imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hey guys, I had my PC custom built like 4 years ago. I used top of the line EVERYTHING because I got tired of buying something off the shelf and having to replace something every year in order to keep it running smooth as new games and software came out. As a result, I have been able to run everything on the highest settings for 4 years now (including wow, where I could easly run well over 100 fps, though I could tell no difference between 120 and 60). And then TOR came out. Im running on the lowest settings and not too happy about it--- so its time for a new graphics card. The only problem is--- I suppose because Ive been able to just sit on what I had for so long-- that Im having a hard time telling the good from the bad when looking at the current generation of graphics cards. I no longer know what series is what, so I was hoping you guys would help me out. Ill probably pick something up from bestbuy. If you could use their website, what would you suggest in the 100-300 $ range? Money is an issue this time around, so Im looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cigaran Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I'd highly recommend an Asus nVidia GTX 560 Ti. You won't find it at Best Buy but most online sites will have it in stock. I'm running a pair of them in SLI and have recommended them to half a dozen friends. So far, everyone has been very pleased with the performance they've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scan Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Nvidia GTX580 Best punch for your pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXcronicXx Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Hey guys, I had my PC custom built like 4 years ago. I used top of the line EVERYTHING because I got tired of buying something off the shelf and having to replace something every year in order to keep it running smooth as new games and software came out. As a result, I have been able to run everything on the highest settings for 4 years now (including wow, where I could easly run well over 100 fps, though I could tell no difference between 120 and 60). And then TOR came out. Im running on the lowest settings and not too happy about it--- so its time for a new graphics card. The only problem is--- I suppose because Ive been able to just sit on what I had for so long-- that Im having a hard time telling the good from the bad when looking at the current generation of graphics cards. I no longer know what series is what, so I was hoping you guys would help me out. Ill probably pick something up from bestbuy. If you could use their website, what would you suggest in the 100-300 $ range? Money is an issue this time around, so Im looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks! What is your CPU ? TOR is more CPU heavy then GPU Edited January 15, 2012 by xXcronicXx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 I'd highly recommend an Asus nVidia GTX 560 Ti. You won't find it at Best Buy but most online sites will have it in stock. I'm running a pair of them in SLI and have recommended them to half a dozen friends. So far, everyone has been very pleased with the performance they've seen. Thanks! Unfortunately though, I gotta stick with bestbuy for other reasons. Otherwise, Id just hit up newegg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 What is your CPU ? TOR is more CPU heavy then GPU Processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kabaal Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Q6600 is a decent CPU, especially if overclocked, it was the 2500k of a few years ago really. Before you buy anything you want to make sure you have a power supply capable of handling new cards. Edited January 15, 2012 by Kabaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunsBlazing Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 GTX 460 Superclocked... not expensive and a great card..! if you go SLI with it you gonna love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXcronicXx Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz How much ram do you have. if it under 4 gig upgrade ill recamend 6 - 8 gigs though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Q6600 is a decent CPU, especially if overclocked, it was the 2500k of a few years ago really. Before you buy anything you want to make sure you have a power supply capable of handling new cards. Thank you for reminding me. I switched out my PSU earlier this year. Ive got a dell, and the case its in is very.... picky. The fan has to blow out the back. Most of the PSUs Ive looked at want to blow out the top, and my case simply wont allow for that, so I havent been able to find a larger unit yet than what I had. Ill have to take a look at that today while Im out. As of right now, i believe Ive got a 500w psu unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXcronicXx Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you for reminding me. I switched out my PSU earlier this year. Ive got a dell, and the case its in is very.... picky. The fan has to blow out the back. Most of the PSUs Ive looked at want to blow out the top, and my case simply wont allow for that, so I havent been able to find a larger unit yet than what I had. Ill have to take a look at that today while Im out. As of right now, i believe Ive got a 500w psu unit. get about 650 -700w a little head room is allways good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 How much ram do you have. if it under 4 gig upgrade ill recamend 6 - 8 gigs though 4, I can go to 8 and have considered it. Im not sure which would be a better move though--- more ram, or a better card. Card wise Ive got a Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXcronicXx Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) 4, I can go to 8 and have considered it. Im not sure which would be a better move though--- more ram, or a better card. Card wise Ive got a Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT. Have you ever try newegg.com ? that is where i buy all my parts they have very good prices you can get buy with 4 gigs but you might get some ping to the HHD and it will kill your FPS TOR is a ram hog if you do not upgrade your ram do not run any thing in the back grand. Edited January 15, 2012 by xXcronicXx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Have you ever try newegg.com ? that is where i buy all my parts they have very good prices Yes, but to be honest--- I dont have the money to just order something out right as of right now. Thats why Im looking at bestbuy-- I can use my card there and pick up some other things I need and take advantage of the 0% interest and pay it off fairly quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kabaal Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Thank you for reminding me. I switched out my PSU earlier this year. Ive got a dell, and the case its in is very.... picky. The fan has to blow out the back. Most of the PSUs Ive looked at want to blow out the top, and my case simply wont allow for that, so I havent been able to find a larger unit yet than what I had. Ill have to take a look at that today while Im out. As of right now, i believe Ive got a 500w psu unit. As long as its a good 500w and not a crap one it should be ok for anything up to a 560ti, but it would depend on how good the PSU is as a poor one may only be 80% efficient for example and provide 400w even though 500w is on the label. A good 600W one would cover you for pretty much anything unless you planned on Sli/xfire in the future. Btw, most PSU's draw the air in from the top or bottom (depends how you mount it) and push it out the back of the case and not the other way round, even if you ended up with one that did it would be a two minute job to flip the fans inside. Edited January 15, 2012 by Kabaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXcronicXx Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yes, but to be honest--- I dont have the money to just order something out right as of right now. Thats why Im looking at bestbuy-- I can use my card there and pick up some other things I need and take advantage of the 0% interest and pay it off fairly quickly. the last time i have went to bestbuy to buy ram the price for it was $120 bucks... newegg had it for $60 bucks.. something to thank about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) the last time i have went to bestbuy to buy ram the price for it was $120 bucks... newegg had it for $60 bucks.. something to thank about No i know what youre saying. If all I needed right now was that Id just save up and buy it-- but like I said, Ive got some other major purchases that need to be made. Paying a little more but being able to do so over 18 months is just something I can afford to do. Gotta have $ to save $ sometimes, and I dont. As long as its a good 500w and not a crap one it should be ok for anything up to a 560ti, but it would depend on how good the PSU is as a poor one may only be 80% efficient for example and provide 400w even though 500w is on the label. A good 600W one would cover you for pretty much anything unless you planned on Sli/xfire in the future. Btw, most PSU's draw the air in from the top or bottom (depends how you mount it) and push it out the back of the case and not the other way round, even if you ended up with one that did it would be a two minute job to flip the fans inside. Ill keep that in mind. Found what looks to be a good 560ti, with some pretty good reviews (even one from a tor player on there). I was so used to the old PSU units (Ill never pretend to be a PC expert), and I had never had one go out until my last one did-- that I didnt realize how the modern PSUs work in regards to the airflow. I imagined, from looking at them, that the giant fan on the bottom was the outtake fan. maybe it was an intake. hm. Something to think about. Ill see if I can find a good top rated 500w power supply or something better that will fit my case. The one I have now is an Antec Green Energy-Efficient Power Supply EA500D Edited January 15, 2012 by imnotme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkirai Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I read on another forum, that if you start up the swtor executables as windows xp service pack 3 compatible mode, that some people find the game running better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xugos Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 If your monitor's refresh rate is 60 hz, you can't view anything above 60 fps and notice a difference. FPS-cap your games at 60 unless you like wasting processing power, increasing heat, and wasting power over-all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkirai Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 BTW, more ram has no use, if you are running 32bit OS. Then 4gb is really maximum and you also share that with your videoram partly. I had temporarily in my old E6600 pc and ati card, i think it was an 6850 or roughly around that, that ran this game also good. I dont think you will need one of the higher end cards at all, keep it within the budget you said earlier, that is more then enough for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overunitee Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hey guys, I had my PC custom built like 4 years ago. I used top of the line EVERYTHING because I got tired of buying something off the shelf and having to replace something every year in order to keep it running smooth as new games and software came out. As a result, I have been able to run everything on the highest settings for 4 years now (including wow, where I could easly run well over 100 fps, though I could tell no difference between 120 and 60). And then TOR came out. Im running on the lowest settings and not too happy about it--- so its time for a new graphics card. The only problem is--- I suppose because Ive been able to just sit on what I had for so long-- that Im having a hard time telling the good from the bad when looking at the current generation of graphics cards. I no longer know what series is what, so I was hoping you guys would help me out. Ill probably pick something up from bestbuy. If you could use their website, what would you suggest in the 100-300 $ range? Money is an issue this time around, so Im looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks! I too am skint so I have done some research so as to get the best I can economically. You dont include any details so I can only tell you generally what to prioroties. I use a firm local called scan they are online at scan .com if you phone them they actually know what they are talking about which helps a lot. You mention your cpu and that not an issue . 1) Identify which model your motherboard is . Find out how much ram it will handle and max it out .if you have windows 64bit you got 17gig usage potential, 4 gig for 32bit. But to make boards cheaper they limit the slots for ram capability,so you can only use what your motherboard will handle. Ram is the cheapest first option. 2) Graphics cards ,You only have 2 choices ,ATI and nvidia there are lots of manufacturers licenced to use the technology but basically ATI is a lot cheaper and you have to check for updates on drivers and install them . Nvidia are more expensive but they update and install the drivers . performance wise not much difference . On the SWTOR box you have the recommended graphics . The latest versions are ATI 5850 at £109.00 but you can get ATI 5870 at £ 134.00 Nvidia 560 at £140ish The first number is how recent eg 2**** is older than 3*** the rest are e.g lower number bottom of range ,higher number higher end graphics So if you go for like asus,XFX or any other versions of the card visit thier website to make sure you have the most recent drivers,even phone them up if you struggle they will talk you through updating the drivers. 3) At least 650watt power supply . 4) google internet speed check and make sure you got good numbers. 5) to keep it running right you need to be cool get the best cpu cooling you can afford. You can download a simple program to check how cool you are its free just google for it . 6) ingame preferences/graphics turn off bloom and trees, grass to 0%, will help your graphics for now. Hope this helps ,good luck buddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welderman Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Gtx570 oc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malefik Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 4, I can go to 8 and have considered it. Im not sure which would be a better move though--- more ram, or a better card. Card wise Ive got a Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT. For what its worth I have the same cpu as you 4g ram but im running xp 32 and its dosent see it all. I ran beta with a 8800 and it ran but was crap in the ending PvP battle we had on the server. I was going to upgrade to a 560ti but I was told to go with the 460 gtx with that cpu. It runs way cooler than that old 8800 thats for sure and the fps aren't bad either. Some one whos knows more can tell you if you will bottle neck that cpu with a 560ti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imnotme Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 For what its worth I have the same cpu as you 4g ram but im running xp 32 and its dosent see it all. I ran beta with a 8800 and it ran but was crap in the ending PvP battle we had on the server. I was going to upgrade to a 560ti but I was told to go with the 460 gtx with that cpu. It runs way cooler than that old 8800 thats for sure and the fps aren't bad either. Some one whos knows more can tell you if you will bottle neck that cpu with a 560ti. Lots of good info in the posts above, will be interested in an answer to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts