Do I NEED to upgrade my CPU to use this card?

shangshang

Senior member
May 17, 2008
830
0
0
you don't need to upgrade the CPU to use them, but a faster CPU will get more out of the 480 & 580. For your configuration, I would definitely get the 470. No sense spending money on 480/580 when you can't max it out due to CPU.

Power supply should be plenty sufficient.
 

Anomaly1964

Platinum Member
Nov 21, 2010
2,465
8
81
you don't need to upgrade the CPU to use them, but a faster CPU will get more out of the 480 & 580. For your configuration, I would definitely get the 470. No sense spending money on 480/580 when you can't max it out due to CPU.

Power supply should be plenty sufficient.

Cool...

Thanks!
 

SanDiegoPC

Senior member
Jul 14, 2006
460
0
0
You could always get the card ... and if it doesn't fit the case then build another PC around it. It would be a perfect excuse to give your office a new accessory!
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
GTX460 / HD6870 is probably the best card for that system, unless you are gaming at 1920x1200 or higher and cranking AA to 8x. Q8200 @ 2.33ghz would be a severe bottleneck in games nowdays because most games are console ports that already don't really stress the videocards, exacerbating the CPU bottleneck if anything.
 

Doggiedog

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
12,780
5
81
You might want to check if the PSU is not some weird proprietary one. I remember a Gateway I bought years ago had a proprietary PSU attached to some proprietary MB so I had to buy a whole new MB and PSU to get anything new in the machine to work.
 
Last edited:

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
Will my system sufficiently power a GTX 470/480 or even a 580?

The answer is no, you need a cpu upgrade to use those cards or you are wasting money.

Best go for the 6850 or the 136$ shipped Palit gtx460 1gb on sale at newegg.
 
Last edited:

shangshang

Senior member
May 17, 2008
830
0
0
If I were you, I'd get a GTX460 right now for $129 (after rebate) from Micro Center.

Then when you're ready to step up your game, then build a brand new system. This is the most bang-for-the-bucks pathway for you, not to mention the 460 is a shorter card than 470 and 580 and 6850 so you don't need to worry about that either. Period.
 

shangshang

Senior member
May 17, 2008
830
0
0
The answer is no, you need a cpu upgrade to use those cards or you are wasting money.

Best go for the 6850 or the 136$ shipped Palit gtx460 1gb on sale at newegg.

Micro Center has a better deal for GTX460.
$129AR + shipping for Palit Sonic edition. Newegg is $139AR for the regular (lower clocked) Palit one.