Poor Gaming Performance

I've another slight gaming problem that you kind ladies and gents might be able to help me with: games running slowly. Now, I'm a complete gaming novice, I've been devotedly attatched to good ol' Age of Empires 1 & 2 for years, and I've only just been having a look at the new games that are out there.

I tried to play Lord of the Rings Conquest, but I had to give up, because the gameplay was so abominably slow and jerky that I couldn't play it without getting a migraine and intensely frustrated.

Then I got Assassin's Creed. Now, that plays alright, but only on the lowest graphics setting, otherwise the video lags behind the audio somewhat. There's still a bit of lag with it on lowest quality graphics, but it's playable.

What I want to know is, what's causing this? Is it my processor, or my graphics card, or what? The tech spec is all on my profile, so please take a look and see if you can help me out. It's a brand new computer as well, so I'm going to be a wee bit disappointed if it can't run these newish games.

SlackerITGuy said:

Your video card.

Integrated GPUs are completely useless when gaming.

Newer video games require dedicated video cards.

Your CPU is fine though, those i5 CPUs can flat out fly.

Thank you! Excellente. So, can I put a dedicated video card in my machine? And if so... (here's the big question) ... what brand or spec would you recommend?

DeniqueCoelum said:

SlackerITGuy said:

Your video card.

Integrated GPUs are completely useless when gaming.

Newer video games require dedicated video cards.

Your CPU is fine though, those i5 CPUs can flat out fly.

Thank you! Excellente. So, can I put a dedicated video card in my machine? And if so... (here's the big question) ... what brand or spec would you recommend?

you can but what is the price range you looking for alot of descret cards can do the job and not cost you as much as the big guns suggest a range and we'll defently get back to you

With a 300W PSU, you'll be a bit limited.

Something like a HD4650, 4670 Or maybe a 5000 series equivelant would probably be the best bet.
They draw thier power from the PCI-X slot, and are not that power hungry.

Although they may not be able to play all games at max settings, it would be a large improvement over the onboard you have now I think.

These can be had anywhere from $50-100, and you shouldnt need to worry about extra power.

Anything larger though & you'll likely need to look into a larger Power Supply as well to go with it.
Going this route will cost more, but offer better gaming performance as well.

yeah the psu has you kinda stuck there but there is always room for upgrade may i suggest atleast a 450 watt supply that will get you going on most decent cards and it shouldnt run you that much im sure you can get one pretty cheap online

by the way do you know how to install this on your own or do you need professional help this will make a big impact on what you spend becuase we are do it yourselfers here but i do understand not all of us have the abilities to do modifacations as suggested

Ahh, okay... well, I can fit it myself, no problem about that... the maximum amount I'd want to pay is £60-70. That's roughly $90-$100 at the current rate of exchange, I think. :)

for 80 to 90 bucks you can get a discret 5670 1 gb or for a little less the 512 version but atleast a 400 watt supply though

those cards dont need a power adapter they run off the pci slot with no added power supply i had it when i first built this rig i have then switch my card three times in the past year

I see! So, would something like this

SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 5670 1GB GDDR5 £63.61 - UK-computers.co.uk

be feasible? It says that it has low power consumption. Would I be able to get away with that without needing extra power, d'you think?