Graphics Card Upgrade

[chadnd]

Hey everyone I figured this was the best place to get advice on upgrading my graphics card. Now first off Civ V runs fine and looks good, I'm thinking about a new card. So any advice what be great, here are my specs.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Processor Intel Core I5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8Ghz
RAM-16GB PC3-DDR3(maxed)
Motherboard-asus p7h55 ddr3
power supply-Xtreme Gear 800W ATX 12v
Hard Drive-1tb 7200 rpm 32mb cache sata
Current Graphic Card-ATI radeon HD 5770 with ATI eyefinity technology

So I hope this helps and is enough info about my system, I bought this used off ebay about a year ago so I'm getting the info that came with the system.

 

[tokala]

It's never a good idea to buy computer hardware "for the future".
It's always getting faster/cheaper, so waiting unitil it's actually needed is the best strategy.

Especially as in a year or so the next step in manufacturing technology is expected for graphics chips, which by past experience will lead to significant increase in performance/efficiency/bang for the buck.

 

[chadnd]

I know what you are saying but I'm never going to buy the latest card anyway don't need to in my book. Really looking on advice for a 100-200 dollar upgrade now while it's in the budget. Not a hard core gamer just trying to do a upgrade now. Funds may not be available down the road. But thank you for your post.

 

[tokala]

I know what you are saying but I'm never going to buy the latest card anyway don't need to in my book. Really looking on advice for a 100-200 dollar upgrade now while it's in the budget. Not a hard core gamer just trying to do a upgrade now. Funds may not be available down the road. But thank you for your post.

Ahh, okay.

Then you will probably want something like a GTX 750 Ti or a Radeon R7 260X or 265.

Those are about twice as fast as your current card, with the 265 a notch above the others.

The 750ti is exceptionally energy efficient, and pretty much any card based on it should be very quiet, if this is relevant for you.

 

[chadnd]

Thanks again for getting back to me. Sounds good and thank you for your advice I will look into those options. Anymore advice keep it coming I appreciate it.

 

[chadnd]

Ok, another dumb question for anyone... if I install a new card and encounter issues can I put the old card in without having to reinstall drivers/software etc.? I don't have any cd's that came with the current card. Sorry if this seems like a silly question just rather ask now than later..

 

[brownybrown]

Yes, the cd is probably just the (outdated) driver which you can get from ATI/Nvidia website anyway. if you go Nvidia - use their drivers, if you go back to ati the uninstall those and reinstall the ati drivers after you put your old card back in

What size is your screen resolution ? the 750 ti is a good cheap card but if you play on a large screen you might have issues.
Im using the slightly older and slightly more expensive 760 with a 1920x1080 (probably the most common screen for Pcs now) and its perfect

 

[chadnd]

I guess my thinking is the drivers for the current card should remain even if I install new drivers for a new card. Right now i have a 24" monitor at 1920x1080 at high settings for everything. Thanks for the reply

 

[tokala]

I guess my thinking is the drivers for the current card should remain even if I install new drivers for a new card.

This shouldn't be as much of a problem as with older Windows versions.
It will probably work just fine, but still I would recommend the clean solution of uninstalling the old drivers before plugging in a new card.

Download recent drivers for both cards before installing the new one, than it's not much of a problem to switch back to the old card.