Project Reality Forums

I want to grab a video card but I have no clue on how to find something enough to upgrade me to play arma 2. I want decent graphics and a steady frame rate. I plan on getting a graphics card but my budget will be around $100-$130 i want to know what i need to keep in mind when buying a video card.

My specs are RaM:2 GB, integrated video card, vista 32 bit. PCI express X16
COMPUTER: HP pavilion a6112n , (specs can be found online)
HP Pavilion a6112n Desktop PC Product Specifications - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Any suggestions on what i can get that will run arma 2 well. I hear people saying it takes alot so Is it possible with my budget and current setup, and if so, what card should i get. I dont want to buy a card if it will not work on my PC.

already suggested cards
Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-98GEY3M-FSL GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - ZOTAC ZT-98GEY3G-FSL GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I would suggest a XFX Radeon 5770.

I just got it, can run Arma II on full settings.

Don't take my word for it though, do research on what your system is suited for.

Haji with a Handgun wrote:I would suggest a XFX Radeon 5770.

I just got it, can run Arma II on full settings.

Don't take my word for it though, do research on what your system is suited for.

So I do not need to add ram do I, i currently have 2 gb and i want to know if it will be enough. also my system spec is in the thread, thank you

2 GB RAM can cause problems with PR right now as it is very resource heavy. (Aside from CTDs you will probably experience stuttering due to "hard faults" slowing down the loading of data.
I generally advice 4GB for a good performance. But your Win32 will only support 3.25GB at most (so if you are planning on getting a RAM you should just get 1 GB or 2 GB and a new Win64bit).
However you might still be able to play by having a look at the page file (increasing it).

I do not believe that 9800GT will currently give you the best price/value. I love this site for checking out hardware: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/.
Example:
9800 GT: 914pts
5770: 1599pts
Almost twice the performance. But I am not sure if its the best one around for this price, still.

Get the latest PC magazine, usually quite helpful for finding good price/value hardware.

I've recently had this discussion. The best to determine what card to use it to run the tool "Can you Run this" in the stickey above. Then check out the recommended card. Then head over to tomshardware and look for cards better/cheaper/etc and see if you can find a card that works for you. There are PLENTY of cards out there for under $100 that exceed the recommended specs.

Here is their Nov Graphic card review - Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November 2010 : November Updates
And their hierarchy chart - Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart : Best Graphics Cards For The Money: November 2010
They update it once a month, in the first week of the month.

whenever i go to can u run this it always says its installing components so I dont know what to do, because it does nothing after that.

here is my results from can I run this, Does this mean i am going to have to get a new pc, I hope not because I just want to get a video card to fix it





Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1450-TR GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

this is the graphics card recommended and I am about to buy it, your input on the situation is important

Your CPU speed really isn't good for min settings :/

I suggest you
a) overclock it
b) buy a new CPU

Don't ask me for help on OCing

But its not to big of a deal, and the card will be good, you'll Run Arma2, and BF2/PR really well
aside from CPU.

Also answering your question above,

I think it might be time to do so... but its up to you, if you want to buy a new PC to run a couple of games, so be it, I can help you, but all in all the choice is yours

(if you wanna play Arma2PR, you have soemtime stil on your hands, I predict it will be done next year)

Johncro wrote:Your CPU speed really isn't good for min settings :/

I suggest you
a) overclock it
b) buy a new CPU

Don't ask me for help on OCing

But its not to big of a deal, and the card will be good, you'll Run Arma2, and BF2/PR really well
aside from CPU.

Also answering your question above,

I think it might be time to do so... but its up to you, if you want to buy a new PC to run a couple of games, so be it, I can help you, but all in all the choice is yours

(if you wanna play Arma2PR, you have soemtime stil on your hands, I predict it will be done next year)

SO what your saying is that there is no way my CPU even with a new card (no overclocking) can run Arma pr smoothly. THat is not good because I do not plan to buy a new pc anytime soon.

SGT.MARCO wrote:SO what your saying is that there is no way my CPU even with a new card (no overclocking) can run Arma pr smoothly. THat is not good because I do not plan to buy a new pc anytime soon.

Yes, that is what he's saying, ArmA 2 is more CPU heavy than GPU heavy, So even if you have a good Graphics card it will still stutter without a good CPU, Also make sure your powersupply can handle that card (if its the stock HP one then it wont work).

FuzzySquirrel wrote:Yes, that is what he's saying, ArmA 2 is more CPU heavy than GPU heavy, So even if you have a good Graphics card it will still stutter without a good CPU, Also make sure your powersupply can handle that card (if its the stock HP one then it wont work).

so adding ram would not help that at all, that really sucks, is there any other way besides over clocking and getting a new CPU, also what do you mean by stock hp, (my computer is a hp pavilion if thats what you mean.

SGT.MARCO wrote:so adding ram would not help that at all, that really sucks, is there any other way besides over clocking and getting a new CPU, also what do you mean by stock hp, (my computer is a hp pavilion if thats what you mean.

You probably can't overclock with that motherboard anyway, and stock hp was referring to the PowerSupply which would need to be upgraded (most likely) is its the one that came with it.

And no, there really isn't anyway to make your processor better without OverClocking or Getting a better one.

SGT.MARCO wrote:so adding ram would not help that at all, that really sucks, is there any other way besides over clocking and getting a new CPU, also what do you mean by stock hp, (my computer is a hp pavilion if thats what you mean.

Ram is cheaper then a new card, you will still see some improvements in PR, faster load times, etc.

If you want a card to handle PR for cheap, I would say go for it, why not run a game you like for cheap right, again up to you.

Sorry to be that bearer of bad news!