 2.5 GHz, nothing bad, but I'm pretty sure it's the Graphics card.

So I was thinking this one was a great deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133246

But will it run on my computer? What kind of specs do I need to check?

...Or is there a better card I could get? I'd prefer to get the best out there (Preferably NVIDIA), no matter the cost.


Thank for the help!

That's a decent card, especially since it's very well priced. For the best NVIDIA can offer, no matter the cost, it's not to hard to find out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... der=PRICED

However, for the best "bang for your buck" Extreme Tech recommends the 260.

Yeah, haha, the 260 is amazing.. And if you're getting the 260, make sure you get the Core 216 edition - it's even better.
But anyways, do you know what type of card the 7100 is?
From what I looked up, it looks like a PCI-Express. If so, then your computer should be able to handle that graphics card - if you have a big enough power supply.
You'll have to check that.. As far as I know, you're gonna have to open up your computer to check that.

Yeah, I totally forgot about the GTX 260 and up ones.

I'm thinking of getting something about $200 though, so what would be the best for that range?

And how exactly would I go about finding the power supply? (Never opened up my computer before, but it would be fun. )

EDIT:

Looked around a bit on Newegg, and found these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... 16&x=0&y=0

They're all about $150-$200, so I could probably get any of them. So now's just the decision of which one's the best / compatible.

I got this one - it's amazing.
Umm, well this is probably the most obvious to find of components in a computer, but your power supply is the big block that has the power plug in the back of your computer.

You can figure out what you need out of a PS with a power supply calculator.

Just got back from taking it apart. Man was it dusty! But I couldn't find a specific number for the wattage or whatever. I found the power supply, but nothing useful.

I also tried a Power Supply Calculator, but I couldn't get an accurate reading due to not knowing what half of the fields would be.

Yeah I have the 7100, and I agree, not too good. A GeForce 4 series seems to run things better even with worse RAM/ processor